“Jesus fuck, they let anyone in this damn place,” I say to Crusher.
“They needed someone to pretty up the place when your damn mug got close.”
“Fuck you,” I grumble, but the smile freezes on my face as Colin comes into view.
“I thought I told you motherfuckers I wanted nothing to do with you again,” Skull growls, not bothering to sit down. “I meant that shit. I especially meant it with your sorry ass, Colin, so you better have a really good fucking reason for calling this meeting.”
“Oh, come on now. You can’t be that bitter or you wouldn’t have agreed to this meeting,” says Colin.
“And just like that, we’re done. Contact me one more time and I’ll cut your fucking head off. I’ve got a bigger reach than you these days. Believe me when I tell you, I will not hesitate to destroy you.”
“I really don’t want to hear your idle threats, Skull. This is a business meeting, nothing more.”
“We don’t have business. The guys I do business with aren’t even in your hemisphere. I give them the word and you’re wiped off the map. Understand?”
“I have a proposition for you.”
“Not interested.”
“It’s something I think you would love to be part of.”
“Fucking hell. It’s like you don’t have enough brain power to comprehend what I’m saying to you. I want nothing to do with you. I know Matthew said that you had nothing to do with the bomb that killed my man’s family, but I don’t trust you, and you didn’t deny that shit when it first happened. I’d just as soon see your throat slit than talk to you. Now this meeting is done. I knew better than to even show up.”
“But you did. Show up, I mean.” I watch as my brother’s back stiffens. Skull is on a thin line and I know that Colin is pushing it.
“Because I had to wonder what you could possibly think I’d want to meet with you about.”
“My grandfather died. Well, he was murdered, really.”
“Did you do it?”
“No. That’s suicide in the family. There are a few men off-limits in power plays, and my grandfather, he is one. You cannot gain control and respect of the family by taking out the man who is responsible for everything.”
“You’re saying you fuckers have some morals, even if it is just twisted? Of course this doesn’t surprise me, considering you’re the same fuck who wanted to stick his dick into his own sister.”
“Stepsister,” Colin growls, finally showing signs of losing control, his pale skin going pink.
“Tomato, toe-mat-toe,” Skull says, then gives us boys the signal to mount up.
“You disappoint me, Skull. I thought you would at least be interested in knowing who killed my beloved grandfather.”
“I figure I already know.”
“Is that a fact?”
“Whoever you could manage to pay since your purse strings have been clipped. Torch,” he says, facing me, “let’s get going. The air here is starting to bother me.”
“Sure thing, boss.” I’m more than happy to get the fuck out of here myself.
“Colin, in case the message hasn’t gotten to you yet, if you step foot into the state of Kentucky, let alone my territory—and that means you and your flunkies, the Chrome Saints—I will call Romanov and he will end all of you. Tempt me to call, Colin. I’d almost plead with you to give me one fucking reason to make sure you stop polluting the air I breathe,” Skull warns Colin in a deadly voice.
We all make it to the door before Colin decides to drop the real reason the fucker is here.
“You’re rather boring with your threats, and so predictable. My brother Matthew said you wouldn’t care anymore. I thought he was wrong.”
“I didn’t even know your grandfather other than to know the asshole’s seed had to have poison in it to have the offspring it did. So no, Colin. I do not give a fuck that your grandfather bit the dust.”
“You might change your tune if you knew that he died at the hands of someone you know. Someone you know very well. Someone you might even want revenge on.”
Skull holds his head down and pinches the bridge of his nose. I can literally feel the tension that comes off of him.
“Say whatever the fucking hell you have to say Colin, because it’s obvious that’s all this meeting is about. So just spit it out so I can get the fuck out of here.”
“I thought you’d like to see your ex-girlfriend again after all these years,” Colin says.
I think every breath in my body freezes. What the fuck is going on? If it’s sending this amount of shock through me, what in the hell could it be doing to Skull? Nothing shows in his face except anger. You not only see it in his face, you can literally feel that fucking shit.
“What the fuck are you going on about?” Skull asks, his voice so low and deadly you have to strain to hear it.
That’s when Colin shoves a folder at him that had been lying on the table where he sits.