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“You called me.”
“Protocol—”
“Would be Christian.” He shrugs and tosses the rag in the trash. “I’m thinking me because Leo ends up not asking questions, adding shit together and making moves. Christian’s a fuckin’ hot-edged, chaos theory in action. Hey, he’s my cousin’s husband and close friend. He’s gonna just make moves and spill blood, Maybe ask questions when he’s done. Me? I got the little fuckin’ family at home, and I’m a cold bastard.”
Oh, I read him, loud and beyond clear. He wants to line everything up and protect what’s his.
“Theo.” I rub the back of my buzz cut. The velvet brush that usually calms me, doesn’t. Fuck, I’m more on edge than a newbie. Fucking exes. Fucking phones. “Certain things are going on, we think. Weasel may have to do with that, and he may not.”
“Why the fuck—”
“Because he had nothing to give us.”
He knows why I’m talking over Tizio and even Nicolo. The newest member. Sure, I’ve fucking been here years, but newest in the higher-ups is newest, even if that’s a long ass time. And newest gets a little leeway with the deniable plausibility.
“Leo said O’Grady’s been around a lot, in and out. More than usual.”
“Lowlanders were mentioned but just a crew who’s done some work for them. We haven’t heard of them. That’s it.”
Nicolo takes a chair and sits. “We did O’Grady a solid. What did you hear?”
Theo shrugs again. “Just something at an event that he’s around more than usual. Leo paid attention as did I. We like to keep an eye on players, just like you.”
“In and out of town and more time here?” Tizio asks.
I frown. “Maybe there’s something going on in the ranks.”
“Our thoughts too.” Theo nods. “But they’re fuckin’ closed as a clam on a winter’s day. But he was seen at a small town near Corpus Christi. Dude’s got fingers everywhere, but it seems there’s been gangs causing undue problems.” He grins. “You didn’t hear this from me. But if there’s anything that could threaten us, I want to know. Nicolo, tell Avah to come by.”
He heads for the door as something in me turns hard and cold and starts to sink, dragging a sea of unsettled waters with it.
“Which town?” I ask.
Theo scratched his chin. “Ender’s Ridge.”
Fuck.
I look at the others. “I’m gonna need some time off.”
ChapterTwo
NADIA
“What’s the fuckin’ problem?”
I grip the phone, finger pressing hard into it as I press myself into the wall at home. I don’t know why it’s a habit I have when it’s someone who can floor me on the other end.
Who am I kidding?
Diego.
When it’s Diego.
The man I haven’t seen for ten years. The man who smashed my heart, betrayed me, and oh, shit. I didn’t expect him to call me back. I hoped.
I definitely didn’t figure his first words to be those.
A tremble starts from my toes, spreads through me, and I can barely breathe.
