He shoved me, and I wasn’t ready for it. Stumbling, I nearly fell, but was stopped by the barrels near us. “So fucking what? I did this because you were hurt. You needed someone to help you. Obviously you don’t ever fucking ask for help. You could have taken me with you the first time. At least I didn’t run at bullets with only Corbin. I took my brothers.” He pointed vaguely behind him to where he’d left his men, like a dummy.
“Your brothers. Ya mean those bastards who like to ride bikes too? I’m sure they’re great protection. Especially when ya don’t even bother to bring ’em along.”
“They’re good enough for King.” His words were more a roar than anything. Sweat glistened on his chest and he seemed ready to snap in two with how tight he was holding himself. I’d seen men rage before and he was doing a good job at it. It was probably wrong, but I liked seeing this passion in him. It was good to know the fire existed, and as much as I liked the shy man, this was fucking sexy too.
I snorted. “Oh yeah, King’s real great. He only had the feds in his organization not too long ago. Heard all about that one.”
Hunter’s face flushed an alluring shade somewhere between magenta and purple, and I realized a moment too late I’d said the wrong thing. He wound up and sank his fist into my left cheek. I stumbled back. He stormed off the way we’d arrived, and I stood there staring for a moment, but then followed after him at a fast clip. Thank God his punch had smashed together a couple of my brain cells or we might have stood there arguing until we blew up for real.
“What are you doing?” he snapped. I held the cool handle of his gun to my aching face.
“This place is wired to blow. I’m making sure ya actually leave. Also, that was a hell of a punch. Good one.”
He glared over his shoulder at me and then stopped. “You know what? I thought I liked you, but fuck you.” He jabbed a finger toward me, and I snorted out a laugh that only made him sort of screech a bit, not that I’d tell him that’s what the noise was. I was sure he thought it was very manly. “No one’s ever going to treat me like I’m useless again, especially not someone who is supposed to be….” He yelled wordlessly in my direction, shook his hands, apparently beyond speaking, and then swung around to walk again. I followed him all the way out. I took the time to stow the guns before I scrambled over the car set to blow, then trailed him to the street, even though he kept sending me nasty looks over his shoulder. He was shirtless, but this was New York City, so no one really paid attention. It wasn’t like his cock was out, after all. I snagged his hand, and he struggled with me for a second before he gave in with a wickedly adorable pout and let me drag him toward the borrowed sedan.
“Wait, I have to—”
The Kings spilled from the alley onto the sidewalk behind us, running toward their bikes. Corbin or Tadgh must have passed along the good news about the bombs.
“Come on,” I said and urged him faster toward the car. “Ya can yell at me all ya need later, but we have to—”
The first bomb, the one on the car, went off, and I was surprised. It had been many years since I’d set explosives, and I’d never been around to see them go off. There was a suction at the end of the alleyway, and a car was pulled to its side onto the sidewalk. People screamed. Windows blew out in the two buildings alongside us. Car alarms started blaring up and down the street and windows went up on buildings as people stuck their heads out. Humanity spilled from late-night shops to fill the sidewalk and there was shouting, pointing, random running.
Hunter pulled away from me in the chaos of the mob everywhere, and I wanted to find him, make sure he got back to the Virtue, but when I tried to grab his hand again, he shook me off. Cursing and swearing, I decided that discretion was the better part of valor and walked to Corbin’s car rather than the borrowed number. Corbin, the magician that he was, slid into the passenger side just as I was taking the driver’s seat.
“Where’s your man?” he asked, concerned.
“I’m not fucking sure. We’ll meet up at the Virtue.”
Corbin nodded. “This was a fucked-up mess.”
“Aye, thanks for that.”
He smirked at me. “Job’s done, though.”
“No one can argue that.”
“Except that David Nunzio wasn’t anywhere to be found.” He sighed in my direction.
“Fuck.”
“We didn’t lose any men, did we?” he asked.
“I don’t think,” I grumbled. “One of the Kings was hurt. The only real tragedy seems to be whatever I started with Hunter.”
“And your face.”
I touched my cheek and felt the beginnings of the bruise he’d given me. I chuckled and pressed harder on the spot, almost liking the way it felt. “I’ll apologize to him when we get back. He’s got a temper on him.” I waggled my eyebrows at Corbin, who groaned. “Ya know what that means. If he apologizes as well as he yells, I’m all for it.”
“That seems a wee bit like having a tiger by the tail.” He tossed me his keys and then leaned against the car door with a gesture at the steering wheel. I put the key in the ignition and started the car.
“His tail’s exactly what I want.”
Corbin burst out laughing, and I pulled into the suddenly heavy traffic, trusting my men to get themselves to safety. They weren’t mine for naught. I didn’t employ idiots, and anyone who managed to die…. Well, we all knew what it took to be part of the Killough Company.
The second bomb went off with a subsonic boom that seemed to suck at the car and rattle my rib cage. There wouldn’t be anything left of David Nunzio’s pretend gangsters, and after this, Killough wouldn’t have to send any bloody messages to anyone around the city—hell, maybe the entire fucking globe—for a good long while. I whistled as I drove the car toward a good dumping spot I knew near the Hudson. There was no way we could take this vehicle back to the Virtue. Corbin turned on the radio and smiled at me as we drove.
“Yeah, he’s a wee devil, and I think I’ve gone sweet on him. I’ll apologize to Hunter first thing. I like that one.”
