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Who the fuck knows what drives them when you take away what they prefer. I doubt they can find one thing they all agree on other than paper with dead presidents on it.
Natalie chews on her lip for a second before she looks over. “Gina.”
“Sup?”
“Do you remember Colombia?”
The woman nods slowly and speaks even slower, as if she’s afraid of what her answer might lead to. “Yes.”
“Do you remember where you might have buried some of the bodies?”
A wicked grin spreads across Gina’s face. “I always remember where I bury them.”
That’s not creepy at all. A shiver races down my spine, and I notice I’m not the only man in here who adjusts in his seat. Gina is pure evil with that look.
“Okay, get me that information. Please,” Natalie adds with a small smile that has Gina’s softening to a normal one that doesn’t give me the heebie-jeebies anymore.
“Atom, do you think you can get me in touch with Psycho?” She says his name like a question. Maybe because it’s a name with a basic meaning for being the cruelest. And that he’s the president of the biker club probably speaks more of the group than anything else.
Or she’s just reluctant to ask this of me. Because of the history we have with the club, and because the last time she and Psy spoke, I claimed her as mine.
“I don’t like it,” I voice my opinion.
She looks at me with wide eyes and shakes her head with a disbelieving laugh. “You make it sound like I have a choice. I have no one else.”
I think it over and realize she’s right. No matter how many options I go through, I don’t see another way out of it either.
I clasp my hands together and rest my forearms on the table, leaning forward a bit. “What are you going to do?”
“Ask for a trade.”
“His sister for him to stand by you.” I don’t have to ask the question. It’s the only play she has on the table.
She shrugs. “Thought as much.”
“It could work,” Vinny says, drawing our attention. “Psy isn’t as crazy as he plays at. He’s smart and ambitious. Connecting himself to the Yakuza might help if shit goes down with the cartel that he can’t get out of.”
“You know Psy?” Natalie asks with confusion and probably a bit of hesitation, as she’s learning the hard way that no one is what they appear. I wish I could shield her from things like that, but I can’t. She has to find shit out for herself, even the hard way.
Vinny looks at her with an indulgent smile. “You’ll soon learn that while we all live in different areas, the pool of who runs the country is relatively small. We might not be acquainted with everyone, but we all know of one another.”
And soon, so will she.
Chapter 27 - Natalie
“So….”
“Yeah?” I look up at Gina and squint. The sun is just about to set, but it’s at the point in the sky where you still catch a sunburst to the eye if you aren’t careful.
I came out here to think a little while back, and Gina came with. She says it’s because she wanted some fresh air, but I suspect my grandfather told her to stay by my side. She’s known as the family assassin for a reason. Either she plans to kill me or protect me. We’ve been here for about twenty minutes, so I guess it’s the latter.
She looks down at me and gives me a head tilt with a shoulder raise. “Married life, huh? It’s a bitch, right?”
“Excuse me?”
She’s looking at me like she expects us to commiserate over our hate of rotten fish, but her words confuse me. One, I didn’t expect her to actually talk to me about something so ordinary. And two… well, I had no idea she was the marriage type. I think it’s the whole “killing for a living thing” thing that had me thinking she preferred the solo route, but I guess I’m still learning.
She waves it off. “No shame to your man. He’s hot and all, but….” Thank God she stopped there. I don’t think I can handle feeling jealous of her liking Atom after absolutely everything else going on. “Come on. Don’t you just want to choke the man out when he snores beside you?”
