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“Yeah, you’re a real catch, Bent!” he yelled. Lucas and Jess joined us upstairs, and of course Dante had to dial up the charm as he shook Jess’s hand.
“Pleasure to finally meet you,” he said.
“Likewise.” Jess smiled easily as she shook his hand, then sauntered over to Manson so she could greet him with a kiss, before coming to me. I picked her up off her feet to kiss her, grinning, because I could smell sweat and sex on her and had to wonder what she and Lucas had gotten up to.
Before she could settle in on the couch, Dante leaned forward in his seat, looking between us conspiratorially. “Listen up for a second. I’ve been meaning to bring up something to you guys. There’s...uh...”
His eyes flickered to Jess for a moment, uncertain. She didn’t notice, so I said, “Baby, would you go up to the house and see what’s taking Jason so long? He’s been holed up in his room all damn day.”
“Sure! I’ll get him out here.” She rubbed her hands together with a mischievous grin before she disappeared back down the stairs and outside. Lucas took a seat next to Dante, and I noticed for the first time that something was different about him.
“What the fuck happened to your wrists?” I said as he rubbed the reddened marks on his skin. Manson was on high alert instantly, jerking upright in his seat to look.
“Nothin’,” Lucas said quickly. But he caught Manson’s eye and winced. “There was an incident at the outlets. We ran into those old bitch friends of Jess’s and they planted something on me. Almost got arrested.” Then, under his breath, he added, “I almost got tazed...”
“You fuckingwhat?” Manson was out of his seat and by Lucas’s side in an instant, grabbing his wrist so he could have a better look. Lucas’s face couldn’t have reached a deeper shade of crimson.
“Damn, easy there, Daddy,” Dante said. “Your boy is still alive, he’s okay.”
“Thanks to Jess,” Lucas said, shaking his head. He looked weary, and rubbed his hand over his head. “I’ll tell you about it later.”
Manson still didn’t look happy. He stayed where he was, planted against Lucas’s side as we finally gave Dante his chance to speak.
“Now look, I don’t want to scare y’all and I didn’t want to scare your girl either,” he said. “But there’s some weird rumors floating around. Apparently there’s some people that really have it out for the four of you.”
“No fucking shit,” Lucas muttered.
“Well, it’s getting serious, because I'm even hearing about it,” Dante said. “Guys are saying someone is out to sabotage you, and I’m not talking about just slashing tires or some good old sugar in the gas tank.” He lowered his voice, taking a quick glance down into the garage as if he was afraid someone else might hear. “Someone wants youdead.”
Manson was nodding slowly, and Lucas’s jaw tightened up until it ticked. When Dante saw our grim expressions, he said, “I take it that this isn’t a surprise to you?”
“Unfortunately not,” I said. “There have been some issues.”
“That’s putting it mildly,” said Manson. “Are you thinking something is going to go down at the show this weekend?”
Dante shrugged. “It’s a possibility. That’s why I wanted to warn you. I’ve got your back, so do my people. Just say the word.”
I’d never questioned who exactly Dante’s “people” were. He had connections in both low and high places, and that was all I needed to know.
“We appreciate that,” Manson said. “We’ll keep an eye out. Maybe we...” He glanced at Lucas again, at the marks on his wrists. “Maybe we shouldn’t take Jess with us. To the show.”
“Aw, don’t do that to her,” I said. “She’s been looking forward to it.”
“We’ll be looking out for you,” Dante said firmly. “Don’t doubt it. Just keep your girl close. I don’t know who these dudes are or what their problem is, but they’re willing to play dirty.”
“We’ll keep her safe,” Lucas said firmly. Whatever had happened today, it seemed to have lit a new fire in him. “Not a damn thing is going to happen to her.”
I didn’t like the idea of the three of them going to that show without us now that Dante had voiced his concerns. Not that there was much I could do about it, but we were stronger when we were together. Splitting up just made us more vulnerable.
But laying low hadn’t helped us. Trying to ignore the problem hadn’t made it go away. Whatever happened now, we were going to have to start fighting back fast and hard. No mercy. These assholes were getting too bold. And whether Reagan was behind it, or if it was just the same old bullshit, it didn’t matter.
We had to protect each other, no matter what that took.
And that meant people were going to have to get hurt.
