I parked mine next to my brother’s and ignored the knot in my gut as I walked toward the front door.
The music greeted me even before I got the heavy door open.
“Better late than never, I guess,” Monty crowed, before drowning his laugh in a bottle.
Mak was sitting on a barstool, with his wife between his legs. They appeared to be on good terms today, considering the way she had her arms around his neck, and they were damn near nose to nose.
“What the fuck are we celebrating?” I grunted at C.C., when I noticed the girls dancing on the pool table.
“Your brother.” He saluted the conference room with his beer bottle, and I spotted Slutty Benji with his arm around my brother.
They made their way to the pool table, leaving Mark to take up their post against the conference room door.
Fuck.
The way he glared at me left no doubt, I had missed messages and more trouble coming.
“What in the hell is going on with you anyhow?” C.C. quietly asked.
I realized I was probably about to be laid up for a few days, so why not get started while I could?
“I need a house. You got any more properties?”
He laughed like I had told the best joke ever, “You ain’t did nothing but run down the one I gave you…”
I shook my head, “Nah, I’m fixing to open it up. I’m gonna call it Steel Cages. I’m thinking there should be cages around the outer two stages.”
He studied me like he wasn’t sure he believed me, “Yeah?”
“Yeah. I’m getting married. I need to clean shit up, get on my game.”
He grunted, and raised his bottle my way, “Congrats. Who the hell is she?”
I swear all the noise died down at once, or maybe it just felt that way because I could feel Mark’s gaze boring into me from across the room.
C.C. didn’t seem to notice as he stuffed a cigarette between his lips and fished in his pocket for a lighter.
“Her name is Crystal.” I glanced back toward my brother who had found his way to the bar, “What are we celebrating the asshat for?”
His hand stilled and his head snapped up. I could tell by the way he squinted at me that he was judging my seriousness again.
“Oh,” he awkwardly mumbled after a time. “Shit.”
“What?”
He cleared his throat and lit his cigarette like he hadn’t heard the question.
I started across the room, ignoring him, stepping around brothers, and shoving random chicks out of the way.
“What the fuck is going on?” I blurted out.
“With what?” He raised his brows and locked bloodshot eyes on me.
I wasn’t really all that disturbed by the sight of a fucked-up brother, but my blood brother was military. He had to go back, and he had to be able to piss clean when that day arrived.
“Wh–where is Oak? When do you guys go back?”
He shrugged, and swirled the bottle around on the countertop, “We go back in three days.”
