“My shit’s not with you,” I say, crossing my arms. “It’s with this fucking idiot.”
Jockey’s eyes bulge. “You have no fucking clue who you’re talking to, who you’redealingwith—”
I turn back to Jockey and this time he takes a reflexive step back, but not fast enough, and I slam my fist into his jaw. He reaches for me, manages to hook me in the face clumsily, but I get his collar and yank him forward, nailing him in the gut with my knee, once, twice. He makes a strangled sound and I grab him by the hair and slam his face into the door frame.
“Jesus,” I hear Margot say on a sharp breath, but she says nothing else, and makes no move to stop me.
Jockey is coughing, blood spattering his open hand, and I turn back to his guys. “I’m not going anywhere,” I say simply. “This town’s in my blood. And unlike this little bitch,” I jerk my head toward Jockey, moaning on the floor, “I’m gonna run it. Right. Rebuild. You can take that to whoever you report to, and we can talk. But rest assured I’ll be here, right here, and I’m not leaving.”
“You don’t leave,” says the dark-haired guy, “we gotta make you leave, man. It’s not personal.”
Byleave, I’m pretty sure he means permanently, and I get a sudden dark flash of a bag over my head, of plunging ankle-deep into the cold river, a single sharp gunshotcrack—ears perking and heads going up in houses all up the highway, could be a hunter, maybe someone found that wolf—and birds taking flight up out of the cypress, my body crumpled, gathering frost in the dark.
Lexie, somewhere, lifting an inquisitive chin, wine in hand and the girls all asleep on the couch, eyes bright in her laptop light. Working late, brow furrowed, wondering, despite everything—is Liam OK out there on his own?
Fuck. Lexie.What would she do if I died? Who would look after her? Protect her?
Any trace of fear, of vendetta, of history and grief, goes out of me at once and is replaced, wholly, by black rage. “All it is is personal,” I say coolly, to the dark-haired guy. He watches me impassively. “This ismytown. My history. My people. You treat it like a gutter, somewhere you can shit and throw your trash, shoot whatever chemical garbage you find into whoever you find for a little cash.” I take a step toward him, my anger getting the better of me, putting a razor-edge on every word and rising up off me like heat from a sidewalk. “I’m fucking back. You wanna fuck with me, man? You wanna see what me and my people are really capable of? Be my guest.”
I stop in front of the guy, eye-level, and don’t blink. I know fury is radiating off of me and he watches with a sort of impressed, detached interest.
“Come after me all you want,” I say, shrugging. “I’m here to stay, and you can tell your boss that, whoever he is. Once this little prick is out of the picture, maybe we can work something out. But I’m not going anywhere. No fuckin’ chance.”
The guy straightens his jacket. He still looks bored, distant, but there’s a gleam in his eye that tells me I’ve at least struck his interest.Much good that’ll do me.
“Monday,” he says simply, brushing past me. His guys fall into line, one of them stooping to help a dizzied, bloodied, muttering Jockey off the floor. “Get out, man, while you can.”
He unlocks the door and pushes out into the cold, his guys in tow. Jockey seems to have sobered up from the ass-kicking, and he shoves the guys away from him, lunging back toward me.
“Liam, you piece of fucking shit, man, you messed up, I’m gonna make sure you pay for this—”
I grab him by the collar and yank him close, eyes boring into his, high reek of his blood sharp in the air. “Next time I see you, Jockey, I’m gonna kill you.”
His eyes widen, but they’re blistering with rage now. “No. No, Liam, you’re not. You always called the shots, man, you and Milo, you treated me like a kid, but I’m not a kid anymore. And I know how to hurt you now.”
I tighten my grip, practically spitting. “You stay the fuck away from Lexie. You hear me? I’ll fucking kill you, Jockey, I swear to God.”
“You don’t have the balls, Liam,” snarls Jockey. “You’ll pay for this. I warned you, man. You’ll pay.” He yanks free of me and stalks out of the shop, leaping into his car and speeding off after his guys without a backward look.
I’m paralyzed, frozen in place, for minutes after they’re gone. I’m shaking, I realize, anger pulsing through my veins, and urgency, and fear.Lexie.Fuck. I have to warn Lexie. Now.
I turn back and find Margot frozen like me, fists at her sides, head cocked to one side and her brow deeply furrowed. “Fuck,” I say, rushing to her. I grab her shoulders. “Margot. Are you OK?”
She shakes her head slowly. “Liam. What the fuck?”
“I know. I know. We knew shit like this would go down, but I didn’t think they’d come to the shop. I’ll take care of this, OK? Did they hurt you? Did they take anything?”
She looks totally numb, her eyes wide and blank. “No.”
“Look at me, Margot. Are you OK?”
She does look at me, and when she does, her face is full of betrayal. She brushes my hands from her shoulders and takes a stunned step backward. “Those kids, they’re not…you’re not…”
I shake my head, not understanding. “Margot. What? What are you…”
Oh. Fuck.
Margot’s eyes go bright with tears. “Lexie? You and Lexie?”
