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“Tim!”
“I’m on their side.” Slowly, he climbs out of the booth and draws a breath big enough to expand his chest and come out on a noisy exhale. “I have to be on their side, Minka.”
“Their side is dumb! It’s immature and unnecessary.”
“You only think that because you don’t know the world we come from.” He wanders closer, then closer again when she takes a step back. “If Pastore knows your name, then that’s already too much. But for him to know your nameandthat you’re married to Arch?” He stops in the middle of the bar and shakes his head. “That’s not small, Minka. It’s a direct threat.”
“No one has come near me!” she cries out. “No one exceptthat,” she points toward Felix, “asshole.”
“Hey.” Felix’s smile makes way for a frown. “Name-calling is unnecessary.”
“They took our brother,” Tim says. Calmer than me. More controlled than I can manage. And a hell of a lot more on-point than Felix.
There’s a reason Tim was born to lead, and Felix comes second best.
“Taking Micah was their warning shot,” he murmurs. “They had to get loud, because we’ve yet to step forward and enter this war they want.”
“So now you’ll willingly walk toward battle?” Finally, tears spring from Minka’s eyes and shatter my heart.
I push out of the booth and hate the way she looks at me like I’m the villain. She looks at me the way she looks at Felix.
“You choose to go to a war you never have to go to?” Angrily, she reaches up to swipe a tear from her cheek. “For a guy I don’t even know. A guy you left sixteen years ago. You could stay here with me,” she whimpers. “Stay, Archer. You don’thaveto leave.”
“If I don’t leave,” I step closer, “they’ll come here.”
“Arch—”
“If I don’t meet them there, they’ll come to Copeland, and by then, they’ll be unstoppable.”
“I don’t want you to go.” Her jaw quivers with emotion that tugs at my broken heart. “I can’t— There’s no way I can rationalize and make this okay.”
“We’ll be fast.” Closing the space between us and taking her hands, I bring her closer and breathe in the panic she emanates. “Felix is right, we have to be united. One or two of us can’t get Micah back. But all four…”
“Is four more walking into slaughter,” she insists. “The Pastores are a dangerous family. They’re powerful, and they want to hurt you.”
Chuckling under his breath, Felix pushes out of the booth and saunters our way. “If you’ve heard of the Pastores of New York, then Iknowyou’ve heard of the Malones. Don’t pretend we haven’t thrived in that city for the last thirty years. And before that,” he smirks, “Copeland itself.”
“You’re a child,” she spits out. “Immature, short-sighted, and ridiculous.”
She turns her glare on Tim next. “You’re a bartender who wanted out of that life. You don’t know that world anymore. You can’t handle being awake before noon! And, if you go, Aubree will never forgive you.”
Finally, she brings her burning stare to me. “And you’re a cop who swears he’s legitimate now. You worked so hard to becomeDetectiveMalone. You risked your life and walked away from everything you knew, all to become this better guy who no longer relies on killing another man for a scrap of turf you never truly earned. If you go, none of you will survive. Micah’s probably already dead, and your other brother is in New York alone right now, so he’s lost to you, too. And your father is dying. The patriarch. Don’t you see? This is theperfectchance for you to break free. Leave that world behind for good and just…” A lone, fat tear rolls along her cheek. “Stay here and be better men.
“Even you, Felix.” She looks across and studies him with eyes that plead instead of condemn. “You have a chance to feel what Archer and Tim have felt for the last sixteen years. You have a chance of freedom.”
He watches her with a hint of tenderness in his expression. He still wants to fuck her… but his putrid hunger makes way for a wash of gentleness just beneath the surface. “None of us are free till Pastore is dealt with, Doc. Not even you. So why don’t you let the big boys get on a plane and defend your pretty little self. Then we’ll come back and play rock-paper-scissors to decide who gets the first round of victory sex.”
Smack.
She pops him in the face with her open palm, crushing his nose flat until blood spurts and dribbles along his chin.
But he doesn’t anger. He doesn’t even react negatively. Just like Tim and I, he’s been beaten too many times in his life to let a bloody nose ruin his day.
“You’re sassy.” He grins so blood settles on his teeth. Then he looks to me, wild and smiling. “You’re lucky. Fuck, Arch, I’d have married her too.”
“Enough.” Before our brother ends up with another injury, Tim steps between us so his back is to Felix, but his eyes are for Minka. “It is what it is, Mayet. Now you need to trust that we’ll take care of business the way we’ve been doing all our lives.”
“Yeah, because you’ve been ‘taking care of business,’ haven’t you? Slinging drinks and breaking hearts.” Wiping her blood-spattered hand on my shirt, Minka steps away with a shake of her head.
