“Yep,” I say. “It would. But it would be easier to do, or so he thinks, if I wasn’t here. What better way to get rid of me than to have my ol’ lady’s brother come into my club half cocked and shoot me in the fucking head?”
“Ol’ lady? Yeah, I’m not ready for that,” Mason asserts.
“Well,getready,” Mia chimes in. Fucking little firecracker. I amsogoing to reward her for this tonight.
“Point is, you have to be smarter than this. He’s trying to use you to do his dirty work. I had an interesting meeting with Arlo Frank today up at Henderson, about Nicola’s assault. He was a buddy of Gator’s before my time.” I assess Mason to make sure he’s calm. “I think you and I should have a chat. Settle this. If you don’t like what I have to say, then you cantryto shoot me,” I offer.
“No onewill be shooting anyone!” Mia pipes up. “And I want to hear about this meeting too.”
“Your brother and I are gonna talk first,” I tell her. “This is how it’s done. Club business always comes before personal.” She’s just going to have to accept that.
Mason considers for a minute. He knows I’m telling him the truth, but I can see in his eyes that he still wants to kill me.
“Yep, let’s have that chat,” he says through gritted teeth.
Mia doesn’t argue this time. I kiss her lips and hear Mason mutter“This motherfucker”under his breath. I don’t give a fuck if he likes it or not. He’s going to have to handle this new reality, because Emilia ismine.
“Lock the front door while we’re gone,” I tell her as I lead Mason down the hall to my office.
“Wait!” she calls out, walking toward us slowly. Her eyes are on fire as she looks at us. “You’re gonna play fucking nice.” She moves her hands in a come-hither motion. “Guns.”
I chuckle and look at Mason. “You heard the lady.”
He nods, and we hand our weapons to Mia.
“You can have them back when you both come back in one piece,” she orders, but as we walk, I can still feel the rage rolling off Mason.
“You’re gonna give me my five minutes,” he snarls when Mia is out of earshot.
I chuckle. “I’ll give you ten. No weapons,” I add, taking my rings off and stuffing them into my pockets.
He looks over at me and nods. “Deal.”
I grin. It’s been a while since I’ve had a good fistfight.
This should be fun.
* * *
“Fuck,” I grunt as Mason’s fist slams into my face again.
I swing back, landing a strong uppercut to his jaw.
His head flies back, and he spits blood while I slam him against the wall, gripping his shirt collar.
“You about fucking done?” I ask, tasting blood in my own mouth.
“Not even fucking close. Why Mia? She’s a good girl. She has a good future.”
“I didn’t have a fucking choice,” I admit. “Mia will never be unhappy or in danger with me, but she’s not going anywhere. You’re just gonna have to fucking accept it,” I add, pushing him back as I release him. I run a hand through my hair.
“Until you find another employee to fuck,” Mason bites out.
“Christ.Do you know your sister at all? Do you think saying no to her was an option?”
“Spare me the fucking details,” he mutters, wiping his chin with the back of his hand.
Several minutes of this back-and-forth, and he looks a little more ready to talk.
