Page 42 of Glacier

She looked at Lurch. “Have you seen the books? Is it profitable?”

“It is.” Lurch nodded. “Jock and Sara are elderly. Their daughter has offered them an annex at her place in Florida. Better weather for their old bones, they tell me. The price they’re asking is reasonable, and we’re always looking for ways to expand our legitimate businesses, although this one will purely be Lawless’s, Glacier’s, and mine.”

That surprised me. I wasn't aware I’d be putting money up, but I kept my mouth shut. Lurch had his reasons for including me, and it wasn’t like I didn’t have the money to invest.

“I’ll need to hire managers,” Juju said. “I won’t be able to run both by myself. Fin will help if he decides to move with me, but it’s still a lot for two people. And he’ll have school. If we’re running guns through the shop, then we need someone we can trust.”

“We can get the Prospects to help in the short term,” I offered.

“Harriet might be interested,” Lurch replied, smiling at Juju. “Seems your little speech yesterday hit a chord with her. She’s the reason I knew about this opportunity. And she’s in the life. Knows how to keep things quiet.”

Juju tilted her head as she looked. I couldn’t read her expression, so I had no idea what she was thinking.

“Do you trust her?” she asked.

Lurch hummed under his breath, thinking about her question before answering.

I knew what he would say on before he answered. The only Club Tarts we trusted were Rita and Harriet. I didn’t picture Rita doing anything else, but Harriet? Yeah... she’d always wanted more.

“I do,” Lurch said finally. “She was never meant to be a Tart. We tried pushing her towards something else, but the girl’s a homebody—never wanted to leave Bitterthorn. Problem is, with her mom’s reputation, the town branded her a whore before she even had a chance. Guess she figured it was the life she deserved… until your speech.”

Juju turned to look at me as if for confirmation.

I nodded. “Lurch is right. Harriet was never meant to be a Tart.”

I didn’t know how Juju would handle working closely with one of our whores. She hadn’t judged yet—but she hadn’t had a reason to.

I hesitated to ask, but I had to know where her head was at. “Is it gonna be a problem for you, darlin’? Working with one of the Tarts?”

Juju snapped her head around and glared at me.

“First off, don’t call them that. They’re no different from anyone else who never had opportunities handed to them. And no, I don’t have a problem working with Harriet. Who you slept with before me isn’t my business.” Her eyes narrowed. She sent me a heated glare. “But if you cheat on me, I’ll cut your balls off before I slit her throat. Take this as your one and only warning.”

Lurch coughed to hide a laugh.

I grinned. “Fuck, darlin’. You make me hard,” I muttered, adjusting my jeans.

Juju rolled her eyes and turned back to Lurch. “As long as Harriet works hard and doesn’t cause me problems, we won’t have one.”

Lurch nodded. “She won’t. And for the record—Glacier never slept with her.”

“It wouldn't matter if he had. She’d still be welcome to work with me. I don’t judge, and like I said, as long as she works hard, we won’t have a problem.” She checked the time. “I’ve got to get going. I want to be home before dark. I’ll message Dad that I want a family meeting tonight. But I’d go ahead and buy the hardware store. It’s a good investment.”

I hated that she had to leave. Juju must’ve felt the same because she walked to me and wrapped her arms around my waist, laying her head on my chest. “Three weeks and I’ll be back.”

Lurch caught my eye over her head and pointed upstairs, where I knew the owners lived.

I nodded.

He moved to the front doors and secured them before taking the stairs to the apartment above.

Once we were alone, I pressed my lips to her head and just held her. I wasn’t exactly thrilled that I wouldn’t see her for weeks, but I also knew it was needed if we wanted to make this work.

“It’ll fly by, darlin’,” I reassured her. “We’ll speak every day. Get the men in your family on board, but fair warning. I’m giving you three weeks before I come for your ass. I’ll be moving you in whether you like it or not.”

Juju snorted a quiet laugh and tipped her chin at me. Pushing onto her toes, she pressed her mouth to mine. Her lips clung for a second before she breathed out a soft sigh and settled back on her feet. “I’ll hold you to it, big man. Now, come on. Get me back to my truck so I can get on the road.”

Taking her hand, I led her out the back of the hardware store, securing the doors behind us. I pulled my phone from my pocket and sent Lurch a message.