“Coincidence,” she murmured. She twisted on the picnic bench to face the red-headed woman who was around the same age as her. Reilly needed to change the topic and quickly. “Trip said you’ll do the books for the new business.”
Sig’s old lady smiled. “Yes, they already added that responsibility onto my pile.”
Reilly frowned. “Will it be too much for you?”
Autumn shook her head. “No. Honestly, I really don’t have enough work right now. I want to keep busy and earn my keep. Once I got all the books straightened out for the rest of the businesses, including the garage and Justice Bail Bonds, I now only need to keep ahead of it. Luckily, Deke was good at keeping the bail bonds books up to date, Dutch, not so much when it came to the garage.”
Reilly laughed. “Yeah, he doesn’t give a shit about keeping track of bills and receipts and the rest.” She dropped her voice low and made it gruff to sound like Dutch. “‘That’s all a buncha bullshit!’” Reilly then scratched her non-existent balls.
Red giggled softly. “Well, thank you for tracking down a lot of the paperwork I needed. That helped a lot. The man would keep a greasy receipt for a hamburger but not one for an alternator, an actual business expense.”
“Hey, I was just happy I didn’t have to do the bookkeeping at all for the garage and now for the emergency housing business. I hate that side of it.”
“Your sister will be happy about you running the new business. Does it have a name yet? Sig didn’t say.”
Reilly shrugged. “They didn’t mention one. They offered me the opportunity to run it but that’s about it. Reese is supposed to be handling the paperwork.” She turned toward her sister who sat with Chelle and Cassie at the next table. “Hey, sis!”
Reese glanced over her shoulder at her.
“Is there a name for the new business?”
Her older sister turned on the bench seat to face Red and Reilly, a plastic Solo cup in her hand, too. “I’m working on putting the paperwork together now. Trip didn’t give me a name. Did they make you the offer? Is that why they dragged you inside?”
Reilly nodded.
Reese smiled. “And? I assume you said yes?”
“Of course. But the business needs a name if no one picked one already.”
“It’s going to be your business for the most part, you pick,” her sister said.
“It’s the Fury’s business,” Reilly corrected her. “I’ll only manage it.”
“Trip wants you to run it as your own. The more money the business makes, the more you’ll make.”
“And the more the club makes,” Reilly added.
“But it’s a business you don’t have to invest a dime in, Reilly. It doesn’t get any better than that. It’s no risk to you.”
Reese was right.
“Truthfully, I’m excited. I’ll finally get to put my education to use and you can stop harping on me about that.”
Reese rolled her eyes. “That education wasn’t cheap.”
“Eventually, I’ll be able to pay you back.” If she did, that would be one less thing Reese could hold over her head.
“I don’t need to be paid back. I’ve never asked that of you. I wanted to give you a solid start in life, that’s all.”
“And you did and I appreciate it. If I can, I want to pay you back,” Reilly insisted.
“I don’t need the money,” Reese said with a frown.
“Then donate it to charity,” Reilly snapped, unable to control the irritation at her sister’s stubbornness.
“Yes!” Cassie chimed in, attempting to cut the tension between the sisters. “That’s a great idea. You can donate it to the Kids Can Do Foundation.”
Kids Can Do was the children’s cancer foundation Cassie’s late husband stole tens of thousands of dollars from. The BFMC had organized a couple of fundraisers so far to raise enough money to replace the funds the asshole embezzled from the charity. Even though Cassie had nothing to do with the crime, she still felt guilty and wanted to help Kids Can Do recover some of their loss. Not to mention, it was a worthwhile cause.
It also didn’t hurt for the club to be involved in goodwill by doing charity fundraisers or helping the less fortunate in and around town. It helped settle the townspeople’s fears when it came to the growing BFMC since the Originals had wreaked havoc on the town all those years ago. Havoc some town residents still remembered.
“That’s fine with me,” Reese answered, getting up from where she sat and moving next to Reilly.
“Then that’s the plan,” Reilly said.
“But with your first million, I’d like you to get out of that apartment and into a house out here.”
Reilly sighed. “So my every move can be watched?”
Reese’s lips pinned flat.
Stella cut in from two tables over. “Reilly, you know Trip wants everyone as close as possible. Not so you can be watched in the way you mean, but to keep you safe. He worries. Judge worries. Hell, they all worry.”
Jet, Rook’s ol’ lady, said, “Just because the feds raided the Shirleys’ compound, doesn’t mean they’re no longer a problem. For all we know, it might only be a temporary reprieve. We don’t know where some of them went, if any of them were released from custody or if any are coming back. Even if the government seizes their land, that won’t stop them from squatting up there. They live by their own laws and they don’t care about breaking real ones.”
“Exactly. They don’t give a shit what the government does,” Stella reminded them. “They think they are their own government. Just because the feds take their land doesn’t mean they won’t try to take it back. In fact, count on it.”
“The guys are aware of that, right?” Reilly asked.
“Of course,” Stella, the black-haired, heavily-tattooed bar owner answered. “They’re using the prospects to keep an eye on things.”
“Speaking of prospects,” Jet began, “Scar isn’t going to be helping you with the new business, is he?”
Jet hated Scar. She didn’t trust him for a second. The feeling was mutual between former cop and the ex-felon.
“No. Trip said Castle and Bones for now.” She was glad she wouldn’t be responsible to keep Scar in line. Even though both Castle and Bones were recently released from prison, too, they didn’t seem as intimidating as Scar. They didn’t look as scary, either.
“Good. Ladies, please be cautious around him,” Jet warned. “I really don’t want to have to plug a .45 between his eyes because he did something stupid with one of you.”
“If he does something ‘stupid’ to one of us, you’ll never get that chance,” Cassie said. “One of the guys will do it first.”
“True,” Jet said on a laugh.
“Does Rook regret sponsoring him?” Chelle asked, her head tipped to the side. She was wearing her glasses and would look like the school librarian she was if it weren’t for the torn jeans, the curve-hugging Harley T-shirt and “Property of Shade” cut she wore. It made her look like a librarian badass, if there was such a thing. If not, Chelle would be the definition. She not only rocked the look, she was one hot momma. “He is really damn scary. I wouldn’t want to be alone with him in a dark alley.”