Josie knew it was going to be one of those nights. First off, the beer vendor showed up late and had the wrong stuff on his truck. The guy that drove the truck - Ace - was old and grumpy. He chewed on the stump of a cigar like it was a piece of beef jerky and he slapped his hand over and over on the order form, trying to make the case that Josie had messed up and not the company he worked for. That meant Josie had to print a copy of what she ordered, give it to Ace, and then wait for him to sit in his truck and call the company. That resulted in him screaming at whoever he was on the phone with. Then he drove away with the back of the truck still open. Josie wasn’t sure when he shut the door, but he came back a couple of hours later with the missing items from the order.

Second, there was instant tension in the club too. That told Josie that Starla had probably been running her mouth. Josie kept quiet and kept working. The club opened, and traffic was really slow. A few of the regulars showed up and sat there, sipping whiskey, flirting with the girls, and then tipped them for their time and conversation. It was an interesting relationship with some of them. The way the guys would come in, settle up at the bar, and just drop money like it was free. Waiting for their favorite girl to show up and take the stage. Tipping the others, but not as much as their favorite.

After checking the second bar, the one that didn’t have a stage with beautiful woman taking their clothes off, Josie went to the main office. There she found Jefferson sitting with some woman she’d never seen before. He was dressed in a black shirt with too many buttons undone, playing with his gold rings, showing off his wealth. He was overweight and cocky, but had the money to back it up. Not the power though. That came from the MC.

“Sorry,” Josie said. “Didn’t know you were having a meeting.”

“This is Angel,” Jefferson said.

“Uh, my name is Anna,” the woman said.

“No, cutie. Your new name is Angel.” Jefferson waved his hands in the air. “You’ll be the angel that takes the stage and calms all those wicked hearts out there.”

Josie rolled her eyes. Jefferson loved to write backstories for all the dancers, even if most of the ladies ignored what Jefferson said.

“We’re hiring?” Josie asked.

“We’re hiring Angel,” Jefferson said. “She needs some work and we have the work for her to do.”

“Well, I’m Josie,” Josie said.

“Anna… er… Angel,” Anna-slash-Angel said with a smile.

“When do you start?” Josie asked.

“I… uh…”

“Wait,” Jefferson said. “Did you hear that? Is that music playing out there? And there are people out there… looking for you right now, Angel. Go to it.”

“Right now?” Anna-slash-Angel asked.

“Why not?” Jefferson asked right back.

“Okay,” she said.

“Come on,” Josie said. “I’ll give you a quick tour and you can get to work.”

Josie had planned on talking to Jefferson and getting a feel of what he knew about Starla and what was going on with everyone else, but now her sights shifted.

She introduced Anna-slash-Angel to the ladies that were there. That’s when she finally spotted Starla, who was sitting in chair, working on her makeup. Josie sent Anna-slash-Angel to the other girls and casually walked over to Starla. She quickly stood up, throwing her makeup onto the vanity, and tried to get away from Josie.

Josie touched her arm. “Hey.”

“I already thanked you.”

“Oh?”

“The money.”

“Right. Money is more powerful than words.”

“In my world, yes.”

Josie reached into her back pocket and took out the fifty-dollar bill. “I don’t want this, Starla. I didn’t ask for it. I helped you because I consider you a friend. We’re a family here, okay? If I came across the wrong way, then I’m sorry. Maybe it’s not my business to know what you do or anyone else does. But I know what that stuff does to people and what it could do to this place. And I care about this place and all of you.”

Starla rolled her eyes. “Come with me.”

As much of a pig as Jefferson was, the back of the club was actually really nice. It was wide open with plenty of space for everyone. There weren’t lockers or anything like that, but storage almost looking like closets. That’s where they went and Starla opened hers. The girls kept their street clothes in there, along with pictures and stuff Josie wasn’t sure she really wanted to know about.

Starla looked around and reached into her bag. “Here. Take this.”

