“I’m happy for you, bro.”
“Thanks. I’m gonna assume that you’re next,” Victor responded with a grin. “When are you gonna make an honest woman out of Bella?”
Lucas snatched the glass from the table and gulped down a large amount of what Victor assumed was Scotch. His irritation was evident.
“What?” Lincoln asked, confused by his brother’s demeanor.
“Not that I’m ready to get married, but even if I was, Bella has made it clear that she’s not open to the idea of marriage. She just doesn’t trust the institution.”
“Because of Dean?” Victor asked.
“Maybe. I’m thinking that after what went down with Dean, she swore off holy matrimony.”
Lincoln wrinkled his brow and raked his fingers through his dark beard. “Is that what she said? Or, are you just assuming that’s how she feels?”
Lucas shrugged. “We don’t talk that much about it, and that’s fine for now. We’re in a great place.”
Victor nodded and sipped from his glass. Lucas and Bella hadn't been together very long. There was no need to rush into marriage. Not that he and Taylor were together long before they married, but every couple was different. He knew from the moment he saw Taylor that he wanted her. And when he had her, he knew he wasn’t going to be willing to let her go.
“Take your time, Luc,” Lincoln told him, relaying Victor’s sentiments. “There’s no rush,”
“Exactly,” Victor agreed. “Besides, you—”
Before he could complete his sentence, there was a loud boom. The earsplitting sound of an explosion.
Victor covered his ears and looked around to see where the noise had originated, but the only thing he could see was Gregor’s six-foot-six, three-hundred-and-fifteen-pound body flying toward him like Brian Urlacher.
In seconds, he had him tackled to the floor and pulled under the table. Gregor was shouting orders to his security detail, but Victor couldn’t hear a thing over the frantic screaming coming from the restaurant patrons. From underneath Gregor, he could see Lincoln pull a firearm from the back of his pants while yanking Lucas behind him.
Victor shoved Gregor. “Get the fuck off me!” he gritted through his teeth.
He knew the man was just doing his job, but there was no way he was about to cower under a fucking table while his little brother stood in his defense.
Gregor resisted but Victor was no weakling. He was able to move his bodyguard enough to free himself. He got to his knees and pulled his own weapon from its holster. Since being stalked by an assassin, he never went anywhere without his .45 pistol.
He stood and scanned the room for the threat, but all he saw was hysterical patrons fleeing the restaurant.
“Governor, please let me do my job,” Gregor implored.
“Take care of Lucas,” Victor ordered.
“That’s not my job,” Gregor calmly refused.
Victor glared at him, ready to give him a direct order. After all, Lucas was the only one of them that was unarmed. Or so he thought. After looking his brother over, he noticed the gun in his hand. Seconds later, Jagger Barr, the bodyguard positioned at the bar, was running toward them.
“Boss!” he called out breathlessly. He was speaking to Gregor. “It wasn’t a bomb.”
Out of habit, Gregor stepped in front of Victor. “What?”
“It wasn’t a bomb.”
“Then what the fuck was it?” Gregor questioned.
“M-80,” Lincoln offered.
“Yeah,” Jagger confirmed.
“M-80? Are you serious?” Victor asked.
