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The man looked a lot like his younger brother, but he had short, black hair instead of a shiny bald head, and he was taller and less bulky than Trick. His expression was blank, and he didn’t say a word. He just stood and stared at her.
It was making Stiletto uncomfortable, and she was beginning to think he was trying to intimidate her. She was not a woman to be intimidated by anyone, injured or not. When the silence dragged on too long, she huffed and held her hands out to her sides. “What?”
He still didn’t say anything.
“What is your problem? What do I have to do to get you to let the past go? Would you rather I died? Would that have made you happy? Would that have made you capable of forgiveness? Well, I’m sorry I didn’t die. No! No, I’m not. So, tell me. What do you need me to do to prove to you that I’ll be a good mate to your brother? Huh? Tell me.”
Dropping her hands to her sides, she stared back at the biker and waited. His hands were in the pockets of his Howlers cut, and his expression hadn’t changed a bit.
Just as she was about to tell him to fuck off, he said only two words. “Thank you.” Then she noticed the sheen in his familiar brown eyes. It was subtle, but she clocked the sucked in breath and the hard swallow. His voice thick with emotion, he repeated, “Thank you.”
Stiletto swallowed around an emotional ball of her own and gave a nod. “You don’t have to thank me. He’s my mate.”
“Can I…” Brute cleared his throat. “Can I give you a hug?”
The relief that coursed through her was beyond anything she’d felt in a long time. Trick needed her, but he also needed his family in his life. Having Brute start to come around was a step in the right direction.
She nodded. “A gentle one.”
“Right.” He came across the room and carefully wrapped his arms around her shoulders. Against the top of her head, he whispered, “Welcome to the family, Sis.”
That was when the door opened, and Trick stepped through with a pizza box in his hands. He looked over at Brute, who straightened. After a moment, Trick smiled. “About damn time you came to your senses.”
“You gonna trust me around your mate now?” Brute asked with a sheepish grin.
“Maybe not alone, but we’re getting there,” Trick replied, setting the pizza box down on the table. “How did you get in here?”
Brute shrugged. “Rock snagged Ranger’s room key and told me you’d be ordering pizza around 8:30. I figured I’d watch for you to leave and sneak in… just like I did. Had something I had to say to my sis-in-law, and we didn’t need your bear piping in.”
Stiletto snorted a laugh, drawing the attention of both men. Wanting to change the subject before they went back to the bickering they’d been doing for months, she asked, “Which one of you is going to deliver me a slice of that pizza?”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Trick
Whenhesetoutto have the conversation with Crush, Trick knew it was going to be a tense, highly volatile discussion, but it needed to be done if he wa going to bring Stiletto anywhere near the compound. Axle insisted he was to accompany him, and he brought along Rex, since his brother had been affected by Stiletto’s past more than any of the other Howlers. The stakes were high for Trick, and his bear was huffing and pawing at the ground because of it.
They met in the back lot of the strip mall on the compound, across the cul-de-sac from the clubhouse. It held several Howlers and Tiger’s Claw businesses, as well as Crush’s apartment and the church room of the Claws.
Crush brought Pinky and Lucifer with her, which didn’t surprise Trick at all. Lucifer was one of his club brothers, but first and foremost, he was Crush’s mate.
The conversation didn’t start well. Crush had spoken first and demanded that Stiletto not be allowed on club grounds. She didn’t hesitate and wasn’t nice about it. She was rarelyniceabout anything.
After a while, Trick had had enough. “Crush, why do you have to be a fucking bitch about this?” he blurted, his bear roaring with rage inside of him at how their mate was being treated.
“Watch your motherfucking mouth, Brother,” Lucifer warned as he leaned back against the brick wall just behind and to the left of Crush.
Her eyes flashed a goldish-green light from anger as she growled, “The Howlers didn’t lose a member because ofher.”
“Her nameis Stiletto. We lost Shortcake, same as you. I’m not saying she doesn’t have some responsibility. She does, and she’d be the first to admit that, but she is also the reason we were able to find them. Stiletto was on intel. Not one of those slices or slashes was by her hand. Rex can confirm that.”
Rex cleared his throat. “He’s right.”
“She bolted and came tous, knowing she was putting herself in danger. She came tous, Crush.”
She was still glaring at Trick, but it was Lucifer who said, “You voted to let her live.”
Crush’s glare shifted to her mate, and Trick was impressed when Lucifer just met it with a raised brow.
