Pit: The A**hole Club Series by Saffire Blue (summer books txt) 📕

my door. He’s not my first meeting for tonight, but I knew this was coming. I glance at the screen to check on Skittles.

Instead of sitting at one of the poker tables, she’s talking to Kid and Ox. I turn my attention back to the old man. I remember thinking he was old years ago.

Turns out, Blake Knight is in his late fifties now. He’s still fit and looks as if he could go a few rounds in a prison bathroom again. I never said he wasn’t holding his own that day.

Blake sits and stares at me. I wait for whatever it is he’s about to spit out. “Rumor is you’ve been around Marquis and his races. I told myself it was a lie. You’re too smart for that,” he starts.

“I have something I need to handle. It’s personal.”

“Do you know why I chose you?”

I shrug. “You and my father had bad blood. I was a way to piss him off.”

He gives me a crooked smile. “That was the cherry on top.” He sits back in his chair again eyeing me. “I watched you. You spent most of your time in the prison library. Always in the law books.”

“If no one was going to help my ass, I was going to help myself,” I say.

He nods. “I started to ask around about you. Turns out you were some genius, your professors spoke highly of you. You had promise.”

I fold my arms over my chest. I don’t regret not finishing law school, but he’s right. I would have been damn good at whatever field I chose to practice.

“The word was you have this freakish ability to retain information. You memorized cases, laws, precedents. Your cellmate was let off because of some small detail you remembered from something you read.

“All that’s valuable.” He holds out his hand to wave it around at the club. “You don’t build something like this with cheat sheets and notes on who does what or who needs what.”

“Where are you going with this?”

“You have a quick mind, and you don’t take shit from anyone. So, my question is, what would cause you to get anywhere near those races?”

“Something I need you to stay away from. I can’t do this your way,” I reply.

“Since when has my way differed from yours?”

“Since I can’t be sure that taking control won’t cost someone I care about something they care about.”

“Ah, I see. This is about a woman. I’m old but I’m no fool. Is she worth it?”

I tilt my head and study him. This motherfucker is threatening me in so many words. Not physically, but I understand that he’s telling me that any connections to the races will close the doors he has opened for me.

“I’d burn down your city. So you tell me,” I say with a straight face.

He raps his knuckles on the table and nods, his eyes narrowed on me. “My nephew says to trust. He too won’t give me details. You’ve made me a lot of money over the years so I’m going to give you three weeks to handle your problem.

“Be smart, use your skills, and stay out of trouble. Marquis and his races are trouble. He thinks his gifts buy him freedom in Vander. They don’t.”

With that he stands, buttons his suit jacket, and turns to leave. He pauses at the doorway. However, he doesn’t face me.

“Sometimes the answers are right in front of your face. Your answer to me has shown you’re taking whatever this is personal. Remember what I taught you,” he says.

“Never let it get personal.”

He nods and walks out.

Chapter 24

Daddy Dearest

Skittles

I don’t want Pit to get tired of having me around, so today I decided to pay my dad a visit after work. Listening to him rant about my lack of husband and children will be enough of a distraction for a few hours.

What I wasn’t expecting was to see my aunt the moment I walked into my father’s study. It’s like a fireball of guilt hits me. She turns in her seat in front of Daddy’s desk and gives me a beaming smile. I stutter a step before moving to hug her from behind.

“If it isn’t my favorite niece,” she says.

“Hey, Auntie.” I give her a little squeeze before moving to sit in the chair next to her and across from Dad.

“We were just talking about you and Shawna,” she says.

My stomach turns sour, and I think I’m going to vomit. I’ve never lied to my aunt before. I do mean never.

When I was in that accident all those years ago, she was the first person I called when I knew things were out of hand. I always figured she was the one to talk my father into finally helping Pit.

“Oh yeah? What about us?” I say, trying my best not to let my nerves and guilt show through.

“The ball will be in three days. Shawna’s been on this last assignment for so long now. I hate it when she’s in these locations where the Wi-Fi and phone service are so terrible.”

“Haven’t you gotten her emails? I’ve gotten a few.” The lie feels disgusting on my tongue.

I’ve been the one sending the emails to cover for a missing Shawna. Usually, our parents are too busy to realize when we are MIA for too long. However, events like this ball and other campaign events draw their focus to us a little more.

“I have, but I was hoping the two of you would make an appearance this time. Maybe bring some nice boys along,” my aunt says pointedly.

Her words sting. Why hadn’t I noticed Shawna never introduced Danny to her mom? Three years and not once did she even mention him. That should’ve been my first red flag.

“For Christ’s sake, at her age it won’t be a boy. When are you going to find a suitable husband I can introduce at these events? I’m not getting any younger, I should have grandchildren by now,” my father grumbles.

Here we