I crossed the room quietly, setting the cigarette in the ashtray on the windowsill before I moved to the door.
Every muscle in my body was tight.
Alert.
Ready.
I didn’t reach for the handle right away.Instead, I leaned slightly and looked through the peephole.
Tyson, Britta’s brother, standing on the other side of the door like he owned the hallway.
He’d been around a couple of times at her mom’s place.Quiet.Watchful.The kind of man who didn’t waste words and didn’t trust easily.Especially not me.
He hadn’t said more than two words to me since we met.The way he looked at me said enough.
I unlocked the deadbolt and opened the door.
We just… stared at each other.
Same height.Same build.Same kind of energy.The kind that didn’t back down.
“Funny,” Tyson said, voice low and rough.“No one thought it would be a good idea to tell me she was moving back?”
I shrugged.“I guess Britta didn’t think it was important if she didn’t tell you.”
His jaw tightened.He tried to push past me, stepping forward like I wasn’t even there.
I moved and put my shoulder in his chest to block him.“She’s sleeping, brother,” I said evenly.“Come back tomorrow when it isn’t so late.”
That did it.
His eyes darkened, something sharp flashing there.“You really think this is something you want to do?”he growled.
We were toe to toe now.Close enough that if either of us decided to swing, it’d land.
I didn’t want that.Didn’t need that, but I wasn’t stepping aside either.
“Just come back tomorrow,” I said, voice steady.“She needs to rest.She’s been through enough shit.”
His lip curled slightly.“Yeah,” he shot back.“Shit your club brought to her.”
He wasn’t wrong.Not completely.
We didn’t know we were walking into a war when we rolled into Madison.We came to set up shop.Open the rage room.Make some money.
That was it.
We didn’t know there was a group already here that didn’t want anyone new stepping into their territory.
Didn’t know we were kicking a hornet’s nest.
Didn’t know Britta would get caught in the middle.
My jaw flexed.“We haven’t done anything that warrants people taking aim at us,” I said.
Tyson barked out a humorless laugh.“Yeah?”he said.“Well, I think you might be wrong, seeing as Tempi’s bar was torched and my sister was fucking shot.”
I held up my hands slightly.“I’m not looking to fight with you, man.”And I wasn’t.Not here.Not with Britta ten feet away, passed out on the couch.“If you need to come in that bad,” I added, stepping to the side, “go for it.”
