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“Done.” Nate’s eyes narrowed in concentration. “He won’t get through me.”
“He won’t get through any of us,” Dominic corrected. “We’re a team. It’s going to take all of us to protect her.”
For the first time, I really believed it. We were a team, and nothing was going to change that.
Before I could get too sappy, Joaquin was there, and so was the reek of whiskey.
“Are you halfway through the barrel, Uncle?” I asked, my lip curled.
“This is my only living son’s wedding. Am I not allowed to enjoy myself?”
The hit landed but didn’t penetrate. Rey was dead and I missed him desperately, but I couldn’t let myself fall into depression over his loss again. None of us could afford it.
“Of course you are, but need I remind you that while we are family, we are new family. It would be best to keep your head in situations like this.”
“Don’t trust your new patriarch?” he sneered.
“Watch yourself,” Dominic said, angling himself so that he was between us. It was instinctual, because sober Joaquin was annoying, but drunk Joaquin was a wild card. Still, I couldn’t let Dominic defend me.
“Dominic.” That was it. One word. I could feel the urge to deny me, to argue that he was doing his job as underboss. For a second, I worried we were right back where we started, with him thinking he knew best.
Then, he moved. Every step was clearly angry, but he did it, and that was more than I expected. It gave me more hope than anything else he’d done had.
He was trusting me to take care of myself, and once again, I felt hope bloom in my chest.
Could I really have it all?
Maybe. I just had to get through the clusterfuck that was the incoming war, then we’d see.
“What seems to be your problem today, Joaquin?” If I let him lead the conversation, we’d be finished on the Fourth of Never.
“My problem is we’re shot gunning a wedding that should be the celebration of a lifetime. For Christ’s sake, when your father ran the family, weddings took months—sometimes years—to prepare for.”
“And yet, my father’s dead,” I said bluntly. “I’m running things now, and this is how we’re doing it.”
“But why?”
People were beginning to stare, and I didn’t have the energy to watch him wrap the noose around his neck and pull. “Are you questioning my authority, Joaquin?”
“No, I’m asking for clarification.”
“Then you should’ve done that two weeks ago,” Greyson admonished. “In private.”
“How could I when she’s been holed up with you three for months? Do you expect me to watch you fuck her?”
Nate stepped up, clenching his fists with anger. “Watch yourself.”
Joaquin huffed with disbelief. “You’ve got the new guy fighting your battles now, Mari? This isn’t how we trained you.”
No, he and my father had trained me to fight my battles on my back, legs spread. Surprise. I’d found my own way to win.
If my uncle’s words bothered Nate, he didn’t show it. “I may be new, but I’m not stupid enough to poke the bear in front of a crowd. Keep going, and I’ll grab popcorn while she rips your face off.”
Joaquin opened his mouth, and I’d had enough.
“We’re here because we need allies,” I said clearly. “O’Bannon has the second-biggest territory in the city. If we don’t maintain his alliance, we’ll be dead.”
Another drunken scoff, this one colored with anger. “So this is about him.”
