He acknowledges that with a nod, but I can see he wants to argue. He’s not used to taking the backseat to people telling him what to do, but he knows he doesn’t have the upper hand here.
“He will be treated fine from here on out. I won’t apologize for what happened after I found out, but I assure you it won’t happen again. Unless any of you fuck up,” Alessa warns. “If everything goes to plan, he will accompany me to the charity gala in two weeks as a Perez heir. That will show the other families that the Poletti’s and Perez’s have formed an alliance. That should cause them to follow suit.”
“Thank you, Ms. Poletti,” Evander says politely.
“Don’t thank me,” she says harshly. “I don’t think you realize how close I came last night to slitting your brother’s throat.”
“I apologize for how this came about, Ms. Poletti,” Evander says, his eyes flicking over me again.
“Call me Alessa,” she tells him. “If we are going to start on the right foot. We’re of equal power, Evander.”
“Let’s agree to disagree on that, Alessa,” Evander says with a smile. He stands up and buttons his suit jacket. “If there is nothing else, we have some things to take care of.”
Throughout this exchange, I notice that he never called her by her first name, whereas she never said his last name. It’s a power balance, and Evander is letting her know he acknowledges her as the leader.
She nods, and we follow them outside. Evander turns to Dex when we step through the front door. “Which one?” he asks, and Dex points to the taller, beefier guard standing to Evander’s right.
Everything else happens in slow motion. Evander grabs a Glock from the other guard’s holster, chambers a round, and places the barrel against the guard’s head that Dex pointed to, pulling the trigger before the guy’s eyes even widen.
He hits the ground with a thud, and Evander hands the gun back to the other guard. “Clean that up,” he says to the two guards standing at the car, mouths hanging open. I keep my eyes carefully averted from the body because it’s not something I’m used to seeing. My brothers took care of business whenever needed, but I usually wasn’t present.
He turns to Alessa. “I told you. No one on my team will be left who caused harm to anyone in your family.”
He strides up to me, locking me in a bear hug. “You good?” he whispers.
“I’m good,” I assure him.
He pats me on the back, nods at Alessa, then climbs into the car. I can hear Mateo laughing his ass off, the sound cut off by the remaining guard shutting the door.
I was an only child growing up, so imagine the shock when Ifound out I have two brothers who welcomed me into their family with open arms.
Alessa looks at me and then at the fading taillights of their SUV. “Did he just kill a man in my front yard?”
Micah chokes on a laugh. “I think so.”
“It was his way of keeping his word,” Dex says.
“Thank you, Captain Obvious,” Ryder snarks.
“Fuck you,” Dex replies with a shake of his head.
You can tell they’re all close, so it makes me wonder about their relationship with Alessa. It all looks platonic, but looks could be deceiving. I would have laughed in your face if you asked me a few months ago if I thought Alessa was the queen of a crime family. All five-foot-four of her is every bit of a fucking queen, though.
After Evander and Mateo left,Alessa left me out of the room. I always have one of her guys at my back, but at least I’m not locked up. I have only been in my jail cell, the kitchen, and the living room, but this house is gigantic. The kitchen is all stainless steel with black marble countertops, a huge island in the middle, and enough seats to fit everyone. The living room is massive but cozy, with a huge TV on the wall over a fireplace. There’s a couch with an oversized chaise lounge, a love seat across from it, two chairs facing the TV, and several more chairs placed throughout the room. I can see all their personalities everywhere, and it’s more like a family than a team. I’m not sure how I feel about that, coming in as an outsider.
Dex doesn’t say much, and Gage mostly just jokes around, but Ryder makes shitty comments whenever she’s out of earshot, and I’m getting fucking sick of it.
“Dude, just get it off your chest and shut the fuck up,” I finally tell him.
He raises an eyebrow. “You find your balls after your brothers left?”
“No. I’m getting sick of hearing your voice.”
He chuckles, but there is no humor in it. “You think you’re big and bad now?” He steps into my space, and I refuse to step back. “I can kill you, and no one will ever find your body, motherfucker.”
“Ryder,” Alessa snaps, walking into the room. “Back off.” She’s changed into the clothes she was in earlier, her hair hanging down her back again.
He gives me one last look before spinning on his heel and leaving the living room.After he’s out of the room, I flop down on the couch, all of my bravado fading the minute he leaves. I’m a pushover, but I know when I’m outmatched.
