Thank God.
And even though I hated him right now, I swallowed my pride, and let out a softly irritated, “Someone should warn Luka.” When everyone looked at me like I was a crazy person, I shrugged, and uttered, “Jesus, guys. I’m pissed, but I don’t want him dead. And I definitely don’t have to stoop down to his level.” My eyes landed on my beautiful, brooding man. “Make the call.”
But Twitch shook his head. “You wanna call, you call. I ain’t wasting a single fuckin’ breath. Not on him.”
“Yeah, fuck him,” murmured Luna.
Fernanda muttered quietly, “I already did.”
Luna grinned. “How was it?”
Fernanda sighed dreamily, a small smile gracing her full lips. “Phenomenal.”
That was the point Thiago had enough. He put a large hand to his forehead, and uttered under his breath, “Jesucristo.”
Fernanda chuckled low and throaty while Luna leaned in, and whispered, “She loves torturing our brother.”
I could see that.
“Twitch,” I plead softly. But he simply shook his head. He wasn’t going to budge on this.
Stubborn ass.
I held out my hand with a glare. “Give me the damn phone.”
“I’ll call him.”
Twisting back to Happy, I shot him a grateful look. “Thank you.”
Even though Luka had forsaken us, I wouldn’t have his death hanging over my head like the sword of Damocles.
Twitch looked mad as hell, calling out to Happy as he walked back into the house. “You make sure he knows why you’re callin’. You tell him the woman he just refused help is still watching his fuckin’ back.” He closed his eyes, and ground out, “Motherfucker.”
The tension was thick enough to cut through. Surprisingly though, it was Fernanda who spoke on Luka’s behalf. “It’s not his fault. Having us here makes things difficult for him. He banished us with good reason.” She actually looked sad. “That’s why we left willingly. Being back in his domain against his edict... it raises question about his authority.” She made a face. “Or lack of it.”
It was the way she spoke—whisper-soft and utterly despondent—that had me asking, “What did you do?”
Her face turned expressionless a full second before she pasted on a cunning smile. “That is a story for another day.”
All right then.
Not my business.
Got it.
“Do we have a plan?” I asked to the crowd. Nobody answered. I turned to face Twitch, and uttered softly, “We have to have a plan, honey.”
A plan was good. A plan meant we were trying to maintain control in a situation where we had none.
Twitch kept his eyes on me. “We’ll lay low the next few days. Keep A.J. at home—”
Already shaking my head, I cut in with, “I’ve already kept him from school the entire time we were at Luka’s. Anymore time away and they’re going to ask questions.”
Molly pursed her generous lips. “I’m with Lexi. Having A.J. at school means Ling’s target narrows onto the two of you, and I hate to say it, but my job is to protect that little boy, not his parents.” It stung how heartless her words were, but she was right. “School is probably the safest place for him.”
Luna was nodding. “She’s right. With Molly and the little ni?o out of the picture, we can focus on the two of you.”
I could see Twitch was caving. He spoke to Molly. “You stay with him. All fuckin’ day. You hear me?”
“I hear you,” she responded earnestly, and I knew Molly would do whatever it took to protect my son, even throw herself in front of a mass of bullets.
Julius pulled out a chair and sat, tugging Ana down onto his lap. “We don’t even know who she’s after.”
Twitch replied positively, “She wants me.” His eyes hooded more than usual as he ran a hand through his hair and spoke low. “It’s always been me.”
A moment of silence passed between us all, and I had a feeling we were all thinking the same thing.
He was right.
It had always been Twitch.
“You packin’?” Thiago asked him.
“Always, bro.”
“What about you?” he asked me. “You know how to use a gun?”
At the very moment I responded, “Yes,” Twitch uttered, “No,” and when he heard my answer, his brows furrowed as he blinked at me in bewilderment.
My brows arched. I spoke to Thiago but kept my gaze locked on Twitch. “Yes, I know how to use a gun.” A moment passed, and then I offered, “You think Julius Carter lived in my house six months, going through what he did, and didn’t teach me to protect my son?”
At that, Tony’s face softened. “You got a gun in the house.” A statement.
“Yes, I do.”
“And you never told me.”
“No, I didn’t.” It seemed we all had some secrets.
He kept his voice light. “You ever plan on using that gun on me?”
“Occasionally.” Damned if there hadn’t been a few times I thought about it.
His eyes grinned, and mine smirked right back at him.
In response to my deception, all he uttered was a soft sounding, “Solid.”
Fuck. I loved this man.
And when Zep spoke, his words were directed to Luna and Luna alone. “You’re coming with me.”
Luna’s brow knitted. “No way,” was her reply, but it sounded like she said, “You’re insane.”
Zep looked her up and down like she was a snack of epic proportions and he was famished. His lip twitched. “I want you on my team, Lulu.”
Lulu?
Wait. They knew each other?
All of a sudden, it dawned on me. It all made sense. Zep knew Twitch was in Cuba. How? Because he probably suggested it. And now that I looked deeper at how Zep was watching Luna, I saw more than I wanted to.
Zep was into her.
Luna blinked at him. “So does everyone else,” she responded, chuckling without sounding at all amused.
Thiago, sick of his sisters’ apparent suitors, snapped, “My sisters stay with me, Falco. Both of them.” He ended on, “We aren’t here for you.” And damned if it sounded like a threat.
But then again, anything coming out of the mouth of Thiago Vega sounded like a threat.
“How we gonna run this?” asked Happy, leaning against the wall.
Molly chimed in with, “I’m sleeping in A.J.’s room until further notice.” She peered over at Luna and Fernanda. “You guys take my bed.”
They nodded in agreement.
“Thiago, you take the sofa,” Twitch suggested.
“It’s not a pull out,” I said, my eyes drifting over his monstrous form then adding an apologetic, “Sorry.”
“Everyone else—” Twitch shrugged lightly. “—I don’t know. Go home, I guess.”
It was the first time I’d ever heard Twitch sound unsure of himself, and it scared the ever-loving shit out of me.
When everyone made their leave and we were alone in bed, we held each other tightly, closely, and I don’t remember falling asleep, only waking up.
And when I finally did wake, it was alone to a cold bed.
Chapter
ThirtyNine
Twitch “What are you doing out here?” she asked quietly.
Contemplating doing some stupid ass shit to keep you safe.
“Nothin’.”
But she knew me, this woman. She knew me well enough to know when I got inside my head it was a dangerous thing.
And her whispered words told me just how well she knew the person I was. “Stop it.” When she took the few steps over and knelt beside me, I lifted my tired gaze to her, and those big blue eyes I loved shone with concern. She sat back on her heels and held a hand out to touch me but stilled part way, balling her outstretched hand into a fist. She didn’t speak a while but when she did the words were firm. “Whatever you’re thinking... just stop.”
How could I?
It consumed my mind. Consumed my thoughts. Consumed me whole.
We weren’t dealing with just anyone here. I’d taught Ling, and I’d taught her well. This wasn’t going to end until one of us was in a casket, and she now had nothing to live for.
I was fucking with a person who had nothing left to lose.
That made her a dicey adversary.
“I’ve talked Ling off of a lot of ledges before.” I looked back out into the yard. “Maybe I can talk her off this one too.”
Unfortunately, I didn’t actually believe that.