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I give him a chin lift. "I'll go to her now and get this shit sorted so that she's home to you tonight."
He laughs. "I'd appreciate that. See you later, Preach."
I watch as he walks away and I take a deep breath. I fucked up by not listening to Py when he told me what I had to do. I was so fucking drunk that I wasn't able to take it in. That can't happen again. I could have let the club down big time and that's not on anyone but me.
Once Denis leaves, I move to my bike and climb on. It's taken some getting used to—not driving on the right side of the road—but it's becoming natural now.
Living in Ireland is so fucking different to life in the States. New York is bustling and filled with high-rises and so many people. While Dublin is also filled with people, there's not a sense of urgency when traversing the streets. It's not as fast-paced and seems to be laid back. I'm not sure how I'm liking it. It makes for a good change, but I know my brothers and I will get restless. We'll want something to quell the chasing of the high that we seek. By the looks of things, there's nothing here that will do that.
I ride to the strip club and see that it's in a decent part of town. There's a sleek Bentley parked out front and I instantly know the vehicle belongs to Callie.
"Preacher," she says as I enter the club. She's got a bright smile on her face. The woman is fucking gorgeous. She's got an hourglass figure, and her hair is long and dyed silver. She's a real beauty, and the fact that she's one of the sweetest women you'll ever meet makes her that much fucking better. It’s a shame she's married and the mother of a whole fucking football team.
"Callie," I say with a nod.
She gets up from the stool at the bar and walks over to me, her face bright with a huge, blinding smile. The second she reaches me, she opens her arms and hugs me. The woman's way too fucking nice, but that nice side of hers won't ever be tainted. Her husband and step-children, along with her own family, will never let anything happen to her. She's had her fair share of shit to deal with but she came out stronger than ever, and she did it with a smile on her face.
"Are you ready for this?" she asks, and I'm fucking relieved she's not mentioning Tyson. He seems to be the only thing anyone wants to talk about and I'd rather slit my fucking throat.
"Not really, but it needs to be done."
Her laughter is husky. "No wonder Chloe loves you. You say it how it is. I've already filtered out half of the applicants. You're opening a strip club, and you want this to be a success, so you want people who know how to hold down a job and who are also good at working with others. The last thing you want is people who can't do either."
"Ain't that the fuckin' truth. So, who are we startin' with?"
We walk toward the bar and I take a look around the club. It's as Denis said: ready to go. The poles are up, the booths are fitted, and there are tables scattered around the bar itself so the patrons can watch the show, kick back, and have a drink.
"Is there a back room?" I ask as I see two archways with curtains either side of the actual bar.
"Yes," Callie says as she points to the left hand side of the bar. "Through there is the back room. It's already monitored. We have cameras covering every position and there are no blind spots. We don't want the women or men to be put in a position where we're unable to help them."
I raise a brow. "Men?"
She grins. "Welcome to the twenty-first century, Preacher. Women love watching men strip. It'll bring you a whole new clientele. Have ladies nights with both men and women working the pole, and also have men working the back room on all nights too."
"Sounds good. So who's first on the list?" I ask, referring to the candidates coming in for an interview.
"First is Theresa. She's applying to be the manager of the dancers. She's had previous experience working in a strip club. She was a manager in a club in Manchester and has really good references. She's home as her father died, and she's living in his house. Once we're finished with the managerial interviews, we have the dancers and bar staff."
How the hell she managed to get all that information before she even interviewed anyone is beyond me, but I'm impressed.
"Okay, let's get this started," I say as I reach for the file Callie has for me and flip through it. She's gone all fucking out. Every applicant has a full dossier on them. "Do they know that they'll be working for the club?"
She nods. "Yes, everyone knows that." There's a little laughter in her voice. "Everyone knows everyone's business here. The news of the Fury Vipers coming to Dublin was huge. Add in the fact that you've opened a new custom build outlet and now a strip club, and you guys are making a big splash this side of the pond."
I chuckle. "Well, they should wait until we have one of our parties, then we'll definitely make a splash."
She shakes her head. "We won't be talking about that," she says. "I like you, Preach. I like the brothers, including Pyro. But I don't want to know what you all get up to, especially my daughter."
Her words make me laugh once again, and I realize it's the first time since I left New York that I'm not drowning in pain. Having to do this has taken my mind off Tyson, Reaper, and the entire mess. Instead, I'm focusing on everything else that needs to be done in order to get this club up and running. I finally realize why Pyro gave me this job, and I should really thank him, but fuck, the guy's been on my ass since I arrived, checking in on me constantly, and while I appreciate the sentiment, it's been driving me crazy.
I hope there will be a time when the pain of losing my son doesn't try to cripple me. That there will be a time when I can think about Tyson without my heart ripping into pieces. Then again, hope so often leads to disappointment.
CHAPTER3
AILBHE
FIVE MONTHS LATER
