“Shots first,” Colleen says, moving to my abandoned tequila.
As she pours three shots, I eye Eve’s tattoo. Property of Drex. No joke. That is tattooed on her shoulder.
“You let him put that on you, or you wanted it on you?” I ask her.
She tosses back a shot, and so do I. Colleen pours us another round as Eve answers me.
“You weren’t here when Herrin was. The guys were just as dangerous as they are now, but there were a lot of sickos, too. Some of them didn’t hear no for an answer. This kept me safe. The other girls have tats on their wrists to keep them safe from other clubs.”
Colleen’s wrist has a dark rose above a DC tat. Apparently the rose is to cover up the old DD tat. Or so I assume.
I glance over at Axle, wondering if he’d shit his pants if I got his name tattooed on me. Then I grin. I’m almost tempted to permanently slap his name on me just to watch him freak out a little.
I’d totally put it on my vagina for ultimate shock value.
CHAPTER 24
AXLE
Jude is drinking a beer, standing beside Dash and talking about the new girls who just came in from the strip club. I’m barely listening to any of it, because I’m on the verge of being drunk.
For the first time in a long damn time.
Hell, I forgot I could get drunk.
“How’d she like the final product?” Drex asks me, gesturing toward Maya when he sees me staring.
“Her panties are in his pocket, so I’d say she was impressed,” Dash says with a fuck-wad grin on his face.
Drex arches a questioning eyebrow at me as I shake my head. “She liked the haul,” I state dismissively, trying not to think about the fact she’s wearing a skirt with nothing under it as she dances with Eve and Colleen.
Fortunately, she’s not twirling. That damn skirt would fly up if she was twirling. I almost hauled her out of here when she leaned over the bar and I saw the bottom curve of her ass.
“Axle?”
Drex’s voice has me snapping out of my trance as I turn to face him again, my movements sluggish. I’m pretty sure that grin of his is mocking me, but…well, what was I saying?
“I don’t think he heard the question,” Dash says, snickering lightly.
“I asked if Maya is going to be sticking around for a while,” Drex tells me.
“Yeah,” I say, looking back at her. “She is.”
I’ve decided it’s the safest, even if it’s also for my own selfish reasons.
“How’re the hits on Herrin doing?” Dash directs that question toward me.
“Good so far. Most of the surrounding clubs had no idea what went down, although there were several rumors floating around. So planting the seed that it was because Herrin turned and started informing the FBI was easy enough. It’s starting to take root. Drug bust downtown worked out in our favor, since Herrin’s guys were going to run the drugs for those junkies. Junkies are the easiest to convince, because they’re already overly paranoid,” I state flatly. “Just a matter of time before more people start believing it.”
“Which means someone will eventually take him out for us or turn him over to us,” Jude says, joining the conversation. “Especially since part of the equation is adding in Benny’s son. People believe Ben and Herrin are linked, since it all went down at the same time, which is why Herrin is probably working so hard to remind people there’s an alliance between his crew and the Hell Breathers.”
Like a lightbulb went off in his head, Drex’s slow smile spreads. “What if we could convince Benny Pop was working with his fuckwit son during all that shit?”
I start to speak, to tell them we already have too many rumors in the mix and this is just drunk talk, when Sledge walks over, interrupting us, a broad smile on his face.
“Just got word from a friend of mine that the Bloodhounds are out for Herrin’s blood. Please ignore the accidental pun in there,” Sledge tells us.
Bloodhounds are a fairly new, but completely ruthless gang in Dallas.
“Herrin was supposed to make a run for them,” Sledge goes on, “and distribute their drugs to their dealers along the west coast. Two days after their meeting, the feds showed up and did a raid—confiscated close to three million just in heroine. Either someone is helping our little rumor gain some merit, or our rumor is true, and Herrin really is giving the feds some info to keep the heat off his back.”
Maya crashes against my side, just as Eve returns to Drex, and that ends the conversation. As Maya smiles up at me, Jude says something about getting a lap dance from any brave strippers.
They have to be brave because…well, his ex is someone they know will slit their throats. But a couple of new girls don’t know Sarah, so he might have a little luck.