The Broken Pieces of Us (The Devil's Dust #2.1)(4)

“I will not watch my daughter kill herself, shoot herself up with poison and whore herself out for a high.” Her voice cracks, heavy with emotion. “I have watched my daughter die more times than a mother should in one lifetime,” Ruby says, wiping her face with the back of her hand.

“So what are you saying?” I question, looking back down at the fragile eighteen-year-old in the hospital bed.

“I’m done. I have given her more than enough chances; this was her last. She wants to kill herself, she can do it elsewhere,” Ruby declares, turning and walking away. How can she say that? How can she give up on her daughter? Does she not remember what her own mother did to her, throwing her out to the wolves? This is why Ruby called me. She knew I wouldn’t walk away from Scarlett.

I grab Scarlett’s limp hand and give it a squeeze. I look at her and take in her deathly sight. Her red hair, which is just a bit darker than my own, hanging in clumps, big dark bags sagging from under her eyes. “Looks like it’s just you and me, baby girl,” I whisper.



I wake up chipper today, anxious to see the look on Locks’ face when Babs comes in for the day. I grab some clothes off the floor and hold them to my nose, sniffing for cleanliness. One good thing out of having Babs at the club, I’ll have clean clothes. I put on my black shirt, ripped up jeans, boots, and cut. I grab my cigarettes off the side table and head into the main area.

“Oh, Locks, you’re the worst,” Juliette flirts, pulling on her green jacket. Juliette is one of the girls who has daddy issues, stays around f*cking any man who will show her the least bit of attention. She flips her long hair over her shoulder, her vibrant spider tattoo climbing her hand and catching my attention.

“Oh,” she says, surprised, “I didn’t see you there, Bull,” she continues with a fake smile.

“No problem, darlin’,” I reply, squeezing past her. I pluck a cig from the pack with my lips and light it just as my phone vibrates. “What?” I snap into the phone.

“How dare you touch my daughter like that?” It’s Roxy. I was wondering when I was going to hear from her.

“I got shit to do. What’d ya want?” I ask, getting straight to the point.

“She just got those extensions; you better pay for that!” she demands, her tone screeching into the line, causing my head to instantly throb. Roxy is like a damn Barbie, but with ass and tit implants. As long as she didn’t open her mouth to speak, she was a good lay. But that was about it.

“Yeah, okay?” I say flat.

“I’m coming down there and—”

“You come down here, I will shave your f*cking head,” I threaten into the phone line. She gasps and goes silent.

“What happened to us, Bull? We used to be so good together,” she responds, her tone soft and more reasonable.

“We weren’t good together. You were just a chick I f*cked. Your daughter keeps her shit up, she will be banned from this club.” I hang the phone up and growl in frustration. If only getting rid of Candy would be so easy. Candy is well liked by the boys around here. If I got rid of her, I would have a riot of horny men on my hands.

Babs walks into the club just as I’m making my way into the common area.

She has her curly red hair down, letting it drop down her shoulders. Her leopard top is so tight it outlines her tits perfectly, and her black jeans show off that nice ass of hers. What can I say? I’m a tits and ass man.

“I’m here,” she says, her hand on her hip, smacking some gum.

“You are,” I reply, taking a drag off my cigarette. I glance around the bar; it’s disgusting. How she will get it cleaned is beyond me. I pull some cash from my wallet and hand it to her. “You are going to need to go get some cleaning supplies,” I inform her. “Oh, and pick up some coffee and something to eat around here.”

She takes the cash, eyeing it.

“What are you doing here? I thought I told—”

“I work here now!“ Babs yells over my shoulder, interrupting Locks mid-sentence, who has just entered the bar.

“What the f*ck you going on about?” Locks questions, shrugging on his cut.

“She is working around here now. This place needs a woman’s touch. She just happened to be at the right place at the right time when I came to that conclusion,” I explain, stepping in front of Babs. I look down at my feet, curious how they moved without my thinking. Why do I feel so protective of her?

“This ain’t no place for a f*cking woman,” Locks barks, his face turning bright red.

“You might be involved with a lot of shit around here with you being my vice president, but this doesn’t concern you,” I reply, quoting his words he said to me just yesterday. Locks bares his teeth, his hands flexing as he hollers out and knocks over a stool. He points at Babs, blowing air into his cheeks, spit bubbling over his lips in the process. Babs stands a little taller and slaps his hand out of her face. Good for her.

Locks’ face takes on a stunned expression, gone with the red blustery look. His face turns pale and his mouth parts with surprise.

“Go cool off,” I order Locks.

“What?” Locks says, shaking his head as if to clear his thoughts.

“I said go clear your f*cking head,” I repeat, pointing at the doors. Locks scowls at me and stomps to the doors, throwing them open with anger.