Danny looks over at me, his pretty blond hair curling around his neck. He stops running his finger over his scruffy beard, all his tattoos on display beneath his shirt and jeans. The patch he wears on his leather vest is the same as they always have, in bold coloring with a single tie beneath their name, only where the tie ends, a blade begins. “I am willing to forgive you for killing my uncle and cousin, and wiping out a quarter of our best soldiers, yet you still sit here and insult me, Brantley.”
I run my tongue over my lips and both Nate and Bishop are silent as I lean forward, resting my elbows on my knees. “Danny, I’d wipe my ass with your forgiveness before I’d ever consider an alliance with you. Your uncle and cousin deserved the spray of bullets that pierced their flesh like a hot knife to butter. In fact,” I say, looking up and down his now rigid body, “I often replay the scene in my head when I’m having a bad day. You know, just to make me smile.”
Danny chuckles, but the air is suddenly tight. He glares at me. “You don’t smile.”
“Oh, I do, and I did.” I tilt my head. “Especially when I unloaded those bullets.”
He flies off his chair and his right-hand man, Anakin, has his palm pressed to Danny’s chest. Anakin is the opposite of Danny. Big, strong, wise. He’s older, and he’s more levelheaded. I know this because Anakin “the mighty warrior” came through on a job of mine. I hadn’t taken it. I put his name in the reserve for a rainy day. Truth was, I knew I might need him one day. And I will need him. Maybe not today, but maybe in the future, and boy, is it good knowing you have leverage on someone who resides in the enemy’s camp. I only have one name in my reserve folder, and that’s his. I fought backward and forward with Hector about my reasons. He eventually gave it up. But now with Bishop ruling the pack, I no longer have to worry about the politics of trying to get him to see reason.
“Enough,” Bishop snaps, putting a cigarette in his mouth and lighting the end. He sucks in for a second longer than usual before blowing out a thick cloud of gray smoke. “None of us have seen our wives in a while, so we’re all on edge.” He points to Danny with his finger. “Your uncle and cousin deserved all of those bullets, Danny Boy. You know we don’t act unless needed—” Bishop puffs on his smoke, unaffected, “Right?” When he doesn’t answer, Bishop then points to me. “If you want to continue your beef with Brantley, you go ahead and do that, but I remind you: his reputation should be enough of a warning for you. There is another thing that makes him smile, too, which is why we’re here.”
Slowly, Danny shrugs off Anakin. “What I want in exchange for her safety might surprise you.” He sighs, and my muscles tense. “I don’t want us to have to worry about bullets flying from either of our sides. Bishop, Nate, I know both of you are expecting children, and I just so happen to be, too.” He tosses a photo at Bishop. “My wife. I’m not worried about hiding her from you all because I’m well aware that if you want to find anyone, you’re equipped to do so. I’m showing you this to offer an olive branch. I know who all of your women are, now you know mine.”
I pause. “Poor chick.” Snatching the image off Nate after he’s taken a look, I glance down at it. It’s a photo of Danny and a young woman around our age. Her eyes are the color of the ocean right when the sun hits it. They look incredible against her dark skin and mocha colored hair.
“Fuck you,” he hisses, glaring at me.
“She’s too pretty for you.” I flick the photo back to him.
His eyes don’t detach from mine, a wicked snarl fresh on his lips. “I have no doubt at all that you would tear my head off, Brantley Vaden Vitiosis, but make no mistake, I won’t go down without a fight, especially for my woman and kid. So, you ask yourself if you want your little precious Saint to be walking this earth without her big, bad protector.”
Nate’s knee starts to jiggle under his weight. I already know what he’s thinking, and under normal circumstances, I’d be all for the bloodshed, but right now, and I hate to admit this, Danny is right.
“I want peace between both of us so we can reside on each end of Riverside without the fear that one of us is going to kill each other’s family.”