Page 17 of Archer (Dirty Misfits MC 3)
She hadn’t done that, though.
“He’s got a point,” Astrid said.
Josie sighed. “Look, I know he’s got a point. But I want to take those assholes down just as much as you do. I never back down from a fight. And you’re right, I’ve never been hurt like this by anyone, much less a group of men. That’s all the more reason why I need to help, though. I’ve got friends who strip with me in that club. Who’s to say they aren’t their next target when things get out of hand again? I’m not letting that happen. I was the first, and I’m going to make sure I’m the last.”
“Sounds pretty convincing to me,” Porter said with a shrug. “Brooks?”
He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “We’ll have to read her in on everything. And we might as well read Astrid in, too, so she’s got someone to talk with that isn’t another man.”
Josie nodded. “I agree, so it’s settled.”
“Archer?” Porter asked.
She held out her hand. “I don’t need his permission.”
Porter quipped back. “He opened his home to you and assumed responsibility for you and your recovery. Yes, you need his permission. And if you don’t like it, you know where the door is.”
That shut her up, but I knew it wouldn’t work for long. “Fine. If everyone else in on board, then I won’t stop you guys.”
She nodded her head. “There. It’s settled. Now, let’s sit down and figure out how the hell we’re going to make this work.”
We all sat down in the living room, except for me. I stood over by the windows to make sure no one rolled up on us at the last minute. The guys filled in Josie and Astrid on things they didn’t know about, and after a brief pause Brooks made sure the girls wanted to get entangled like this. I watched Porter’s shoulders flex and I knew he wasn’t okay with this. After all, it was our job to protect these girls, not throw them into the line of fire.
But seeing the need for justice in Josie’s eyes was something we couldn’t deny her.
So, I sucked it up.
“All right,” Astrid said with a sigh, “that was… a lot.”
Brooks nodded slowly. “Yeah, it is.”
She pointed at him. “You, Porter, and I will talk later. But for now, we need to figure out how the hell Josie’s going to go undercover. I mean, wouldn’t the guys recognize her right away?”
I shook my head. “No, they won’t.”
Everyone looked back at me and Josie nodded. “He’s right. I took my beating well before they started to get to know the staff at the club. They have no idea who works for them and who is simply in their way. They wouldn’t know me from the next dancer, as far as I’m concerned.”
Porter sighed. “That seems like a bit of a stretch. I’d remember any woman I laid my hands on like that.”
Tanner scoffed. “Well, that’s because you’re a decent human being. They aren’t.”
Finn nodded. “I’m with Josie. I think that if we can find some of that tattoo-covering make-up shit to make her bruises disappear and put her in there as waitstaff or possibly a second-tier dancer, we could make this work.”
Josie shook her head. “Nu-uh. I didn’t work this hard to be waitstaff or second-tier anything. I can go back and do my regular—”
“Josie,” I said hotly.
Her eyes whipped over to me. “What do you want?”
I pointed to the guys. “You either listen to them and the plan they have for you, or you’re out. You don’t get to have everything you want, when you want it, simply because you don’t want to admit that you’re a victim of domestic violence. If this is your way to process what’s happened, we’re all behind you. But we’re behind you if you’re working our plan. Not your own. Got it?”
Brooks let out a low whistle as I stared her down. As God as my witness, she wasn't going to take the reins of this and act like she hadn’t just been in the hospital because of what they did to her. She slowly rose to her feet and walked over to me, her eyes growing fiery with every step she took.
And when she stopped in front of me, I raised my head high. “Nothing you can say will change my—”
But instead of interrupting me by firing back, she stood to her tiptoes and kissed my cheek. An action which caused my eyes to flutter closed for a split second.
“Thank you for looking out for me,” she said as she took a step back.
I nodded and opened my eyes. “You’re welcome.”
Josie cleared her throat and turned around. “I’ll have more access to back rooms if I’m a second-tier dancer. But that means doctoring up my employee file to make the demotion look legit. Then, I can tell the girls how I got demoted instead of telling them what’s going on.”
