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“Could be a Volkov,” Gargoyle said. “We only know the head of that snake. Who knows what kind of morons he’s got working for him.”
Zach figured Niko had probably killed all the morons who’d ever gotten anywhere near his empire.
“Or,” Ben looked to Eight. “If you don’t mind my two cents?” Brutus had come over to sit beside Ben’s chair; Ben had his arm hooked over the beast’s broad shoulders, and Brutus had rested his head on the arm of the chair, perfectly at ease. Definitely a good boi.
Eight nodded. “Go ‘head.”
“Tonight’s the first I’ve heard of this charter, but if your guys are doing the usual legwork, maybe somebody sniffed it out on this end. This is Nevada, friends. The Mob made the state what it is. People say they moved out a long time ago, but they didn’t, not really. Their fingers are still long and deep in everything going on border to border around here. They’re just a fuck ton less showy than they used to be, and they’ve got competition now from every other flavor of bad guy. And everybody’s hi-tech these days. I don’t know a crew that doesn’t have a hacker on the payroll. Do you know if your Russians are beefing with the Italians?”
“When the New York families, whatever their origin, are beefing, it makes national news,” Dex said. “They do it messy.”
Ben shrugged. “Not always. I tangled more than my share with those guys back in the day, and I work for ‘em more than my share, too. They know how to be quiet when it suits them. My point is, could be the Italians or some other crew picked up a lead on their own and shared it with the Dragons to stir up trouble somewhere.”
Wiping his hands over his bald head—a sure sign he was at the end of his tether—Eight sighed loudly. “Okay. We’re not gonna work this straight tonight. What we know now is Wash is pissed, the Dragons are primed to hit back, and we still need to move on this charter soon. If the leak is ours, it’s gonna get plugged”—he looked straight at Jay when he said that—“and either way, we move forward now knowing there could be trouble at our back. So everybody keep that in mind. Any questions?” When nobody spoke up, Eight said, “Good. I need to get drunk and eat too much steak.”
Ben slapped his thighs. “I can make that happen.”
His blood buzzing, Zach thought a drunk sounded like the perfect antidote. He drained his beer and stood. “You mind if I use your john?” he asked Ben.
“Through the kitchen and to your left. Can’t miss it.”
With a nod, Zach headed across the yard, his boots crunching in the gravel. The kitchen was brightly lit, and he could see Ben’s daughter’s back as she stood at the counter, chopping something.
Huh. Interesting.
Very nice shape. Cute, heart-shaped ass in a pair of faded cutoffs. Shapely, nicely tanned legs. Straight, slim back in a black sleeveless t-shirt. Most of her right upper arm was covered in black and grey ink. Her long hair was braided down her back and seemed even darker than it had earlier. In fact, it was wet; she’d had a shower.
When he slid the door open and stepped through, she turned around.
Zach stopped dead in his tracks, frozen between the door and its frame.
She was the most beautiful girl he’d ever laid eyes on.
CHAPTER FOUR
The young Bull stoodgaping at Lyra, his big body wedged between the slider and the doorframe.
Even with his mouth hanging open, he was seriously good looking. Not just big but obviously fit. Thick dark hair, just shy of shoulder-length and sort of shaggy-sexy, like the good kind of bedhead. A dark beard, heavy but not long. And intense blue eyes. Lyra couldn’t decide if the intensity was in their color or their focus. Either way, nice.
He wore a plain white t-shirt under his kutte, and the part of his left arm that the shirt left bare was fully sleeved in an elaborate black and grey tattoo. Some kind of garden scene, maybe? She could make out feathers and plants, she thought.
“You need something?” she asked. Her tone was a little sharp; she always felt defensive when she first met a guy, especially one she liked the look of.
He blinked, as if his batteries had just been replaced, and came all the way into the kitchen. “Hey,” he said as he slid the door closed behind him. “Bathroom?”