She handed Josie a bag with some baggies inside it. Josie hurried to roll all the crap up and stuffed it into her pocket.

“There,” Starla said. “Happy?”

“No,” Josie said. “I want to know what you were doing with it. Using? Selling? Moving?”

“Nothing,” Starla said. “I had messed around with stuff before in life. I bought some…”

“This isn’t just some.”

“I bought a lot,” Starla said. “I was going to enjoy the rest of the month.”

“This makes me uneasy.”

“I’m sure it does.”

“This isn’t my job,” Josie said. “I’m going to get rid of this for good.”

“I want you to. I should have never gotten it. I got too drunk last night, Josie. I could have gotten hurt and gotten into serious trouble. You bailed me out. I’m embarrassed right now. Okay? I used to mess around with this stuff and got myself into trouble. I found this life and promised I would be good with it all. I guess not.”

Josie nodded. “You did the right thing here. If you ever need someone to talk to… or help…”

“Don’t do that to me.”

“I’m just being your friend.”

“Right,” Starla said. “I’m going to get finished up and get out there to make money. Simple as that.”

Starla shut the door to her storage and walked away.

Josie turned and looked at all the girls that were there. Chances were that Starla wasn’t the only one with this stuff. And to think, the town of Watersald was supposed to be a clean town. That was the balance of power between the MC and the police. They waged their own fight and other fights that went beyond the town, but inside it all, it was supposed to be clean. Josie bit her lip, knowing this wasn’t going to be a good situation.

It wasn’t going to be a good situation at all.

* * *

Josie sent a text to check on Steph.

Their conversation hadn’t exactly processed in her mind just yet. The only thing Josie could offer was for Steph to relax in bed and take a day or two off to really think things over. These were the times when Josie sometimes hated the way life grabbed her wrist and pulled without warning. For what it was worth, Josie all but raised Steph from the time she was ten years old. Now she was eighteen and Josie hoped that eventually, Steph would figure out something to do with her life. The entire family fell apart when Laszlo died, leaving Steph hanging high and dry. She was Laszlo’s stepsister, but was forgotten about when all hell broke loose.

In some way though, as much as Josie took care of Steph, Steph did the same for Josie just by being around. Because when Lasz died, a lot of other things happened too. The MC almost lost itself for good. Reese pulled away just enough to give Josie her out, and she took it. Regret or not, it was time to get away from that life before a bullet ended up in the back of her head. Or Reese’s head.

Speaking of which, right after Josie sent the text to Steph, the doors to the club opened and in came some of the Back Down Devil MC guys.

The moment Josie saw Hawk step into the club, look left to right, obviously looking for trouble or for any of their hated enemies in the club, she stiffened and felt her heart instantly begin to pound. There was just something about seeing them in their cuts, knowing what they were capable of. In some ways, they were good guys. They believed in their own set of rules and lived by them to the death. The problem was that their set of rules went against almost everything society had established. But that was the point of being an outlaw, wasn’t it?

Behind the bar, Josie watched as Hawk was followed by Brett and Jason. Then came Levi and Reese.

Seeing Reese made Josie suck in a breath and bite her lip. She didn’t like the effect he still had on her. He was taller, built with muscle that was meant for protection and loving, his hair messy and his eyes dark, unforgiving, yet deadly sexy. He looked right at her and gave a quick nod.

She waved, smirking, but that faded quickly.

The bartender who was working, Parker, walked up to her.

“What’s the plan for these guys?” he asked as he dried a glass in his hands.

“We’re good,” Josie said. “Keep an eye on how much they order and let me know if it gets out of hand. If you see anyone from the other clubs come in, find me right away.”

“Jesus,” Parker whispered. “I hate this part of the job. They act like they own the place.”

Josie looked at Parker. “Believe me, they do.”

