“You sure?” He cocked his eyebrow as he taunted, “I figured you’d want to keep an eye on your girl, Marlowe.”
“She’s not here tonight. I had her take the night off.”
“Why’s that?”
“You know that bit in the background check where you found out she was adopted.” I reached over and picked up a stack of receipts as I told him, “Well, it turns out Marlowe didn’t know anything about it until her sister broke the news to her earlier today, and from the state I found Marlowe in, I’d say Kate wasn’t exactly gentle about divulging the information. Seems she was pretty cutthroat about it.”
“What a fucking twat. Why’d she go and do that?”
“Wish I knew.” I started sifting through the different time markings on the receipts as I continued, “If I didn’t know better, I’d say she’s jealous of Marlowe and everything she’d done for herself here and wanted to do something to pull the rug out from underneath her.”
“Well, if that’s the case, it sounds like she accomplished her goal.”
“I’ll admit, it shook her. Hell, it would’ve shaken anyone to find that shit out like that, but it’s gonna take a lot more than Kate and all her bullshit to get Marlowe down.” I could see Menace’s exhaustion wearing on him as we sat there talking. I knew he needed a break, so I told him, “I’ll get this done and entered into the computer.”
“Ah, man. You’ve already done more than your share.”
“You kidding me? I haven’t done a fraction of the work you have, and you know it.” I nodded my head towards the door as I pushed, “You look like hell, brother. Get on out of here. Go talk to Viper about Schommer, then try to get some damn shuteye. All of this will be waiting for you when you get back.”
“I’ll talk to Viper. See what he has to say and maybe grab a couple of hours of sleep, but I’ll be back before close.”
“I’ll be here.”
He stood, and as he started towards the door, he placed his hand on my shoulder and said, “Thanks, Rafe. I owe you one.”
“Don’t mention it.” As he walked out, I told him, “Be sure to let me know what Viper thinks about Schommer and the email.”
“You know I will.”
Once he was gone, I turned my focus to getting the receipts logged into the computer, being careful to do each one exactly like Menace would do. I was double checking every entry to make sure I didn’t fuck anything up when Country and Lynch appeared in the doorway. I could see by the looks in their eyes they were up to something, and I wasn’t having any part of it.
“No.” I turned my attention back to the computer, but neither of them moved. “I don’t care what it is. The answer is no.”
“Sorry, brother, but this is one time we can’t take no for an answer.” Lynch motioned his head behind him as he said, “Trust me, you’re gonna wanna see this.”
Curious to see what had gotten them both so wound up, I stood up and grumbled, “This better be good.”
“Oh, it is,” Country assured me.
I followed them both out into the main bar. Neither of them spoke as they stopped and stood there staring out into the crowd with goofy-assed grins on their faces. At first, I had no idea who or what they were gawking at. To me, everything seemed to be on point. The girls were up on the stage dancing, and the crowds seemed to be enjoying the show. I was just about to lean over and ask them what had them so enthused when I notice Kate leaning over the center stage. She was all dolled up in a little black dress with a plunging neckline and high heels, and she was barely able to keep her balance as she tucked a bill in the band of Candy’s thong. Even though I was standing clear across the room, it was obvious the chick was drunk out of her gourd. I nudged Lynch with my elbow as I asked, “How’d she end up like this?”
“Tequila.” Lynch chuckled as he repeated, “Lots and lots of tequila.”
“Gonna need more than that, brother.”
“Don’t know much, just that she came in about forty-five minutes ago looking for her boyfriend. Said they were supposed to meet up here, but so far, the guy’s been a no-show.”
“Surprised they didn’t change plans after her fallout with Marlowe.”
“Yeah, Kate was going on about them going at it while she was sitting at the bar. Had herself a few tequila shots and started jabbering to whoever would listen.” His eyes remained on Kate as he continued, “Hell, I don’t even know what all she was saying. Didn’t fucking care. Just know she ended up making her way over to the stage, and she’s been there ever since.”
For someone who’d snubbed her nose at the whole strip club scene, Kate was having herself a hell of a time. As I stood there watching her fawn all over Candy, I became angrier and angrier. With her callous mouth and attitude, this girl had wrecked Marlowe, and from the looks of it, she couldn’t have cared less. When Candy extended her hand and helped Kate on the stage, Country snickered. “Ah, hell. Things are about to get interesting now.”
“Looks like Marlowe’s sister has herself a bit of a wild side, or it could be she just can’t handle her booze,” Lynch mocked.
“I got a feeling it’s the latter.”
Kate was making quite a spectacle of herself, grinding up on Candy like she was her next big conquest, and the crowd was enjoying every second of it. It wasn’t the first time one of the girls brought someone up on the stage with them. It was a way of changing things up and drawing more attention, and tonight was no different. The way Candy and Kate were carrying on was definitely drawing attention. As much as I wanted to say ‘fuck it’ and let the show continue, I couldn’t do that. Even if she was a royal bitch, she was Marlowe’s sister, and I needed to get her the hell out of there. When I started towards the stage, Country called out to me, “Hey, man. Whatcha gonna do?”
“I’m gonna put an end to this shit.”
“Why?” he pouted. “It’s just getting good!”
Ignoring him, I continued forward, weaving between all the tables and made my way over to Kate. By the time I actually got to her, Kate was reaching for the pole and was about to take a twirl. “Kate!”
She stopped and turned to see who’d called her name. As soon as she saw it was me, her lips curled into a provocative smile and she purred. “Umm, Rafe. Hello there, handsome.”
“It’s time to go.”
“What? Why?” she slurred. “We’re having such a good time.”
“I see that, but the party’s over. It’s time to get you home.”
I motioned my hand for her to come towards me, but she didn’t budge. Instead, she grabbed ahold of the pole and took a quick spin, making sure to lean back far enough for everyone to get a peek at her cleavage.
I quickly turned my attention to Candy and nodded my head, letting her know I was done with the bullshit. Not wanting to make a bad situation worse, Candy inched over to Kate and coaxed her over to me. The second she was in reach, I grabbed her by the waist and tossed her over my shoulder, then immediately charged towards the front door. All the while, Kate was giggling and calling out to Candy, “Do your thang, girl! Shake what your momma gave ya.”