“Priest,” Prospect’s voice sounded off, and I pressed my phone closer to my ear so I could hear him better. “Man, I think you need to come down here.”
“Prospect? What’s going on?” I turned away from the pool table where Ratched, Mindy, Amber, and I were playing a game and motioned for them to be quiet so I could hear what Prospect was trying to say.
“I…. there’s only four….figured I should give you a…do you want me to do?”
I only caught part of what he was trying to say. “Ratched, cut the music. I can’t hear a damn thing he’s trying to say.” Ratched pulled his phone from the pocket of his jeans and fiddled with the jukebox in the corner until the music blaring out of the speakers suddenly cut off. I heard him murmuring to the girls to keep quiet.
“Prospect, sorry man, I didn’t catch that. You’re on guard duty, right? What’s going on?” Ratched placed his cue on the table and ambled over with a look of concern on his face. Any night we had club girls and civilians on the compound, we kept someone at the gate, and tonight was Prospect’s night.
“Yeah man, I’m at the gate that’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. There’s an SUV here, four people inside. Driver said they’re here to talk to the prez and Indi.” The muscles in my neck tensed up, and I rolled my head to crack my neck and relieve some of the tension that wasn’t there a moment ago. Ratched noticed my reaction to Prospect’s words and narrowed his eyes.
“Who are they?”
“Petrovs.”
Prospect’s single-word answer set my teeth on edge. “Wait five minutes and then open the gate.” I ended the call and lifted my chin to Ratched. “We’ve got visitors. Club business. Tell the girls to go home and get all the brothers on the compound here within the next two minutes. I’m calling Duke.”
Ratched ushered Amber and Mindy away, their bewildered expression grating on my last nerve. They know what we are, what Los Cuervos is; they knew this wasn’t a damn country club where they could hang out and get laid. Club business was about to go down, and they weren’t Crows. They had no business looking hurt that they got kicked to the curb.
Dialing Duke, he picked up on the second ring even though I knew he was home with Ma probably watching one of the girly period dramas she liked so much.
“Priest.” No “hello, son” or “hey, what’s up” from my old man, he always cut straight to the chase.
“Duke, we’ve got Petrovs at the gate. I sent the girls home; they’ll be at the clubhouse in about four minutes.”
“Got it.”Click. I shoved my phone in the back pocket of my jeans. My brothers had assembled; all the ones present that was. Ace, Thor, Bard, Ratched, Bones, and Sticks stood in front of the clubhouse, some on the porch and the rest fanned out near the driveway. Someone had turned on the floodlights, and the harsh, bright light illuminated the front of the clubhouse and part of the driveway. Petrov’s black SUV slowly crawled from the gate down the driveway, coming to a stop a few feet away from where Bones and Ratched stood. My father, having come in through the kitchen door, exited the clubhouse right as their vehicle parked and stood on the porch with his arms crossed over his chest.
Simultaneously, all four doors of the SUV opened. Hands were the first thing we saw; held up and out from the vehicle, empty. Slowly, four men exited and stood with their arms stretched out, waiting for the pat down they knew was coming. Bones and Ratched worked efficiently, dividing the men between them, and checking them for weapons.
Bones nodded over to Duke. “They’re clean.”
“Well, fellas.” Duke casually ambled down the stairs of the clubhouse and toward the Russians like mobsters showed up on our doorstep all the time. “To what do we owe thehonorof such an unexpected visit from the bratva?”
One of the men stepped forward and offered a tattooed hand to Duke in greeting. “Hello, Duke, my name is Riordan Petrov.”
Duke looked at the hand offered to him for a moment before reaching out to meet it in greeting with his own. They shook hands for a moment before letting go, and Duke looked Riordan up and down. I found myself doing the same from my position by Duke’s side. Riordan was a couple of inches shorter than my 6’2”, with artfully tousled brown hair and mossy green eyes. He looked like he was maybe in his mid-twenties. The suit he wore looked expensive and tailored just for him, but I guess when your daddy runs his own bratva, you can afford that couture shit. Tattoos crawled up his neck and based on the ones on his hands I assumed he had even more ink elsewhere. Russian mobsters were weird about their tattoos, each one had a specific meaning and placement. Tattoos for them were less about self-expression and more about a pictorial rap sheet.Each one showcased their loyalty to the brotherhood and illustrated exactly what they did to earn their place within their ranks.
“I know who you are, Mr. Petrov. After your introduction to two of my members at Allure, I made it my business to learn about the new Petrov player in town. What I want to know is why you’re here in my front yard. Uninvited.” Duke’s expression remained pleasant, but his tone carried a hint of impatience. One of the Russians, a wiry-looking blond, stepped closer, but Riordan held his hand up, stopping his companion in his tracks.
“Los Cuervos and the Petrov bratva have co-existed without issue for some time now, and I have no plans to change the amicable nature of our acquaintance.” Riordan lowered his hand. “Tonight, I come to settle a debt and hopefully gain some much-needed clarity on a certain…concern of mine. My business has to do with Indigo. Is she here?”
Oh.Nope, don’t like that.Her name coming out of his mouth set my teeth on edge.
“What exactly is the debt you plan to settle? Last I checked, Los Cuervos didn’t owe anyone a damn thing, least of all the Russians.” I spit into the gravel at Riordan’s feet, daring him to take a swing at me. Disdain for any organization that had a hand in human trafficking was easy to summon, and I let all my thoughts concerning the Petrov family show on my face.
Riordan, the arrogant bastard, didn’t even look at me as he replied with a smirk, “That’s betweenlisichkaand me. Now, if you don’t mind, the adults are talking.”This motherf-
Duke's eyes narrowed a bit. “That so? Well, y'all better come inside then. Indigo’s at work, but she should be home shortly.” Duke calling the clubhouse her home didn’t even bother me anymore, which gave me pause.
I wasn’t sure what had changed between us since our time in the confessional, but I found myself hating Indigo less and less every day. Maybe it was watching her bake with Ma or dancing with Lennon. Maybe it was catching Ratched and Indi watching nature documentaries late at night when they were too restless to sleep, or the easy friendship she was cultivating with Bones and Cricket, two of my very best friends. The fact that she was unintentionally hilarious, stunningly beautiful, andmore than a little crazy could also have something to do with my gradual change of heart. We weren’t friends, per se, but she’d grown on me as much as I could allow her to. I didn’t like the Petrov’s showing up claiming Indi owed them a debt.
Duke led our uninvited guests into the clubhouse and my brothers followed closely behind, ready to throw down the moment the Petrov’s stepped out of line.
Bones came to stand next to me, his favorite bone already in his hand like a macabre worry stone. “This is about what went down at Savage Delights. I don’t like them just showing up like this.”
I didn’t like it either. Usually, there are protocols; a specific way for the leader of one organization to contact another and arrange for a meeting.
Showing up in the middle of the night was a calculated risk on Riordan’s part. Either he thought we were such small fish we couldn’t possibly threaten him, or he thought he would be welcomed into our pond as a friend. We weren’t his fucking friends, allies, or even neighborly adjacent in our business ventures, and as a general rule, the Crows and the bratva stayed out of each other’s way. Bones was right, something was up with Petrov’s interest in Indigo, and hopefully tonight, we would find out what he wanted from her and why.
