Page 9 of Knife Volume 2

She had notebooks, which she handed out to a few of the ol’ladies, and then the planning started for a party happening in the future, but no one ever said the day. Clearly, they already knew that detail.

Connie was apparently in charge of running the kiddie area, which included snacks and drinks for the little ones as well as activities. Matty was handling table and chair setup, which they decided would be the same as it always is for a mid-sized party. Angelica was handling the bar setup, which the men would be in charge of running. There was more, a lot more, and Tuesday was impressed with everyone’s organizational skills. When they finished, the conversation turned to gossip, and there was a lot of it — and it wasn’t just about the club. She found out Martin, a tiger who lived in the area, was dating someone from Faerie he’d brought home with him. And a vampire who gave everyone the heebie-jeebies was dating someone named Mikey.

A woman walked by them and into the clubhouse, and Gen’s face showed total disgust. She clearly didn’t like the woman, and Tuesday wanted to ask about it, but decided maybe she shouldn’t.

She’d noticed the sweetbutts the night before, of course. Noticed the other women looking through the ol’ladies, away from them. No eye contact. Saw the men treating the sweetbutts like casual possessions, touching them as they pleased, ordering them around like it was perfectly natural.

Matty, of course, had to say something to Gen once the sweetbutt went inside. “She isn’t so bad. Each one is their own person. I’ll agree all day that Cindy is annoying as fuck, but Chiquita is a sweetheart if you take the time to talk to her.”

Gen glared at Matty. “At least Duke keeps his hands off them. Razor still engages in intercourse with them! How can you be okay with that!”

Matty grinned. “He fucks them, Gen. Pure and simple, and that’s okay with me. I’m his, she isn’t. Nothing is going to change that. Your rules with Duke are between the two of you, but don’t disparage my rules with Razor just because they’re different.”

Angelica stood, reached across the table, took Matty’s beer away from him, and sat back down with it. “Go get something to eat before you get in trouble with your Daddy. Go.”

Matty looked at her, stood, and walked inside.

“Thanks,” Gen told Angelica, and then she looked at Tuesday, “We don’t talk to them. We don’t engage with them. Matty isn’t technically an ol’lady, and he likes to flaunt it.” She sighed. “And okay, a few of the newer ol’ladies don’t feel like I do, but tradition says we ignore them. Pretend they don’t exist.”

“Brain isn’t interested in them,” Harmony said, “so I have nothing to worry about. I’m not a fan of some kinds of violence, so I usually leave when one needs to be punished, or if the men start some kind of belting game. Gen always leaves for that. If Tippy’s around, she leaves, too.”

“Matty and I always stay to watch,” Angelica said with a laugh. “I actually enjoy seeing them get their asses belted. Bash is often wielding the belt, and that’s okay with me. We all have our different lines in the sand, and that’s fine.”

Tuesday figured she’d stick with Angelica and Matty about wanting to watch, but decided to keep that to herself.

She wondered how often Knife had been with them. How many times he’d fucked them — and how many times he’d done so in the last couple of months.

And she shut down that line of thought. Whatever had happened before wasn’t any of her business.

Angelica gave her a knowing smile. “Knife’s ropework is like watching an artist.”

“It is,” Matty said, coming outside with a salad topped with cherry tomatoes and barely any dressing. “His shibari is some of the best I’ve seen.”

Tuesday felt like everyone wanted a comment from her, but she wasn’t prepared to talk about her sex life with these people yet, wasn’t comfortable enough with them to tell them how much she enjoys hanging in his ropes, so she lifted her Dixie cup and took a long drink of her margarita.

Several of them lifted theirs with a smile as well, and she figured she’d sidestepped the question well enough.

The sun was just going down when a large SUV pulled onto the property, and Matty said, “Oh good. Finally.”

He got up and went to the SUV, and Daisy told her, “Micca is his best friend since, like, elementary school.”

Micca was clearly the woman who hugged him and then walked between Matty and another man, holding both of their hands.

And she immediately recognized the other man, but she had to watch him walk a good five seconds before she could be sure.

That was Lord Byron. Frontman for one of the biggest rock bands on the planet. The hair was different, pulled into a ponytail, but the walk and the eyes were him.

“Is that…” she couldn’t say the name. Couldn’t ask the question. She’d known the club was friends with the band, but she hadn’t expected them to just show up.

“It is,” Harmony said. “He’s a friend of the club, and we don’t talk about him outside of the club.”

“Yeah,” Tuesday said, completely starstruck. “Makes sense.”

When they neared, Lexi stood and said, “Tuesday, this is Will. Lord Byron is his stage name. He’s with Micca. And this is Hailey, who’s with Ghost.”

She focused on Hailey and nearly squealed, “You’re Suli!”

Suli smiled and said, “Again, stage name. Call me Hailey, please.”