"Have you ever been shot?"
That made him stop suddenly enough that I plowed right into him, having to grab the railing to keep myself from tumbling down the stairs.
"What?"
"Shot? You know. Bang bang. Bullet. Hole. Lots of blood."
"I, ah, I've only been grazed. Stabbed a few times, though."
"From being a Henchmen?"
"Ah, no. Before. When I was knocking heads for a living."
"No one has been shot being a Henchmen?"
"Ah," he said, eyes going soft. "I see where this is going."
"This isn't top secret stuff. Like whatever Huck and the guys are doing tonight. This is old news. You can tell me old news. You've told me a ton of it already."
"Alright," he said, letting me into his apartment, dropping down onto the couch, taking a deep breath. "As a whole, the club has been stable. Once you secure the market, crush even small competition, stay vigilant about security, it can be a surprisingly safe gig. That said, Reign lost most of his guys a long time ago. Someone came in and took out everyone but a handful of the guys. Since Reign ramped up security, though, things have been relatively safe. I think the most trouble that we come across these days has to do with the women who have been coming into the guys' lives."
"You're trying to say something without having to say it," I accused.
"Fuck," he hissed, raking hands down the steadily regrowing beard on his face. "Alright. Look. I don't want to lie to you. Taking over the arms trade is not a small thing. It's fucking huge. Especially in a place like here. There is a lot of crime going on that you have no idea about."
I had a clue.
Lots of drugs.
Lots of human trafficking.
That was why the guys made me carry that cat eye-gouger on my keychain, why I kept pepper spray in my purse, why there were strategically placed hammers and screwdrivers in both my car and my apartment.
I understood that where we lived was a bit of a cesspool for a lot of criminal activity. But he was right, I didn't exactly know the inside scoop on most of it.
"Okay."
"Taking over something as lucrative as gun running, in a place like this especially, is risky. There is competition established here already that needs to be handled. And even if that is accomplished, there will constantly be testing from others coming in, thinking they can take your brother's crew on. It will take a long time for them to prove themselves big and strong and connected enough that people will stop trying to take them on. It will happen. That is where Reign has been for a while. But it is going to take Huck and the guys a lot of time. And during that time, there is going to be a lot of shit that goes down. I'm not trying to scare you," he added, reaching out, giving my knee a squeeze, "But i want you to have a realistic expectation for how things are going to be for a while."
"Do you think they are good enough?" I asked.
"I think they're hungry enough to prove themselves. And if they don't get too cocky, they definitely have a chance. Huck is going to need to expand eventually. But as things are now, if they are smart, they can do this. I wouldn't still be here if we—the guys in Navesink Bank and I—didn't think they have what it takes."
That was at least a little reassuring.
"And at some point, Reign and a bunch of the guys will come down here. They will straighten shit out. Give advice. Throw their weight around if they need to. It will work in their favor that, while they are an independent operation here, they are connected to something much bigger. That will carry some weight for anyone thinking they can try to take the arms trade down here. Even if they could take out this crew, they know the guys in Navesink Bank would be duty-bound to seek out retribution. And let me tell you one thing about The Henchmen, honey, they take that shit seriously. And you don't want to fuck with these guys."
"What? You mean they aren't all puppy dogs like you?" I teased, kicking him with the top of my toe.
"I'm not telling you shit about them. You'd drop me real quick to chase them instead," he added, smirking.
"They're all married," I countered, knowing that from the many stories he'd shared with me about those men and women who made up a sort of extended family for him.
"Colson's not."
"Yeah, but he has Jelly, right?"
"Yeah. But you said you want kids."
"No sane man wants me around his kid," I shot back, smiling. "Fucking up my own kids is a complete other thing. That is my prerogative. Since I got to incubate them inside me for nine months."