“My ego?” Mike sputters, glaring between the two of us. “Keep this up, and I’m gonna need a new jaw.”
I shrug, completely unfazed.
Because I don’t give a single solitary fuck if he needs a new jaw.
Or a new face.
Or a whole new skull.
By the time I’m done dealing with him…he might need all three.
Chapter Fifteen
Eli
I sit on Skip’s couch and watch him add yet another lock to the door.
And another.
And then he moves to the windows.
“Is all of this necessary?” I ask. “When I got here the other day, you didn’t even lock your doors.”
“I can’t tell you everything that’s going on, Eli,” he says without looking back. “I know you’ve heard some of it, and I’ll always tell you enough to keep yourself safe, but right now? I need to know you’re sleeping behind more than a flimsy deadbolt.”
“Is it because of all the new people?”
He pauses long enough to glance at me. “Those are Maverick’s men. And while I trust Maverick, I don’t extend that trust to anyone just because they wear his colors.”
“Okay… but that’s not the only reason, is it?” I ask.
He hesitates.
I’ve seen Skip confident. Cocky. Teasing. Furious.
But hesitant? That’s new.
“Los Fantasmas,” I say quietly.
His head snaps around, eyes sharp. I lift my hands.
“The girls talk,” I explain. “A lot. Loudly. And with zero filter.”
Skip sighs through his nose.
“So this is like… really dangerous, isn’t it?” I press. “The kind of dangerous that ends in blood.”
He turns fully toward me at that. No sarcasm. No smirk.
Just a single, grim nod.
“These are the people who kidnapped Abby… twice?”
Another nod.
“The ones who hurt Maverick’s family?”
Nod.
