“No blood in my bar, Gwen,” Sullie boomed as he came up to the table. He sat down two plates of food. “Enjoy, you two.”
Sullie looked at us. “A word?”
My eyes flicked to Dom, who was still standing behind Kevin, his arms now folded over his chest. He gave me a short nod, and I grabbed Haley and Gwen’s hands to follow Sullie back to the kitchen. When I turned to look over my shoulder, James had his hands planted on the table as he leaned down to Ian.
“You address her again, I’ll slit your arrogant throat,” he warned.
Haley tensed, but I put my hand on her back and urged her forward. “Let’s go, Red,” I murmured.
Once we were all in the kitchen, Red quickly wiped her cheeks, regaining her composure. Sullie leaned against the prep table, yanking off his white apron. James stood by the door, keeping his eye on the Matthews family through the small window. Gwen stood by Haley, took her hand, and looked to Sullie.
“Sullie, you know I love you, but what that actual fuck?”
I grunted in agreement.
“He showed up an hour ago with her—”
“—their mother,” Haley and Gwen said.
“She was sold to—”
Sullie held his hand up. “I know who she is, girls. You forget that I ran these streets long before Matthews did,” he said darkly.
“You know her?”
He nodded. “She stumbled in here one night in April of ’95, looking for drugs.”
“You don’t run drugs,” I noted, raising a single brow.
His eyes shifted to James. “Not anymore,” he said softly.Yeah, he was running something much bigger.
James shrugged his shoulders. “Not my department, not my problem,” he responded. The hesitancy in Sullie’s voice was strong, proving there were a lot of things that we didn’t know about the Crew’s past.
“And?” Haley softly prompted the bear of a man.
He shook his head. “My guy refused her. She was pregnant, and I assume it was with Kevin, judging by his age.”
“Jesus,” I hissed, running a hand through my hair.
“Anyways,” Sullie sighed. “They showed up an hour ago demanding the boy. I called Dom, and he brought him here. The other guy is dead, by the way.”
That “other guy” was one of the men we had brought back for questioning. All eyes shifted to Gwen. When I walked in there with her yesterday, the fucking asshole was bruised and bleeding.
She raised her hands. “Don’t look at me.”
“It was Jeremy,” Sullie said softly, sadness coating his deep voice.
My jaw tightened. Jermey was angry with his sister. Rightfully so. I knew he had to take his aggression out somehow.
“Christ.”
“Oh, fuck.”
“Poor Jer,” Red murmured. Gwen came to stand in front of her, her hands going to her friend’s shoulders.
“Hals, that man was the worst kind of monster,” she urged her gently, her thumbs rubbing her friend.
“I know that, but Jer—”
