Page 114 of Weston’s Treasure

“Pray tell, Alec, what have you learned?” Hopper asked, irritation lacing his tone.

“How to play the game.” Alec leaned in. “Travis is dead, the half-wit brother of his as well.”

“You’re wasting my time telling me something I know,” Hopper complained.

“Right. I’ll get to my point then. Silver Coyle is off-limits. You’ll spread that far and wide. Anyone thinking about retribution should think again.”

“That’s not in my control.”

“You better make it in your control, Ellis, you don’t handle that situation you’ll find yourself in a world of hurt. You may like to be owed markers by powerful men. But I like to hold the strings of weak men who conspire and betray the oaths they’ve taken to uphold the law.”

“You don’t—”

“I have everything I need to bury you. Anyone moves in on Silver or Gemini Group I’m holding you personally responsible.”

“It’s a good thing you’ve resigned,” Hopper sneered.

“Yeah. Good thing.”

With that, Alec stood and the rest of the men followed, then they followed Alec out of the restaurant and stopped on the sidewalk.

“Piece of shit,” Alec grumbled.

Ellis Hopper had nothing to do with Silver’s father being taken and beaten. He had nothing to do with the drugs being moved. The only thing Hopper was guilty of was tipping off Sposato. Travis had acted out of greed and anger, roping his brother into a kidnapping scheme that hadn’t ended in the way they’d hoped. But it had ended with both of them no longer breathing. Something Weston didn’t feel remorse about.

“Ready to go home?” Nixon asked.

“Fuck, yeah. I close on the house this afternoon,” Alec announced.

“You and Jameson, neighbors.” Nix chuckled and shook his head. “Glad you came to your senses and came to work for us.”

“Yeah. My checkbook doesn’t agree with the pay cut,” Alec snickered.

“Right.”

As much as Weston was enjoying his friends’ banter, he wanted to get home to Silver. They had a lot to celebrate.

Or they would when she accepted his ring.

36

Alec Hall walked into his house and tossed his coat over the back of the couch and looked around. There was no doubt the house was too big. He didn’t need five bedrooms. He didn’t need the acreage that came with it. The formal dining room, formal living room, along with a study. But he also couldn’t deny it was perfect.

The previous owners had taken great care over the years as they upgraded the kitchen, the three bathrooms, and the floors. Alec had also purchased the house for a song. The bank wanted out from under it, and Alec had gone in with a cash offer.

So now, Alec was the proud new owner of a too-big house and more land than he knew what to do with. Something Nix had said he’d help him sort out come spring.

Alec wandered through the great room into the kitchen, opened the fridge, and pulled out a beer. Before he could pop the top, there was a knock at his door.

He wasn’t expecting company. As a matter of fact, he’d just left everyone he knew at McKenna and Nixon’s house. A surprise engagement party for Weston and Silver. It was still early, but there was only so much he could take of everyone’s could-not-be-missed happiness. Even Jameson’s grumpy ass was smiling and laughing. Something Alec never thought he’d see from the man who’d spent years with a perpetual scowl.

It wasn’t that Alec wasn’t happy for his friends, because he was, but that didn’t mean that the celebration wasn’t a stark reminder he was thirty-eight years old and alone, with nothing but a string of hookups and uninteresting women in his past.

The knock came again and Alec set down his unopened beer and made his way to the front door. Tapping his hip, he felt his sidearm, and opened the door without looking. Something in his line of work he shouldn’t have done, but these days, Alec felt like living on the edge.

On the edge of what, he did not know. He just knew he needed something, anything, and nothing beat the adrenaline rush of a good tussle.

A man he’d never seen dressed in an ill-fitting suit opened the storm door, and the woman standing next to him moved slightly behind the pudgy man as if she were seeking protection. The sight almost made him smile. He got that a lot. He’d also been told more times than he could remember that the way he looked scared most people.