Page 91 of Serpentine
Miles knows and trusts my gut enough to take me seriously, and he sits back down. His face turns as severe and cold as stone. “We’ll handle it. Fuck, I just want her home.”
I laugh. “I told her the same fucking thing. She fell asleep while I was on the phone. She’s safe, and she’s resting. But I’m worried that the factory will burn her out. Only one day, and she sounds exhausted.”
“She’s tough as nails. She’ll be fine.”
“I didn’t say she wouldn’t be fine. I said I was worried about how she would come out of this. You know, if he killed our mother, is it wise to put the one girl we both care about right in his path?”
Miles scrubs his face. “She’s his daughter, Brax. He won’t hurt her.”
“Men like that let nothing impede staying on top, and you know it.”
He closes his eyes. “If we decide it’s too much for her, we’ll pull her. But give her a chance. It was her idea, and I know she wants to succeed. Let her try.”
I nod in agreement reluctantly.
I stand.
All I can think about is the moment we three shared before all this. When I heard him behind me grunting his release as I did. While I know it’s stupid, my feelings for him are as ever-present as they are for Aella.
“Hey, it’s early. Let’s go to Zeke’s, huh? Grab a couple of beers, and show face so no one gets any ideas about moving into our territory. We’ve been occupied lately. We have shown little face in town,” Miles says.
I turn to say no but realize I could really use a fucking beer and nod instead. “Yeah, let’s. I’ll get dressed.”
He doesn’t hide his shock at my agreement, but he gives me a beaming smile, and it makes my stomach do the twisting shit I hate.
“Okay, I’ll meet you outside. I’ll see if some of the other idiots want to come.”
It’s ten p.m. before we get to Zeke’s Place, and it’s packed. There’s only a table for us because people clear out of it when they see us arrive. Lutz has already found a groupie to hang onto as he drinks himself stupid. Blaze shakes his head and sips his water.
We’d brought the truck tonight, recruiting Blaze as the designated driver to get us all back home in one piece.
Before I know it, I’m plastered, and the room is spinning.
My fingers hover over Aella’s contact, itching to text her something inappropriate and rouse her from her slumber, but I pocket my phone before I can do anything stupid.
Lutz is telling a dirty joke as the room suddenly falls silent. My head flies up, some of the whiskey thrumming in my veins seeming to clear out as adrenaline rushes through.
“You don’t belong in here,” Zeke calls out over the jukebox music that still blasts through the bar, even if every person inside had silenced when the broad motherfucker stepped one boot inside the door.
“Yeah? Well, you all go to places you don’t belong lately,” the man replies.
I stand, and I look over to find Miles gone. Lutz’s eyes shift towards the bathroom, and I nod once.
“And where is it you think we’ve been, hm?” I ask, sliding out of the booth and stepping towards the man. He’s got a leather jacket on with a Jackal signet on the breast, and I know it’ll have a matching one on the back.
“Fucking girls that don’t belong to you, hacking into accounts you don’t own, and riding through the streets of a city you don’t rule, and that’s just for starters.”
I laugh, and it pisses him off even more. “And where are you right now? You don’t fucking belong here. I suggest you head on out.”
Other members of the Cobras stand off their respective seats, some pulling weapons.
He looks around, taking in his situation but still staying rooted to the floor. “I only came to relay a message. Keep your eyes and noses where they belong, and you’ll have no further Jackal problems. Think you all can manage that?”
I snarl, coming to a stop in front of him.
He’s as round as he is tall, but I’m taller. I look down at him and smirk. “I think we’ll mind our business and what we need to do for the good of our people, and you all can do the same. That’s what I think.”
He shoves me backward, and that’s when all hell breaks loose. My arm swings around, connecting with his face as blood spills out of his nose and hits the floor. My men move to get me away from him as my eyes connect with Miles.