I made to pull back.
Embry clamped his hand over mine, keeping his gaze on Rubi who was talking shit no one cared about right now. Filling the silence.
But we couldn’t hide from disaster forever.
Cam cleared the table. Surveyed the room with a grim nod and pressed his fists on the table. “All right. I’m gonna be brief because there’s a lot to take in and we can get into it when we have more time, but this is where we’re at right now. Rocco’s dead. Lorenzo Sambini misread Saint’s heroics and whacked him to get to us. According to Viktor, he’s split from the main family and wants to make a name for himself, regaining old turf and fucking up anyone he sees as a high profile but meaningless target.”
Alexei was still holding his fork. He twirled it with one finger. “Meaningless?”
Cam shrugged. “We ain’t got time to be offended. Point is, they’re coming for us, and Viktor reckons your old boss is too busy to give a shit.”
“Did he say why?”
“No. You think he’s blagging us?”
Alexei’s cold gaze turned thoughtful. “It is always possible, but Pavel’s world is never still. And the continent is... a difficult place right now. It would not surprise me if conflict there eradicated any interest his organisation had here.”
“So we should assume he’s done vouching for us?”
“Sidorov would have to be dead for the deal with Sambini to be null and void, and I do not thinkMarioSambini would try his luck. Lorenzo, though...” Alexei spun the fork again. “He seems like a man too desperate for attention to care about old alliances and mutual respect. What does he want from you?”
“Fromus,” Cam corrected. “You ain’t got a patch, but you sit at this table.”
“I share your bed too. It does not make us one entity and your conflict with the Sambini family is years old. It isyouhe wants to vanquish.”
Alexei was the only person on earth who had the balls to speak to Cam O’Brian like that. In any other circumstances, it’d be funny as fuck. But no one laughed.
Not even Rubi as he exchanged a glance with Nash and set his elbows on the table. “You can’t kill him.” He addressed Alexei, then dragged his gaze to Saint. “It’s way above our pay grade and we’re not set up for an international mafia war.”
Saint’s expression didn’t change.
Alexei narrowed his gaze, and Rubi spread his hands. “Not doubting your hitman skills, bro. It’s the bigger picture we’re worried about.”
Silence. Alexei was a scary dude who didn’t need to speak to argue.
Rubi looked to Cam for back up.
“He’s right.” Cam addressed Alexei directly. “You’re the only one who could pull it off, but you ain’t a ghost no more. You’re here, with us, and it’s staying that way.”
Alexei’s expression flattened even more. “So what do you propose, biker boy? Wait for Lorenzo to find more cartel allies to shoot you?”
Cam stared Alexei down. “This isn’t like that. There’s no hit out on anyone. They’re not coming to our home to fight us here. It’s business, pure and simple. Cause a scene. Let the world think Lorenzo’s johnny big bollocks. Maybe we should just fucking let him.”
Beside me, Embry bristled. Tension flooded the leg I was still clutching like my life depended on it. “That’s a stupid plan,” he said.
“The whole thing’s stupid,” Rubi retorted. “Viktor reckons it might not come to much, though. And right now it’s all hearsay anyway.”
“If Viktor thought it was nothing, he wouldn’t have come,” Embry countered. “I was there, remember? I saw him speak. Saw him wrestle with himself before he gave us as much as he did. Why would he do that if it didn’t matter?”
“Why does it matter tohim?” Alexei pointed his fork across the table. “Have you thought about that?”
“I’ve thought about the fact that Cam, Saint, Rubi, and Nash would all be dead without him.” Embry gripped my hand tighter for a split second, then pushed his chair back and stood, moving to the window. He had more to say, but he glanced at me and stopped, gritting his teeth, setting his jaw.
What are you thinking, cielito?
You’re so beautiful when you’re hopping mad.
I had to look away.
