Page 24 of Beastly Armory
“Max! Come on!”
Markus pipes in, “Our old motorcycle shop is still standing. We can take your father’s bike there. Jakob and I will go with her, Max. I believe there’re a couple of boys who do repairs in the garage for cash. They aren’t affiliated with any family. We could tell them we’ll bestarting it back up, check into if their talents are worth keeping or if we need to run them off.”
Arianna perks up so much that I want to please her. I sigh and ask, “It’s on the east side?”
“Deepinto our side of town, yes,” Markus assures me.
“Alright. You can go. Is there an extra tank you can take?” I ask Jakob.
“Yes, sir. I’ve replaced Holland already.”
“Sounds good.”
“So I can go?” Arianna smiles and her entire face lights up as bright as the candelabras in the room.
“Yes, you can go.” Shoving her heavy chair back, she stands quickly and hugs me. “Don’t do anything stupid and obey our men.”
“I will! I will!”
“And Ari? When you get a motorcycle, I expect you to wear a helmet. And you won’t be riding anywhere but around our grounds until things settle down. Do you understand me?”
“Yes, yes. I hear you.” She sits back in her seat with a broad smile still in place. “Thank you, Max.”
“Understand that I willkillany motherfucker who touches you.”
Ignoring me, she picks up a piece of toast and wiggles in her seat in a happy little dance.
Tossing the cloth napkin on my finished plate, the chair legs give some resistance against the thickly tufted rug as I push back from the table and announce my departure. “I gotta go see a man about a meeting.”
Markus speaks up. “You want backup?”
“Nope. I need to do this alone.”
After sliding into my Barracuda, I head directly west across town. Once I hit the technology district, I ease off the gas. Pulling up to an old computer store, I get out, glancing up and down the street. I know eyes are already on me, but my spies should be here as well. The Glock in my holster brings me some comfort.
When I push it open, the door’s electronic chime rings out into the empty store, rows of dusty laptops sitting on metal shelves, waiting for purchase from people who have no money. I haven’t been here since I was a kid, but it hasn’t changed much. Before I can take a step all the way in, a familiar figure greets me from behind the counter.
“Max…” Calum’s face hasn’t changed. His brow still looks eternally worried, the small freckles on his nose reflecting those of his twin’s as it crinkles with his beaming smile. Waves of mousy brown hair pile like a wafted mess on top of his head, and the buzzing fluorescent lights catch a gleam in his green eyes holding back specks of tears. Unlike his sister, he missed me.
Rushing over, he grabs me in a tight embrace, and I hug him back with just as much regard, relaxing in his hold. I didn’t realize I needed it. Maybe I was unsure how I would be greeted by the enemy clan’s leader, but I should have known that Cal would want peace; he always has, trying to settle every fight Ace and I had when we were kids. He’s shorter than me by only a few inches now, his muscles taut and lean, whereas I’m bulky like a bear.
Pushing me back to study my face with his grin, he says, “Brother, it’s good to see you. I wish you’d come earlier, but I’ll take now. Come to my office with me.” Turning, he heads toward the back of the store. He called mebrother. Warm childhood memories fill my mind, and I swallow a lump in my throat.
“It’s good to see you, man,” I manage to say once I can.
“I would ask how you’ve been, but given everything, I figure it’s better not to.”
Behind a black curtain is a large open warehouse filled with tall metal shelves. We enter a small cinderblock office with a wall of computer monitors in an alcove off the main floor. Cal sits in a dilapidated desk chair, and I take place on a cushy couch along the wall. Leaning forward, I fill him in a bit on my life.
“Well, after Strauss killed my parents, I started fighting. MMA mainly. Got arrested for deadly assault a couple times until I had to go to prison for twenty-four months. Was working for a small-time mobster in another town, trying to get the funds to get back here.”
Cal nods and sighs. “And Arianna?”
“She’s always been at boarding school. You know my parents were too worried about her being in danger, about Strauss’s men finding her, so they sent her away. After she graduated, she went to a finishing school for a while, but once our parents… She ran away from there to live with me. Worked as an assistant until, well, I had to get her out of there, back to our home.” He doesn’t need to know about her old boss touching her once, then me putting a bullet in his head when she finally confessed what happened. That was the day we packed up for Gnarled Pine Hollow.
“I’m glad you’re home, Max.” The long strands of his hair fall across his creased forehead as he looks down at his lap. When he peers at me again, his bright green eyes glimmer. “But you being back here may cause issues. I know it has already. Last night?—”
“Last night was Strauss’s doing. He’s out to end my lineage. You know this.” And I know that despite trying to annihilate my parents for their disobedience and secret meetings, he’ll pretend to be the perfect consort in front of the people by giving me those licenses. Just to try to get me under his control. It won’t work, though.