“Again,” I shout. Alex’s eyes flutter, surprise evident on her face. I’ve scared her. She needs to toughen up. She circles me in a fighter’s stance and takes a swing at me that I easily block. What she lacks in physical abilities she more than makes up for with her stubbornness. She’s young, but she’s got a lot of heart, and despite the fact that she can’t throw a punch to save her goddamn life, I think I like her.
Ruby heard from Gloria, Alex’s aunt on her father’s side, a few weeks ago that Carlo should be released soon. I don’t know what kind of deal they have, but Gloria made a call to the boys right after, acting like she never spoke to Ruby. All Ruby said when I asked her about it was, “Boys will be boys. Even as men, they need a mother’s supervision.”
According to Gloria, the feds are delaying Carlo’s release for as long as they can, still trying to rack up charges against him and his known associates. Nobody’s talking, and that’s a good thing. If the feds lock down Mancuso with RICO, they’re one step closer to targeting Forsaken. Nobody seems worried about RICO. Right now, we’re all just focused on staying alive.
Wyatt won’t talk about the plans for New York except to tell me that he’s got everything under control. I thought we’d made progress after Forsaken locked down the Petrov family as allies, but I guess we haven’t. So much has happened since he promised I could come to New York with the club. After Ian and Mindy’s wedding he told me he wants me to have his last name. It’s not the first time we’ve talked about making it legal, but it’s the first time I think we might be solid enough to actually get there. He even said “after New York”, he’d make it happen. Then, when Nic was voted in and again when Jeremy was patched, he said the same thing— ”after New York”.
I’ve been hearing it for months. After New York. I can feel it coming— the trip back East. The tension in the air is palatable. Wyatt told me the boys agreed to letting me, Ruby, Alex, and Mindy go with them. Elle is going to remain in town and oversee our intel on our way out there. With Holly pregnant and Nic with a new baby, neither one is interested in arguing about staying behind. Chey didn’t even ask if she could go, and that’s a damn good thing. The girl is barely legal. Jeremy asked the club to vote her in the day he was patched— a move reminiscent of my old man— but she’s still Fort Bragg’s VP’s daughter first and foremost. Hell, even I would have lost my shit over letting her go.
We’ve been making all these plans, prepping for the trip, but something feels off. In my gut, I know the guys don’t plan on bringing us. It’s going to get ugly, but Ruby and I talked about it. We’re going. Come Hell or high water, we’re not letting our men ride into battle without us.
“I’m wiped,” I tell Alex truthfully. She stops bobbing around me and wonders off. She finds Ryan perched on a bar stool and climbs onto his lap. He holds her with a gentleness that I don’t think anybody would have ever expected from him. Christ, even when he was a kid I wanted to drown his ass in a shallow pool. She’s only there for a minute before Duke gives Ryan a hand wave. I focus my attention on the men in the room as they quietly head down the hall toward the chapel.
From behind the bar, Mishy stares at me wide-eyed. She nods her head to signal me over. I follow her lead to the side room with the pool table in it. She leans against the table, eyes the room, and then levels her gaze on me.
“Boys got a call,” she says quietly, so casual that it’s like we’re talking about taking the kids to the park or some shit. It’s not casual though. As far as I know, my sister’s made it a point to keep her nose out of club business. It just never ends well. Just one more thing we don’t see eye to eye on. “Mancuso’s being released within the next week. His lawyer says he should have been out by now, but paperwork keeps getting lost. They think it’s the feds fucking things up on purpose.”
“Wouldn’t doubt it.” I try to keep my voice low, but it’s hard. With the boys out of the room, it’s so quiet in here. The kids are all having a play date with Wyatt and Grady’s moms. It’s weird being so kid-free, even if it is just for an afternoon.