Page 20 of King
He nodded jerkily, his eyes frantically moving from me to my club brothers. I yanked him to his feet and shoved him toward Trick, who wrapped his huge hand around Paulson’s scrawny bicep. Skid stepped forward and opened the door, then glanced out into the hallway to make sure that none of the customers had wandered back here by mistake. We didn’t need any witnesses.
He stepped out into the hall and motioned Trick forward, and we all headed out the back exit that opened out into the employee parking lot. The dumpsters were out there, too, hidden behind tall, wooden fences that we knew from experience would shield us from view if anyone else happened to wander into this part of the lot.
Skid opened up the gate on the fence, and Trick shoved Paulson through it. He cried out as he landed on his knees, causing Trick and Skid to laugh.
As Paulson tried to scramble out of reach, I reached down and grabbed him, hauling back my fist before punching him right in the face. He fell back against the fence, his head bouncing off the wooden slats as he cried out again and grabbed the nose I’d just broken. I wrinkled my own nose as the sudden stench of piss filled the air
“That was for disrespecting our MC, you sorry-ass sonofabitch. Now, I’ll let Trick and Skid teach you a lesson about disrespecting women and keeping your fuckin’ hands to yourself. Oh, and Paulson?” At the sound of his name, he stopped trying to staunch the blood gushing from his nose and raised his head to look at me, fear written on every line of his pockmarked face. “Just in case you get any ideas about calling the cops, you need to remember that we have you on camera sexually assaulting our employee, and we’ll gladly turn that footage over to the police. But don’t worry, if that happens you won’t be in jail long at all, since we’ll make sure you’re jumped and shanked on your very first night behind bars. It’s not a pretty way to die, so I wouldn’t recommend it.”
I took a step back and flexed the knuckles on my hand, which were already starting to swell with the force of connecting with his face.
“Skid, which hand did he use to touch Mandy?”
Skid smirked at me, knowing exactly why I was asking. This wasn’t our first rodeo, unfortunately.
“His right, Prez.”
I glanced at Trick, then tipped my head toward his Louisville Slugger. “You heard the man, Trick. Break every finger on his right hand.”
“Be glad to, Prez.”
I clapped him on the shoulder, ignoring the way Paulson whimpered and begged for mercy as he tried to crabwalk away from us. Skid stepped close and grabbed him by the hair, yanking his head back and smacking it against the fence boards again. He reached for a rag in his back pocket, then shoved it in Paulson’s mouth. I loved it when my brothers came prepared.
“I’ll leave you boys to it. Enjoy yourselves.”
They both laughed, and as I walked away, the sound of Trick’s bat making contact with skin and bone, and the muffled screaming that accompanied it, went a long way toward soothing my temper.
Once back inside the club, I tracked Mandy down to check on her. Bodhi was with her, sitting on the small leather couch in the dancers’ dressing room. She denied the need for medical attention, and again insisted that she wanted to get back out on the floor to finish her shift. She looked pale though, and I suspected she was more shaken up than she wanted to admit. I also suspected that her desire to get back to work stemmed from the need for the tips. She was a single mom, and one of her kids had special needs, so I figured money would be especially tight if she missed out on a night’s work.
I reached into my pocket and pulled out my wallet, ignoring her protests as I peeled off ten one-hundred-dollar bills. She’d worked about half a shift before all hell broke loose, so this was more than enough to make up for the lost hours, but she deserved a little extra for what she’d been through. I pressed them into her hand and told her to go home for the night.
“I’ll take care of paying out your share to the bar staff. Go home, hug your kids, and try to forget about this shit tonight, babe. Are you scheduled for tomorrow night?”
“Uh, no,” she responded shakily, and I saw the shimmer of tears in her eyes as she looked at the cash and then stared up at me in relief. “I’m not on again until Tuesday.”
“That’s good. You be sure to let Bodhi know if you need another night off to get yourself together, OK?”
Bodhi nodded at me as he got to his feet, then held out his hand to help Mandy up.
“Come on, honey. You go change and I’ll escort you to your car,” he said. We never let any of the female employees walk to their cars alone. Mandy nodded gratefully and darted over to the lockers around the corner.
Once she was out of earshot, I instructed him to take money from the till to tip out the bar staff.
He nodded an acknowledgement, and I started to leave, then remembered seeing Star. “Why is Star working tonight? Even with Mandy leaving early, you have plenty of coverage from what I could see.”
Bodhi just shrugged and shot me a look I’d come to know well. “Fuck if I know, Prez. Ace called her in before I got here for my shift. Gave me orders to keep her on until we close.”
“Yeah, that’s not happening. If she isn’t needed, send her home.”
He nodded again, clearly pleased by my decision.
“Uh, Prez, this isn’t the first time he’s pulled that shit. He’s had her working at least two other times when I know damned well we didn’t need her.”
I scowled at that news. “Call me if that happens again.”
“Will do, boss.”
Skid strode into the room at that moment, quietly letting us know that he and Trick had just helped Paulson to his car and had watched him drive off, using only his left hand to steer, of course.