Before Josie could get out of sight, Levi and Reese set their sights on the bar and were approaching. Hawk was already at the other bar, clamping a hand to a shoulder of two different men. He leaned down and said something. Whatever it was, it was impactful enough that the two men quickly jumped back, giving Hawk some space. On stage was Caramel, a name that matched her beautiful skin and the smoothness of her voice. Hawk reached up and motioned with his fingers for her to lower down. She did as she was told and Hawk turned his head, letting her plant a kiss on his cheek. This was a big no-no in the club, but not when the MC was here.

Hawk quickly grabbed Caramel and had her in his arms. She let out a playful yell as she put her arms around his neck.

“That’s not going to work,” Josie said to Levi.

“Hello to you too,” Levi said.

“Seriously,” Josie said.

“Take it easy, sweetheart,” Reese said. He grinned and winked.

He turned and stuck his fingers into his mouth and whistled. That got Hawk’s attention and Reese put his thumb to his neck and swiped across.

Hawk was quick to throw the finger at Reese.

Josie swallowed hard.

Reese didn’t back down from anything or anyone. Ever. It was really sexy most of the time… but other times, it was just a set up for a long night of violence.

Levi threw his hand out and stopped Reese from moving forward.

“Done,” Levi bellowed to Hawk.

Hawk put Caramel down but kept his hand tight to her wrist. He reached into his pocket and took out a wad of cash. He placed it into her hand and curled his lip.

Great.

Josie rolled her eyes. Of course Hawk had the cash to take her into the back for a private dance. And probably more. Which, of course, was allowed with the MC.

“Hope you have more help on hand,” Levi said as he turned back to the bar. “My guys are a little revved up today.”

“We’re staffed,” Josie said. “Hope you brought plenty of cash.”

“I don’t think Jefferson would mind putting it on our tab,” Levi said.

“Going into debt for hand-jobs? That’s a risky practice.”

Reese laughed. “Sweetheart, we don’t look for hand-jobs. That’s high school shit.”

Josie felt a mix of anger and jealousy hit her.

She watched as Starla and Anna-slash-Angel walked on stage. Her eyes must have stared too long because both Reese and Levi turned to look too.

“New girl,” Reese said. “Who is it?”

“Anna,” Josie said. “Jefferson is calling her Angel.”

“Nice,” Levi said. “Maybe she wants to meet the Devil.”

Levi slammed his hand to Reese’s back.

Again, jealousy attacked Josie.

“What are you drinking?” Josie asked.

“Beer and a shot,” Levi said. “Each.”

Josie looked to Parker and gave a nod.

“First one is on me,” Josie said.

“A woman who knows the way to my heart,” Reese said with a cocky grin.

Josie hated him. She hated everything about the life he was born and groomed into. The boy who became a man and somewhere in between, became an outlaw. It drove her crazy to think about. All the things she had to witness before it all came crumbling down.

Parker served Reese and Levi their drinks.

Josie checked the stage and saw Starla doing what she did best, locked onto Jason. Anna-slash-Angel, however, was looking skittish near Brett. Then again, Josie couldn’t blame her. These guys were big and looked ready to kill. Sometimes that was hard to look past.

You should try knowing their secrets, Josie thought.

“Hey, sweetheart, you okay?” Reese asked.

He touched Josie’s hand and she quickly ripped it away.

“I’m fine,” Josie said. “How long are you sticking around here?”

“As long as we want,” Levi said. “We plan on talking to Jefferson and checking on all the beautiful talent. Drink your bar dry. Fight people who look at us the wrong way.”

“So, the typical bullshit,” Josie said with an eyebrow raised.

“Exactly,” Levi said.

“Enjoy… but I do need…”

“Hey, Josie, I need your help with something quick,” Parker said.

That stole her attention away from finding a casual way to mention to Reese and Levi about the drugs Starla had. Josie didn’t want to cause any problems, but at the same time, she knew how this would go down. It was never good.

As she walked away to help Parker, she heard Levi say something to Reese.

“Remind me again why you let her slip away?”

Josie slowed to hear Reese’s response.

But there was no response.