I smiled, enjoying how protective he was over Karina. Slowly, I stood and held out my hand. “I look forward to working with you.”
He stood, and we shook hands. “You just made a deal with a demon,” I said darkly, rolling up my sleeves.
“I’ve dealt with worse men, Stevens,” he said, looking out the window, his mind clearly somewhere else.
One someone else.
Not my business. “Well, I have no idea what Karina is cooking downstairs, but you might as well join us.”
Jeremy looked down and smiled. “It’s one of Mama’s recipes.”
“Ah.” I didn’t say much else. I knew Kay and Jer’s mother went downhill after the death of their father. He looked back up as I rounded the desk. “You hurt her, I’ll kill you,” he warned, his jaw tense.
I nodded once. “I’ll let you have the honor if I do, Jeremy. You have my word on that.”
Both of us exited my office and descended the stairs in silence. The ache in my chest intensified. He might have just made a deal with a demon, but I felt like I just made a deal with something much heavier.
A brother.
As we entered the giant living area, Kay was setting the table. She turned around, and her eyes went wide at the sight of her brother. Tears formed as she asked thickly, “Do I need to set another place, or are you here to hurt the only man I've ever loved?”
“I’m here to be the brother you need me to be, Kay,” he said softly. She nodded and flung herself across the living room. I watched the moment from afar, a smile playing on my lips.
We ate, we talked, and fuck, we evenlaughed.
Jer and Karina told me stories from their childhood, and I listened, memorizing every single detail. The food wasphenomenal, and knowing my angel made it with love only made it better. She held my hand on top of the table through the last half of the meal, unashamed of me—her demon.
Later, when the dishes were done and our stomachs couldn’t handle anymore, we drifted to the living room.
I had never sat on this furniture. Most days, it was just décor more than anything else. I didn’t have the time, but now, I would make the time. Karina tucked her feet under her as she snuggled into me and Jeremy sat across in an armchair, sipping on a whiskey I’d poured for him a few minutes ago.
“Okay, both of you need to cut the shit,” Karina finally said, looking at us.
“What shit?” he asked.
“You didn’t just show up, Jer. I know you snuck in and pointed a gun at Col.”
“How—”
“Bella knows everything,” she stated flatly.
Jer shook his head, cursing under his breath. “Sullie stepped down.”
“I know,” she said, crossing her arms. My arm was around her shoulder, my fingers drawing slow circles on her shirt. “You taking over the running?” she asked. I smirked into my glass before tossing the rest of it back.
My angel was smart.
“How in the hell do you know about that?” her brother growled, surprise evident in his tone.
“If you weren’t taking over, then I would have to. Uncle Sullie wasn’t going to send me in blind. Besides, I've known about the weapons for a while. I found a crate of rifles in Sullie’s storage room in college,” she explained, and then softly added, “Thank you.”
We all knew she didn’t want to take over the Crew. She deserved a better life than that.
He sighed. “Okay, so you know. Then you need to know that just because that Italian fuck is dead doesn’t mean we won’t have enemies. I came here to ask for protection.”
My angel looked at me, her eyes pleading. “Did you say yes?”
“He's your family, Karina. Of course, I did,” I replied. Now that Karina knew—which I was planning on telling her after I fucked her later—Jer and I began discussing business. He said that he would be introducing me to his right and left hands, Dontell and Leon, the next time I was in St. Louis.
