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“You’ve got it, Wolfe.” Jake hung up, relaying my message to my brother and Ruthless. Their expressions showed exactly what they thought of that, but they complied, raising their arms and spreading their legs for a pat down.
Turning to look at Ace, I caught his eye and waved a finger for him to wrap things up with the judge. We didn’t need an audience for the bullshit my sibling was about to pull.
Picking a tiny piece of lint from the sleeve of my suit jacket, I studied Maddox as he broke free of my security and strode through the packed nightclub. In a leather jacket and ripped jeans, his appearance did nothing to portray the money or power he possessed. Just how he liked it.
Maddox Hale was a name known throughout the city. He’d become the head of the Hale Syndicate after our father died. Despite being two years younger than my thirty-one years, he’d been our father’s favorite. It made sense for him to be the boss. I’d been his second, working close by his side with the help of our best friends, Ruthless Laurier and Ace Quinn. Until Maddox blew it all to shit with one bad decision.
Ruthless followed him at more of an amble, taking his time moving through the crowd, assessing every security person stationed at various points around the room. From where I stood I could see the bruises on his fists. Heavily tattooed, his brown hair was cut into a short mohawk. Of the four of us, Ruthless had changed the most throughout the years. He was harder. Colder. Mean as fuck. Unfortunately, three solid days and nights of torture could do that to a guy.
By the time Maddox’s foot hit the bottom step of the winding staircase leading up to the VIP area, Ace was escorting the judge down. They passed each other without incident, and I released the breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding.
Bourbon in hand, I shoved my phone in my pocket and turned to greet my parents’ favorite offspring. “Hello, Maddox. It would have been nice of you to call first.”
“Why? So you could avoid yet another conversation?” he scoffed, striding past me to help himself to the champagne left on the table.
Instead of using one of the clean glasses available, he tipped the bottle to his lips and took several large swallows. My younger brother was an expert at pushing my buttons. Despite the urge to tear the bottle from his hand and beat him over the head with it, I held myself in check, forcing a tight smile.
“There’s no conversation we can’t have by phone,” I insisted. “What do you want this time?”
Maddox waited for both Ruthless and Ace to join us. As they climbed the stairs, he polished off the rest of the champagne, spinning the empty bottle in one hand. Once the four of us were gathered, he got to the point of his visit.
“I’d like to know how you have the nerve to stand there acting like you’ve done nothing wrong after seducing the wife of one of my men.” Maddox continued to spin the bottle, tilting his head of messy black hair to one side as he studied me. His deep blue eyes flashed with the threat of violence. “What kind of info did you get from her? Did your magic dick get her to spill my secrets, Wolfe?”
Nope. It hadn’t done any such thing. Too bad. The woman he spoke of, Natalie something or other, had been as clueless as a deer in the headlights. Her husband hadn’t told her shit. It had been a waste of time and energy. My so-called magic dick had helped me coax plenty of information from plenty of women in the past. It wasn’t foolproof though.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Mads.” Holding his angry gaze, I stayed calm, keeping my cool. “Maybe if you’d share your plans for Archer with us, you wouldn’t be so worried about us finding out what they are. We both want the same thing.”
“You have no idea what I want,” Maddox seethed, fire in his words. “And don’t call me that. We’re not kids anymore.”
“Then don’t fucking act like one,” I spat, unable to rein it in. It wasn’t his behavior that got to me but the arrogance in his eyes. The certainty that he would stomp every other syndicate, MC, or street gang in River City into the dust.
The Archer Family Syndicate was an enemy we both shared. One that had plagued us since our entry into this world at a young age. The Archers ran the city before we came along. The Hale Syndicate was small time compared to them, back then. Our father, Aaron Hale, led the initial rise of our family’s small crime empire, turning it into something the Archers feared. The last thing they wanted was to lose their hold on being the superpower around here.
After my father’s unfortunate but totally expected passing, the four of us had continued the takeover, leading the syndicate with Maddox at the helm. But Maddox fucked up, making a reckless move. Pissing the Archers off enough that they hit back, and they hit back fucking hard.
I never dreamed they’d go after Maven. That had been Maddox’s fault. His mistake. One I’d never forgive him for, which is why I’d parted ways with him and the syndicate my father created. Even after everything that had gone down with the Archers, Maddox still wouldn’t work with us to topple their empire.
“All right, time out.” Ace stepped between us, holding up both hands. “Let’s all sit down, have a drink, and talk this out like friends. I’m sure we can all conduct ourselves in a professional manner. Right, boys?”
Always the peacekeeper, Ace glanced between Maddox and me, lips twisted into an uncertain grimace. This wasn’t the first time he’d stepped between us to stop a fight from breaking out. I doubted it would be the last.
Ruthless watched with cold, impassive brown eyes, ready to jump in for his best friend if necessary but willing to stand back and let us scrap. The four of us had been tight until the division between Maddox and me over the dumb fucking decision he’d made. The one that almost got Maven killed. Ace and I walked, splitting off to run our own business our way.
Although I’d never admit it, we were stronger together. The four of us. Maddox would never admit it either.
“I don’t want to sit down,” Maddox snarled, dropping the empty champagne bottle on the table before reaching for the bourbon. “I want Wolfe to own up to his shady shit. What do you know about it, Ace? Let’s not pretend your dicks don’t do half your work for you.”
A laugh erupted from me at that partially accurate assessment. Half the work was a bit of a stretch. Ace was a social butterfly with charm. A wink and a smile from him could get most women talking, and some men too. He and I had been known to seduce, charm, and bargain for our info before resorting to threats and violence. Whereas Maddox and Ruthless were more likely to break faces and cut off fingers. I remained a firm believer in catching more flies with honey than vinegar.
“Leave me out of this one,” Ace said, running a hand through his perfectly coiffed hair. Slightly longer in the front and shaved shorter on the sides, a blond lock flopped onto his forehead. “I’m not the keeper of Wolfe’s dick.”
I took a long sip of my drink, smirking to myself. “Look, Maddox, I don’t know shit about anything you have going on. That’s the truth. Obviously you’ve got a rat in your house, and you’re looking to pin the blame on me. Sorry to disappoint you, but you’re pointing fingers at the wrong person.”
Before the night that tore us apart, Maddox and I had been tight. We spent most of our time together. Studying and partying as teens. Learning to mastermind our family’s syndicate as young adults. We’d even fallen in love with the same woman. It had tied us tighter together, until she almost died. Now we couldn’t see eye to eye on a damn thing. Maddox would argue the color of the sky merely to find a reason to disagree with me.
Maddox poured bourbon from the crystal decanter into a clean glass from the table. Peering into the amber liquid, he swirled it a few times before taking a swig. “Stay out of my business, Wolfe. I mean it. We can’t keep the peace between us if you insist on instigating trouble.”
“Excuse me?” My smirk disappeared. “I thought you said I instigated trouble. I must have misheard you. Trust me, Maddox, you’ll know when I’m starting trouble.”
