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“Thanks, brother,” he said to Venom as he met each of our gazes one by one. “Due to the delicate nature of this request, it was unwise for us to relay it over open lines. We had a job request from Lorenzo De Luca. As I’m sure you know, he has retired to Texas, and his son Gabriel has taken the reins.” We nodded, as this wasn’t news. Lorenzo De Luca had been the head of the Sicilian mafia in Chicago until he’d retired. He’d been ruthless, but shrewd. His son Gabriel was no pushover, but from what we’d heard through the grapevine, he wasn’t as brutal as his father had been.
Silver continued. “He told us he has a job that he wants us to handle. One that he knows Gabriel will never approve of. I don’t know exactly what it is, but I can guess it has something to do with his youngest son being killed last month.”
The death of De Luca’s youngest son had made national news. There wasn’t a soul in our world who didn’t realize it was no accident.
“No disrespect, but what does that have to do with us down here?” Raptor questioned.
“The job involves a disposal and cleanup. Since that’s your specialty and the job is in your backyard, that’s why I’m here. He reached out to us specifically because of our history with them. We said we’d talk to you to see if you were interested, then let him contact you directly if that was the case. He said to tell you the compensation would be worth your while.”
Raptor met Venom’s gaze, and the silent communication that went on between them wasn’t lost on us. None of us liked that Lorenzo De Luca had a job that was in our area, because the possible ramifications to that were endless.
Kicker raised a brow and stroked his red-and-gray beard. As our treasurer, he collected the money at our businesses and double-checked the books. Money was his language.
“We’ll put it to the vote. I’ll make a motion to talk to De Luca,” Venom announced.
“I second that motion,” replied Chains.
“All in favor of talking to Lorenzo De Luca?” It was a unanimous vote. Though I had a bad feeling about this whole thing, it didn’t hurt to see what the guy wanted. Especially if the pay was as good as Silver was hinting at.
Raptor cleared his throat. “One other thing I need to mention is that the Bloody Scorpions have been nosing around in our area.”
“What the fuck? They know they don’t come up here.” Venom’s eyes flashed, and he growled in anger.
“Don’t know. They don’t seem to be doing anything, just riding through.” Raptor leaned to the side in his chair, throwing an arm across the back.
“Everyone keep an eye out. You see them anywhere, you phone in immediately. We’ll chase their asses all the way back to South Des Moines if we have to,” Venom stated. Everyone agreed.
“You sticking around for the party tonight?” Venom asked Silver, who grinned and nodded.
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” he replied. “If you guys need any help with the Scorpions, you know we’d be here in a heartbeat.”
“I sure appreciate that, Silver,” Venom said. “Anyone got anything else? Or can we go get ready to party?”
Everyone around the table cheered for partying.
“Sure you’re gonna be able to hang, old man?” Raptor teased. Silver was out of his seat in the blink of an eye, reaching across the table for Raptor’s shirt. Venom’s hand made a cracking noise as he slapped it around Silver’s wrist to stop him. With his hands clenched, eyes narrowed, and nostrils flaring, Silver breathed heavily.
“Bro—it was a joke. Easy,” Venom said quietly. He was a bit of an empath, to the point that he could calm someone by touching them. It was a little unnerving at times, but who was I to judge, considering my own abilities. He let go of Silver’s wrist and sat in his seat.
“Seriously, I didn’t mean anything by it,” Raptor agreed, but I could tell he was ready to come unglued at a moment’s notice. Those crazy amber eyes damn near glowed.
“My apologies,” Silver said, but his jaw continued to tick. Slowly, he relaxed.
“We good, boys?” Venom asked. Though he appeared to be letting Raptor and Silver handle shit, I didn’t miss the way he was ready to jump out of his chair again if need be.
“Yeah, it’s all good,” Silver grudgingly offered.
Venom gave Raptor an exasperated stare that clearly said he should’ve known better. Silver was a dude who would beat the fuck out of someone for calling him “old.” Seriously, he was that sensitive about it, and we all knew it.
After Raptor shrugged in chagrin, Venom called an end to church. He and a now calm Silver sat at the table, catching up. Things had been a little tense for a minute, and I’d worried that as my chapter’s enforcer, I’d need to step in. It went against our code to lay hands on a brother without due cause, but we were all guilty of being a little edgy at times.
I pulled Shank, our SAA, to the side. “Hey bro, I need to take off for a bit, but I’ll be back tonight. You need anything before I go? I don’t want to interrupt while they’re talking.” I motioned to where Venom was laughing with Silver.
“Where you off to?” His dark eyes met mine as he pulled out his smokes and walked with me to the door. Once we were outside, he lit up and took a deep drag. The wrinkles on his face spoke of years in the sun.
“Got a vet appointment for Zaka. Shouldn’t take long.” I pulled my shades out of my inner pocket.
Shank nodded. “Hawk and your mama gonna come to the party tonight before they head down south?”
