“No, she wants something worse. Her freedom.” He glares at me then. “She will never be happy being kept in our penthouse, she’s not a kept woman. She likes to work, it’s how she got by.”
I nod and look away. “Then we give her a job, something, anything. Because she’s not leaving us.”
“We couldn’t give her freedom, even if we wanted to. It would be a sign of weakness, and they have all seen her with us now. She would be dead the moment she stepped from the building.” Ryder sighs and rubs his head. We both know that’s the truth. By being ours, she has a target on her back, but I can’t bring myself to regret that when it means I get her. “Fine, let’s get her some stuff, the other bits can wait.”
Firing up the Aston, he pulls into traffic with Tony and Sam behind us, and does a U-turn to take us downtown to the shopping district. “I fucking hate shopping,” he growls.
Flicking on the radio, I dance along to the music. “I love it.”
“How are we brothers?” he mutters.
“‘Cause all the anger and madness went to you.” I laugh.
He swears, and I ignore him and ring Garrett. “Hey, we’re nipping to the store, need anything?”
“To be allowed to kill this fucking brat,” he snaps, then yells louder, “Then don’t fucking try that shit again,” before coming back to the phone. “She’s so annoying, you sure I can’t kill her?”
“I heard that, asshole!” Roxy screams in the background. “I might not have my bat, but I’ll still take you down, motherfucker.”
I raise my eyebrows at that. “I thought you two had started to get along?”
He snorts but doesn’t answer. Ah, okay, so she’s under his skin. We can work with that. “Don’t you fucking dare change that channel again,” he barks.
“I’ll leave you to it, have fun,” I offer with a laugh before hanging up and looking over at Ryder. “She’s going to have him wrapped around her finger before long.”
He grins. “No doubt, she already has you.”
“And D, did you hear he killed that drunken idiot at the fight?”
Ryder nods. “Sloppy, but that’s Diesel for you.”
He parallel parks outside a shop, ignoring the no parking lines. We wait for Tony and Sam to get out, and then they open our doors—we can’t be too careful at the moment. It wouldn’t be good for one of us to get shot just because we were sloppy, and with a bounty on our heads, they will all be coming out of the woodwork to try for us. We are hoping the German is one of them, which is why we are out and about.
Bait.
Heads held high and unafraid, we stroll into the shop. The greeter zeros in on us straightaway, recognising money, and his eyes light up. “Gentlemen, how may I help you?”
Ryder points at me and pulls his phone out to undoubtedly answer all the emails piling up. Wrapping my arm around his neck, I pluck his phone free and pocket it. “Oh no you don’t, you stuck your dick in her too, so you have to buy her nice things to make up for your shitty attitude.”
He grumbles and glares at me, pushing me away. He tries to grab his phone, but I move back, laughing. The salesman doesn’t even blink, pretending he can’t hear our conversation like all the best ones do. Catering to the rich and famous means you get deaf really quick or you don’t last long.
“Fine, she needs more jewellery,” he mumbles, making me clap my hands.
“Now you’re talking. She needs more of those sexy bras, and for sure some more of those boots, they are hot as hell. Oh, we should buy her some weapons.” I sigh wistfully.
He looks over at me. “And when she uses them on us?”
I shrug. “Probably only on Diesel, and he would love it, and, well, maybe Garrett, but he would just respawn like the devil he is.”
“Of course, sir, if you would like to follow me. I will have my colleague Francesco escort you, sir, to the jewellery.”
“Nope, we can go together, we are in no rush,” I reply and wave him on. He inclines his head and leads us to the second floor and the jewellery there.
“What kind of shit do women like?” I mutter.
“Anything expensive,” Ryder snaps.
“Like fuck. You think Rox cares how much we spend? She would probably just throw it back in our faces and cross those little arms and put on the cute face and be like ‘I don’t need your bribes, asshole,’” I mock, and his mouth drops at my girl voice.
“That was strangely accurate and a little scary. Fine, what shall we get her?” He throws his hands in the air.
“You, server guy, what should we get a woman who doesn’t give a fuck about money or riches and is rocker-like?”
He ponders that for a moment. “Ah, I have some things that may work.”
“Any in a snake?” Ryder queries.
The man doesn’t even blink at the strange request. “Right this way.”
He leads us to a small sitting area and then disappears. Leaning back in my chair, I look around at all the sparkling jewels around us. “Shit, I remember coming to places like this with Dad so he could show off his new trophy wife.”
Ryder grunts, but I carry on, “I always hated it and the women, all they cared about was money. Yet we ended up with those types of women…well, except now with Roxxane. She really is different. Do you think it’s because she genuinely doesn’t know how much money we have?”
“I don’t think it would matter. She was brought up on nothing, came from nothing, and she has worked for everything she has. I believe Rox likes to earn her way. She wouldn’t be intimidated here, but she would also insist on paying herself.”
I nod. He’s right, he always is. He has a good read on people. “Did you ever think this is where we would end up?”
He glances at me then, his face cold, but I know better. My brother has the world on his shoulders, always did. Even back then, protecting me from our old man, it made him sharp, cold, and angry. “No, I thought we would either be dead or still with the bastard.”
I nod solemnly. “You did what you had to, brother.”
He looks away for a moment, watching the comings and goings of people. “I know.” He goes quiet. “Do I remind you of him sometimes?”
I debate his question. “Yes, but you have something he never did.”
“What’s that?” he inquires, looking at me.
“Me.” I smirk. “He had no one to drag him back down, to stop him before he went too far. You have his hunger, his smarts, and yes, his anger. But you also have a family that genuinely cares for you. We are all a bit messed up, but we know how to keep each other sane. You never have to worry about being him, I would never let you. I would kill you first,” I vow, and he smiles, a genuine one, and I can almost see him as a kid, when he used to smile like that all the time before my dad beat it from him.