They all agree, and like a wave of menace, we descend on the apartment complex. Blake pulls up beside me. “Think he had to move here after I had my buddy at the LVPD pull a search warrant on his house. Turns out his roommate was selling crack. Ole Cliff weaseled out of any charges by squealing on his buddy, which pissed me off. I was hoping we could get the piece of trash locked up for a while.”
I scan the door numbers in search of the right one. “She told me what he did, Blake. How could you keep from killing him?”
“I wanted to; trust me. But when you’ve got people who depend on you, you have to consider them too. Getting locked up won’t do my family any good, ya know?”
“I’m starting to understand that, yeah.” Because as much as I hate Clifford, I love Axelle more. Leaving her for any reason is no longer an option. I nod toward the door in front of me. “There it is.”
“Good.” His lips pull back from his teeth. “Now let’s have some fun.”
I close my fist and bang on the door. The heat of fighters at my back floods me with power, but more than that with security. There’s no doubt they’ll keep me from doing something I’d regret.
The door swings open to reveal Clifford in nothing but a pair of jeans. His eyes narrow on me, but then widen as he scans the wall of muscle behind me.
“What’s up, Cliff.” I push past him and into his pad. “Long time no see.”
“Hey, wait. You guys can’t just come in here.”
Jonah knocks into Clifford’s shoulder, accidentally on purpose, sending the guy back a few steps. “Sure we can, kid. We just did.”
The cramped living room is littered with fast-food trash and empty pizza boxes. Beer cans and overflowing ashtrays cover the coffee table and the place stinks. Remorse turns my stomach to think of Axelle and a baby living here. For a year, I imagined them making house, but never considered it would be like this. I have to believe Blake would’ve never allowed it.
“I’ll call the cops.” Clifford grabs his phone off the couch only to have it snagged from his hand by Wade.
“Not so fast, Clit.” He shoves the phone in his pocket.
“It’s not Clit.” Rex shakes his head. “It’s Clifford, bro.”
“Oh, my bad. Listen, Clitford, we’re not gonna hurt you.”
“Unless you want us to.” Rex smiles wickedly.
“You guys come here to jump me? Is that it?” Cliff’s fake bravery is so pathetic I almost feel sorry for him. Almost. “That’s how you assholes fight, huh? Six against one.”
Jonah pops out his bottom lip. “Aww, don’t hurt him, guys. He can’t count.” His face turns damn near homicidal. “There are nine of us, and if you so much as raise your voice, we will fuck you up.”
“Oh, nine against one. Freakin’ cowards.”
“Says the cocksucker who bullied a girl half his size.” I close in. “Tripped her when she was…” I bite my tongue and growl. I don’t have to finish the sentence. I can see that Clifford gets me.
“You can’t do this; you can’t break into my house—”
“I remember being invited over.” Wade holds up Clifford’s cellphone with an outgoing text that reads, Come on over for a circle jerk. Let yourselves in. “Kinky, but no thanks.”
Clifford’s eyes bounce between Blake and me. “I can’t believe all this is about her. I was just fuckin’ around, man.”
I step into his space. “I’ll give you credit for not saying her name, because you know if you did, I’d destroy you.”
His eyes narrow, but I don’t miss the way his dilated pupils dart back and forth in fear. “What do you want?”
“I want you to promise, right here and now in front of these witnesses, that you will never come near my woman again.”
He laughs awkwardly. “Dude, she has a restraining order against me. Pretty sure that’s already been settled. You’d have known that if you weren’t busy banging bitches in Europe.”
My arm flinches, but a firm hand steadies me. “I don’t mean stay away from her because of the restraining order. I mean for the rest of your sad pathetic life. I mean if you ever run into her, five, ten, fifteen years from now, you turn and walk the other way. I mean if she comes home and says, ‘You’ll never believe who I saw at the grocery store…’ we come back to pay you a visit.”
“That’s impossible! We live in the same city.”
“Move.” The single word comes from behind me, and I realize it must be Blake who steadied my arm.
“Don’t care what you have to do or where you have to go, but know that if I find out you so much as pass her car in a parking lot, I will come back for you.”
“Fine.” His hand shakes as he pulls a smoke from the pack in his pocket. “You done here?”
“Not yet.” Ryder steps up along with Caleb and Cam. “We delivered the message, but we need some insurance.”
I stare at the boys, having no idea what they have in store but enjoying the idea anyway.
Cam pushes up to Clifford, intimidating him with his size, and the guy shifts on his feet like a little kid who needs to hit the bathroom and fast. “Seems you took some questionable photos of our girl without her permission.”
“That’s bullshit! She begged—”
I slap him in the face, not hard enough to leave a mark, but enough to get his attention. “Don’t fucking talk about her.”