“We went to a private school with Trevor Hoover. He got initiatedinto the Poletti family his senior year,” Les answers, looking at me. “He was killed a year later.”
“What would Poletti's need with a high school senior?” Leo wonders, completely confused. It’s going to take him forever to catch up to everything.
“Les runs smaller factions, kind of like gangs in the smaller parts of the city to handle the street shit,” Dex comments. “That’s where I started.”
Leo’s eyes widen. “I’m never going to figure all this shit out.”
“You will,” Gage says with confidence, squeezing his shoulder. “It’s a lot to take in.”
“So, do you think Jay is pissed about Trevor?” Holden asks Les, speaking up for the first time. I’m surprised he’s still sitting here when he usually bolts during these meetings.
“That would be my guess. It was more than me being a criminal that crawled under his skin.”
“What do we do about him?” I’m not against killing a fucking cop if he is coming for her.
“We watch him. Holden will get all he can on him. I’ll talk to Zane.” She holds a hand up when Gage opens his mouth. “I won’t go alone again. Save it.”
“You lit into her for going alone?” I ask Gage, and he nods. “Good.”
Her eyes narrow. “I get it, okay. Save the lecture and the back-patting.”
I hold my hands up. “We just want you safe,Il mio sole.”
Her eyes soften. “I know, and I’m trying to make better decisions about running off alone. Like I told Gage, you have to be patient with me.”
“We can do that, Baby girl,” Dex says, looking around the table. “I have news too. I went to the casino on the boulevard for a security issue and found something else.” He pulls his phone out, scrolling through until he finds what he’s looking for, then slides the phone to Les.
She squints at it. “Was he the security issue?”
“No, we took care of that. When I was looking at the cameras, Ispotted him.”
She grunts and slides the phone to me. “What the fuck is Xander doing there?” I ask. Xander is the leader of the Vipers, who has no business in her casino.
“I don’t know, but I say we go find out.” Her smile is feral, and I love it.
We all get dressedand head toward Xander’s garage. Holden is back at the house, watching through the street cameras to ensure he stays there.
We load into Gage’s Range Rover since mine is shot to shit. He lets me drive so he can squeeze between Les and Leo. Leo was warned about what would happen but insisted he that he can handle it, and I had to give it to him; he has so far. We pull directly in front, pulling on gloves and doing a weapons check before we pile out. The guys he has watching the garage start scurrying inside to warn him. We fall into formation around Les, and she walks straight into the garage like she owns the place.
“Xander,” she calls out in a sing-song voice, making Gage chuckle. “Come out, come out, wherever you are.”
He walks out from the back of the garage, his black hair in its usual fauxhawk. His green eyes light on Les, lingering a little too long. Looking from the tips of her high-heeled boots, up her black ripped skinny jeans, and her black leather jacket finally to her eyes. Whatever he sees there makes him snap out of his fantasy. I grind my molars to dust, so I don’t shoot him on site.
“There you are,” she greets like she’s happy to see him. “You want to tell your boys to stand down before I clean house?”
“Back off,” Xander barks at the seven guys on edge, hands hovering over weapons. “What brings you to my side of town, Alessa?”
“Can’t I just come to visit?” she asks, tilting her head to the side.
Gage finally steps to the side so he’s visible, and Xander’s eyes widen at Gage’s crazy grin. Xander remembers the mess Gage made the last time he delivered a warning for Les.
“This isn’t a social call,” Xander points out like we’re idiots. Gage starts wandering around the front of the garage, looking under random tarps to get under Xander’s skin. “What do you want?”
Les taps her chin thoughtfully. “A giant birdie told me that you were at Racks today. You were banned from there months ago because you didn’t know how to handle yourself accordingly. So, Xan, why were you there?”Racks is the casino Xander was spotted at, it used to be a stripper joint before Les bought it hence the name, but it made her laugh, so she left it.
Gage laughs at Les, calling Dex a giant birdie. “Good one.”
She curtseys. “Thank you.”
