Chapter 26
Hawk
Watching her walk away had me ready to jump out of my skin. I was practically vibrating. Niko pulled out a pack of cigarettes, flipped the top of the box, and held it out.
“Here, my friend.”
I’d only seen him smoke a handful of times, and usually cigars. Still, I took one and pulled my own lighter out. I had a pack of my own, but why not take the offering?
Pacing around, I glanced up to see the busybodies staring before they tried to pretend they weren’t staring. Then Ma andSugar came back outside, and Ma made it a point to give me the evil eye as she walked until she couldn’t turn her head anymore.
“Katya is usually mild tempered, but she can have a short fuse at times,” Niko said as he lit his own cigarette and blew the smoke out. “But why do you think she’s so upset?’
I was mildly shocked he stood by me and not her during the argument. Honestly, if it were Penny, I’d have stepped between us, going toe to toe with him and dealt with her later. Family first.
After taking a long drag, I blew it out, still pacing. “Fucking women.”
Niko nodded. “Yes, but that’s always going to be the case. Surely something set her off. What was she talking about, patches? Have you not given her the vest?”
I stopped pacing, my hand at my sides, still holding the cigarette between my index and middle finger. “Not that it’s your business, but no, I haven’t.”
Eagle came walking out with a glass and a beer. He passed me the glass and took a drink from his bottle. “You good, Prez?”
Knocking back the Crown in one swig I said, “I’ll be fine.”
“Eagle, my friend,” Niko started, “why do you think Hawk has not presented my sister with her vest?”
Eagle looked at me then back at Niko. “That’s none of my business, or yours, respectfully.”
Niko grinned. “You’re a smart second, Eagle.” He drew one more puff from his cigarette then flicked it away. “I’ll be atthe bar, gentlemen. But I will check on Katya in a while as well.”
Once Niko was back inside, Eagle asked, “So how bad am I gonna be in the doghouse tonight because of you?”
“That’s your problem,” I said, staring across the courtyard at my own fucking house that I’m supposed to stay away from.
Falcon came walking out of the clubhouse and joined us. “Hey Prez, everything good?”
“Actually, no. The Martinellis didn’t take kindly to the news Kat wasn’t up for grabs. And it’s looking more and more like there’s links from them to Romano.”
Falcon rubbed his beard. “But how can we link them to whatever is here?”
“That’s the million dollar question,” I said, taking one last drag then flicking the butt away. “So far, we can’t.”
Eagle swallowed a sip of beer, then asked, “But how does that change anything? Didn’t we already think they were connected?”
“Yes. But now weknow,thanks to Petrov. Plus, they’ve started making some trouble for them. Which is why Petrov came and brought a straggler.” I explained how Niko shared that some of Martinelli’s men had been spotted near the restaurant, so he got a detail on Klara. Sure enough, they were following her. She had no clue, and thought the visit was just a nice gesture. “Also, they may have movement here.”
“So we need to track ‘em,” Eagle said, arms crossed with his bottle dangling from one hand.
Nodding, I told him, “Yeah. Petrov has his men on it and we got Keys on it. So far coming up empty. But Keys found a possible lead on that madame. Still some blocks to break through, but it’s more than he got before.”
Falcon asked, “Does he think she’s alive, then?”
“Not sure yet. But at least he thinks he finally caught a break. If he can find a real name or identifiers, we can try to at least back track even if she’s dead. There has to be a connection there.”
“Is her friend staying, then?” Eagle asked.
“Not sure. But I don’t know when Niko plans to leave for that matter.” He’d been more respectful since the first day they arrived, and he was her brother, but I wasn’t prepared for a visit, much less an extended stay, from him.
