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“Sorry, miss, the club is closed for business. Come back at eight,” a well-dressed man said, holding a clipboard. I had never seen him before and wondered when Barney hired him.
“You’re new,” I stated, looking around. “Where is Barney? Tell him Tessa’s looking for him.”
“I’m sorry ma’am. Barney is no longer the owner.”
“What?” I questioned. “What do you mean? Who owns the club now?”
“I do,” a beautiful blonde, dressed in all white, said as she sauntered over to me, smirking. “My name is Illyria Valentinetti. The bitch. Remember?”
Frowning, I said, “Excuse me?”
“Oh, that’s right,” the woman smirked, crossing her arms over her chest. “You were drunk that night.”
“I’m sorry. Have we met?”
The woman laughed. “Fuck me and here I thought I was going to get to have some fun. Look Tess, yes, we’ve met. You accused me of fucking Montana, got in my face, and told me to find another fuck. Then shit went to hell.”
I tried to wrack my brain for any memory of the beautiful blonde, but nothing came to mind. In the end, I did the only thing I knew to do. “I’m sorry, but I don’t remember. If I misbehaved, my apologies. I only came to talk to Barney. Since he’s not here, I will leave.”
The woman rolled her eyes.
“Jesus’ fuck, you are just like he described,” she sighed. “Come with me. We need to talk.”
Before I could deny her, she turned, walking away.
With nothing else to do, I followed her into Barney’s old office, which looked nothing like before. In fact, the entire club had a massive makeover. From the carpet on the floor to the chandelier hanging over the newly expanded stage. Even Barney’s old office had changed. No longer dark and drab, the room was bright, clean and smelled clean.
“Take a seat,” Illyria said, sitting behind a glass desk.
Settling into a seat, I asked, “I didn’t know Barney sold this place. If I had known, I wouldn’t have come.”
Illyria held up her hand, stopping me. “He didn’t sell it.”
“I don’t understand. You said you were the new owner.”
“I am,” she sighed, then cursed. “Fuck me. I hate being in the middle of shit that has nothing to do with me. Why he thought keeping you out of the loop was safer, I will never understand. Men with fucking dicks. Just like my brothers. They think they know best. Well, they don’t know jack shit.”
“What?”
“Look Tessa. I’m just gonna lay it all out for you, okay? Barney’s dead. Montana killed him because he was using you to get info on him and the club. Barney was working with a man you know by the name of Benson Graves. Graves was the broker for the Soulless Sinners back in the day before he syphoned millions from the club. He also accumulated information. Lots of information, which he handed over to a man named Boris Petrovitch. We all thought Graves was dead, but even I know that unless it’s a bullet to the brain, dead doesn’t really mean dead in this life. Anyway, the Graves,you know, started working for the west coast Bratva, more specifically Boris Petrovitch. The same man your roommate escaped from. He is also the man who shot up the Gala the night we met. He killed eighteen party goers that night, trying to get to you. Montana figured it out and got you out of there before he took a swim in the Hudson. Whatever you think about Montana, you don’t know jack shit about the man or what he will do to keep you alive.”
Shaking my head, I said, holding up my hand. “Stop. I don’t need to hear this.”
Illyria growled, leaning forward onto her desk. “Yes, you do because my friend has gone dark, unreachable. For that alone, you are going to sit your ass down and listen to every fucking word I say. When I’m done, then you can fucking leave.”
I didn’t move.
“The man you know as Montana Stone is the most loyal, honest man I’ve ever met. He says something, you can take it to the bank, he will honor his word. Yet for some fucking reason, you think he is a pariah, a danger to you and your kid. Honey, that man is a fucking a danger to anyone who dares look at you. You think because you come from some backwoods country that shit doesn’t stink there? Let me enlighten you. You wouldn’t even be alive right now, if it wasn’t for Montana. Since your release, that man has stopped three hits on you. One before you even left the hospital. He’s called in every fucking marker he has to protect your stupid ass. All so you can go on living your shit life in oblivion. Women like you make me sick.”
My mind drifted to the biker I saw earlier.
He looked right at me before he sped off.
I know he did.
Going back further, I remembered the morning I left the hospital. The nurse was supposed to come with papers for me to sign. Instead, she ushered me out of the room and into an elevator where two orderlies met us and then escorted me out of the hospital into a waiting vehicle where I saw Tia smiling.
Before that, I remembered Melody from jail. She stayed with me all night, protecting me. She even warned Robbie before Montana showed up.
