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“There are exceptions to every rule, Luca Alvarez.”
“Such as, Graham Crumley?”
His jaw snaps together and he grinds his teeth before answering me. “When a woman puts herself in a man’s position, she gets treated as such.”
“As far as excuses go—” I pause and let that thought linger before I continue, “that’s pretty pathetic. Women and children, they’ll never be as physically paralleled to a grown man who pumps iron and who grew up fighting his way through life.”
“I thought you Alvarez’s were all about women being capable of throwing a punch, shooting a gun, and trash talking? So now, who’s being the contradictory one?”
This fucker needs to be put in his place. If I weren’t tied up and restricted, I’d be more than happy to be the one who puts him there. But since I can’t punch him with my fists, I’ll do it with my words. “You’re right. We are all about teaching our women to take care of themselves. We instruct them how to survive, how to fight, and how to take someone down who’s using their size to terrorize them. However, we’d never maliciously or viciously attack a female just because we don’t like how she stands up for herself, others, or puts a bully in their place. It’s infuriating and shameful to us with morals how some men use their density as an intimidation tactic, isn’t it?”
The uppercut to my chin doesn’t come as a surprise to me after the way I antagonized and riled him. I suspected he’d react in this way. Once he takes two steps back, I raise my brow.
“And you just proved my point, Graham,” I remark. “Your actions don’t match your words. How would you react if I, my brother, or one of our men took a road trip to El Paso and did to your woman what you did to mine?”
“Don’t talk about her!” he shouts, leveling his twitching finger my way. “Don’t threaten what’s mine.”
“Then don’t touch what’s mine!” I thunder, my chest heaving. Being tied down and immobile is irritating and painful for my ego. All I can do is clench my fists and curl my toes. I can’t retaliate using anything outside of issuing verbal threats. “And don’t use her for your dirty deeds, either. Your beef is with me, Julius, and the DreamCatchers.”
“Funny you should mention them. They’re dead. We took them out, didn’t we?” He tilts his head sideways, waiting on my response. When I nod my head, he smirks. The brothers didn’t take them out, an explosion of our own design did. But if he wants to take culpability for our devious scheme, I’ll let him. Makes no difference to me because he and I both know the truth. He rocks his head back and forth, the cogs turning ninety to nothing in his head. And whatever he’s thinking about, has his face turning an agitated shade of red. “Our beef, as you say, is with you and Julius!” he roars. “You took something from us that wasn’t yours to take.”
“I wasn’t aware that a person was another’s possession,” I argue, clicking my tongue. “Who do you belong to?”
“I’m my own person,” he growls.
“Whose dick did you have to suck in order to earn that liberty?” I ask, “because according to your ideology, people aren’t individuals, we’re all in servitude to someone bigger than us until we earn our stripes and claim our freedom.”
“Graham! Take a walk and cool off,” Garrick says, issuing an order as the Hammer’s fist is raised to rein down another series of blows to my already battered and bruised body. As the eldest Crumley brother, he’s the man in charge and the others follow his directives whether they want to or not, it’s the way things work in our world.
“This isn’t done, Widowmaker.” Before he has the opportunity to swivel on his feet and exit this makeshift hospital room, I wiggle my eyebrows at him and blow him a kiss.
“Looking forward to our next debate,” I provoke. “See you next time, buddy.”
“Fucker,” Graham ridicules, trying to belittle me, only his insults are subpar compared to what I’m sure he really wants to say. Garrick has his uses, at least he stopped the beating I’m sure was coming to me before it started.
“You really shouldn’t wind him up,” Rick suggests. “Out of us brothers, he has the worst temper and thinks with his fists and not his brain.”
“You don’t say,” I snark, keeping up my smartass routine. “Maybe you should put a leash on him, Ricky boy.”
“I see you’re full of advice today, Mr. Alvarez. Should I bring your love interest in here so you can steer her in the right direction?”
“And what direction should I steer her toward, Garrick? Please, do share with the class.”
“Toward what will keep her alive,” he counsels, shrugging his shoulders as if that’s a recommendation I should seriously consider. “It may be the only choice she has if she wants to see the light of day.”
“And what does she need to do for you in order for that to happen?” I prompt, needing him to expand on that earlier tip he gave me.
“What she needs to do is help us get our sister back so she can marry the man we made a pact with. You have no idea what the repercussions will be to your family and allies if that doesn’t happen,” he answers.
“Enlighten me, Rick. Tell me what will happen to my brother and our extended family if this marriage contract is broken?”
Grinning, he leans over me and says, “I’ll sell your women to the most sadistic bastard I can find, and I’ll disembowel then filet your men before I chop them up into teeny tiny pieces and spread their fragments from one end of the earth to the other.”
Yawning, I goad him. “That’s a boring threat, Rick. It’s not one we haven’t heard from our enemies before. It’s very unoriginal of you, Garrick. As you can see, our women are still happily with their men living their best lives. My guys, they’re still out on the streets, nobody’s been able to touch them yet. They’ve received the best coaching there is when it comes to avoiding capture by our adversaries. They know every form of martial arts available and have had extensive combat training. Even the military can’t keep up with them. You need to come up with something original if you want to scare me.”
“You’re telling me y’all are the best in avoiding being captured, yet here you are. At my mercy. And don’t forget, we took out the entire DreamCatcher club. We have resources you haven’t even begun to uncover. We’re a bigger threat than you think we are, Luca.”
“Are you?” I ask, slanting my head, pretending to consider what he said. “I don’t think y’all are. And are they? Dead I mean. I’m pretty sure I saw Gunner recently, and he looked alive and well to me.” By now, I’m sure that my brother has lifted the men’s ban of being seen. If I know my nephew as well as I think I do, they’ve already been out there with their feet on the streets making sure their rise from the dead and presence has been spotted.
