“I’ve got a friend with the city,” Hannibal added. He had friends and contacts everywhere. “Gonna call in some favors and see what I can do about fixing up some houses around the state in different cities. Homes that can be used to help if a need arises.”
“Perfect.” Grim looked pleased. “Any other club business?”
No one spoke up.
The gavel hit the table. “Get out of here, you fuckers. I got shit to do.”
>
Laughter followed as the room emptied and I picked up my phone on the way out, snatching it from the basket outside of the chapel and walking into the cool, crisp outdoors.
I had an important call to make.
Murder answered on the third ring. “Papa! Where the fuck you been, brother?”
“Balls deep in pussy,” I answered, getting a loud chuckle from him in response. “What about you? Ready to put a ring on it yet?”
I’d been giving him shit about Alexa for a long time. Knew he loved her though and I understood his past. It was as full of pain as my own. We didn’t often speak of losing our kids at the same time, but it sure fucked the both of us up for a lot of years.
“As a matter of fact, yeah. You better be here for the wedding too.”
No shit? “When?”
“Valentine’s Day.”
Wow. “I’ll be there,” I promised. “Wouldn’t miss it.”
“Counting on it.” He cleared his throat. “What you need?”
“I need some advice. It’s a delicate situation.”
“Alright.”
“I’ve got a new ol’ lady,” I began.
Murder bust out with a loud laugh. “Knew it. You sounded much too happy not to be serious about bein’ balls deep in pussy.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“Go on.”
“She’s a DV vic. Didn’t know this until last night but she was raped.”
Murder went quiet. “Fuck,” he whispered.
“I, uh, don’t know how to handle this shit. I want to be there for her, but . . .” I trailed off and he seemed to know what I meant.
“You want Lily to call her?”
“I think so. She’s dealing with a lot of shit. Has an 8-year-old too. Boy looks just like Colter at that age.”
“Damn, Papa.”
“They’re mine, Murder. You feel me?”
“Yeah. I get what you’re sayin’. You need help finding that bastard who hurt her let me know.”
There was no bullshit here. Murder understood I was going to kill the man who hurt my Bess.