“And three more to my location,” I continue.
“Yes,Don.”
“If Stefano comes out of surgery before I get back, I’m the first call.”
“Of course.”
I step closer to him. “Not the second. Not after the doctor finishes explaining. Not after someone thinks I need to stay focused. The first.”
Luca’s throat works.
“The first,” he says.
I nod once.
He leaves immediately.
Spike watches him go, then turns back to me.
“I’ll send a few of my men to cover the hospital too.”
“I told Luca to send two.”
“I heard you.” Spike’s expression doesn’t change. “I’m adding Shadows.”
For one second, I almost argue.
Spike doesn’t have half the number of men I do.
But I don’t.
Because at the end of the day, Palm Springs belongs to the Shadows. People see their cuts and turn the other way. They can move through this city in ways my men can’t.
And because Stefano is lying behind those doors with a bullet in his chest, and I can’t protect him and hunt for my girls at the same time.
“That’s your brother in there,” Spike says, his voice rougher now. “Which makes him one of ours.”
My throat tightens.
Stefano would probably make some ridiculous joke about becoming an honorary biker while wearing silk pajamas and drinking espresso.
But he’s not here to make it.
He’s behind those doors fighting for his life.
Alive only because God and stubborn Moretti blood have not finished arguing over him yet.
I nod once.
“Thank you.”
Spike dips his chin.
“Always.”
Foster lowers his phone to his chest. “The rental is still quiet. No visible movement from the satellite pass I can access, but it’s not live. Drone will tell us more.”
“How long?”
