“He’s your brother. You handled it the best you could.”
He didn’t move.
He didn’t respond.
He just stood there, staring out the window. Eventually, he muttered, “You deserve better. You deserve safe… easy… effortless. You deserve what I can’t give you.”
“I never asked for easy.” I walked over and stood in front of him. “I know things won’t always be perfect, but I like what we have.”
I wasn’t naïve.
I knew things with him wouldn’t always be easy.
And they certainly wouldn’t be effortless.
His life would always be filled with danger. I would have to learn to accept that, and I was trying. I was also trying to learn to live with the worry and the secrets. It would be hard, but I loved him. I loved him more than I’d ever loved anyone, and so, I would try. I would try every day and in every way.
He deserved that.
He deserved that and more.
With that in mind, I looked up at him and whispered, “I love you.”
He stared at me for a moment, and emotion filled his eyes. I could see the wheels turning in his head, but I had no idea what he was thinking. I started to worry that I shouldn’t have said it, that maybe it was too soon, so I added, “I know it’s early and all that, but I do. I can’t help it. I love you so much, and difficult or not, I can’t imagine not having you in my life.”
The words had barely left my mouth when he reached for me. He slipped his hands around my waist and pulled me towards him as he lowered his mouth to mine, kissing me in a way that made my entire body hum.
His arms wound tight around me, inching me even closer as his tongue found its way into my mouth.
He was rough, tough, and sexy as hell. And my God, he could kiss like it was nobody’s business. I was holding on by a thread, and just as I was becoming completely lost in his touch, he pulled back, quickly breaking our embrace as he rasped, “I love you, too.”
29
GOOSE
The clubhouse was quiet, especially for a Friday afternoon. It was the kind of quiet that settled in after a storm when everybody was still looking over their shoulder, even when they knew the fight was done. It had been weeks since the robbery, and things still felt off.
No one said it, but everyone knew something had shifted, and things hadn’t quite settled back into place yet. But it was coming. We were moving forward and making plans.
I leaned forward and studied the papers that were laid out in front of me. It was the proposal for the new club, and it was a lot to take in. I was trying to make sense of it all while I listened to Creed and Memphis yammer on about all the possibilities.
“East Village is always an option. Or even Riverdale. I don’t think we’ll get much pushback there, but I think our best option would be down on the Riverfront. We could even try securing some property down past the casino. It’s already a popular area, and it would give us plenty of room to build.”
“It’s a flood zone,” Memphis argued.
“Only the lower part,” Creed answered. “And we can always work around that.”
He had a good point. It was a popular area, and it would be close to everything that mattered. Memphis seemed skeptical as he asked, “And what’s Sergei gonna think about us encroaching on his sweet spot?”
“We’ll help his business as much as he will help ours.”
I took a slow pull from my beer, listening more than talking. That had become more the norm over the past few weeks. Listening. Watching. Trying to piece together how everything had gone so wrong without me seeing it coming.
We’d done our homework. Shep and the cops tracked down the names of the men who’d tried to rob us. Everyone except Davis had ties to the Rebel Coyotes. I had no doubt that Davis was behind all of it. I’m sure he did some sweet talking and got them to go rogue.
I’m sure he made the whole thing seem like a breeze.
It would be an easy way for them to get their kickback and an opportunity to dish out a little sweet revenge.
