Page 124 of Jake's Angel

“Come on. We better get in there. If Parisi is here, Pres is going to need something stronger than coffee to start his morning off,” Hawk mutters.

The three of us stroll inside. Pres, Caleb, and Pop are all standing in a line with their arms over their chests, looking pissed as shit.

Hawk, being the club dipshit, throws his hands up and says loudly, “Wasn’t us, Pres. We didn’t conjure up the boogeyman, I swear. We were just talking outside about Jake claiming your little girl and Declan’s woman going mute on him.”

“The fuck is wrong with you?”

“I’ll fucking kill you, you bastard.” Me and Declan shout at the same time. Declan pops Hawk in the head for good measure. Hawk’s laughing, but Pres isn’t finding anything funny this morning.

Shit.

The doors open behind us. Matteo walks in first, standing front and center, scanning the clubhouse. If we were a threat,they never would’ve gotten this close to any of us, that’s for damn sure.

Vincenzo and Santiago follow behind. Matteo moves out of the way, standing to the right of Vincenzo.

“Good morning. I hope you don’t mind my showing up unannounced, but I felt I should deliver my news in person.”

“Well, you’re here. What is the news? We’ve got shit to do and entertaining you wasn’t on my list this morning,” Gabe volleys back.

Vincenzo laughs. “I do love our little visits, Gabriel. But perhaps we should move this conversation somewhere more private.” Parisi glances to his left where Drea and the red-head whose name I’ve forgotten have gathered to drool over the men in black suits.

Seeing them reminds me of all the bullshit Drea filled Avery’s head with last night.

“Let me assure you. You don’t want your daughter’s business to be a public forum.”

Gabe grunts. “Fuck.” He turns toward the sanctuary and shouts over his shoulder, “Officers only! The rest of you, fuck off.”

I grab Blake on the way in. “Make sure you keep Avery at the house until I’m done here.”

“We thought she was with you.”

“Nah, she left early to come home. What about Sadie? Where’s she?” I ask, knowing Sadie would be the one to help Avery slip out this morning. My brothers would never pull anything like this. For fear I’d shoot them. Except maybe Hawk.

“Loretta’s up by the house. Been parked there for as long as I’ve been up. Pres had me and Austin stay at the clubhouse last night. Colt took the night shift so me and Austin could sleep off whatever concoction they dropped in our beers.”

“Check with Colt. Let me know what you find out.” Blake nods and I release him and head out to find the girls.

I head into the sanctuary and take a seat across from Parisi. Pop’s standing behind Gabe to the left and Declan to his right. Matteo and Santiago mirror their stance near Vincenzo.

“Anyone else feel like the air has all but left the room?” Hawk leans over to ask quietly. “Shit isthickup in here today.”

“Shut up, idiot.”

Gabe leans back, arms crossed. “All right. You’ve got us all here. Enlighten us on this bit of news so we can get on with shit that matters.”

Vincenzo smirks, pulling an envelope from inside his jacket pocket, tapping it on the table slowly. “Now, Gabriel, don’t be rude. I’ve brought you some information from ourfriend. The one who manhandled your daughter, wasn’t it, Mack?”

Pop grits his teeth. “Where is the son of a bitch? You said we’d get him when you were done questioning him. I’d like to ask him a few questions of my own.”

Vincenzo tsks. “I’m afraid he didn’t make it. My men can be a little … abrasive. Is that the word you would use, Matteo?” He turns to Matteo, who shrugs. Vincenzo waves him away. “Any way, our friend succumbed to his injuries. But he did have a lot of things to say before he departed.”

He’s still tapping the envelope on the table. It’s distracting as fuck.

“Are you going to tell us or are we supposed to guess?” Pres says, irritated as hell. The vein in his forehead is visibly thumping.

Vincenzo slides the envelope over to Gabe. He picks it up and begins to tear the end open. Vincenzo stops him with a quick warning.

“If you want your daughter’s dignity to remain intact, might I suggest you not show the room?”