Page 72 of Love Gamble
“What are you doing here?” Romeo asks, scowling.
Rosalind is Romeo’s Melinda.
I think every man has one. And somehow knowing that brings me a little comfort.
Rosalind crosses her arms and stares him down. Her eyes going to mine, back to Romeo. She’s sitting in her car, wearing crystal necklaces and rings that must have come from her new store. “Let me in. I have information.”
He opens the gate and lets her in, but tells her to stay in the car. “What do you want, Rosalind? Bored now that Gio’s left?”
She purses her pink glossy lips and leans out the window. “Look, I know you guys don’t like me, and I know I’ve done some shitty things in the name of revenge, but I would never let anything happen to my nephew.”
“You haven’t even met your nephew,” Romeo points out.
She hesitates, then admits, “Mom and Dad let me see him when they babysat him the other weekend.”
Shit.
Julianna is going to be pissed.
“And I know you’re going to be angry, but he’s the sweetest little boy, and he’s just a child. I would never let anything happen to him,” she continues, looking toward the clubhouse door.
“Well, that won’t be happening again, unless Julianna approves of it,” Romeo replies, his voice icy cold. “And what’s going on with you and the Lost Lions MC?”
“Yes, I partied with them. So what? None of the bikers here will go near me now after what I did. And I deserve a little fun, too.”
“So why are you here?” I ask, scowling. “You have no loyalty to us, and we don’t have any for you, except for the fact that you are Julianna’s sister and Paulie’s daughter. It’s a shame you don’t have their good character.”
She turns her cold eyes to me. “Nice to see you too, Damon. And if the two of you stop having a go at me, you can hear what I came to say. I know what the Lost Lions MC is planning on doing next. I overheard Gio speaking with his sergeant at arms when I was at their place.”
“I wish we could trust what you say, Rosalind. But unfortunately you’ve lost your credibility here. For all we know you coming here right now is part of their plan,” Romeo says to her, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Well, I heard him say that he has an insider here, one of your new prospects, and he has asked him to kill Bella the second Tatum is released,” she says, looking between us. “I’m sure that information would be of use to you.”
This has us both intrigued, because obviously Gio thinks it’s true about Leif. So, her information is right—we just already know it. River was fucking pissed when he learned about it, and we’re grateful that Leif is loyal to us.
“And what else?” Romeo presses, and she smirks, knowing she now has his interest.
“They are going to get Tatum, then go to River’s mom Lisa’s house to kill her. Which was his original plan, but you guys obviously stopped him. He also wanted Leif to set the clubhouse on fire on his way out, and then meet them a few towns over.”
“I hope you’re being honest for once in your life, Rosalind,” he says.
A flash of sadness and regret appears in her eyes. “I am. I promise. I don’t want Julian caught up in this bullshit—he doesn’t deserve any of it.”
I don’t know why she has this sudden love for her nephew, but she’s been asking to see him since he was born. And now she finally has. Maybe she does have a soft spot for him, even though she doesn’t have the same feeling for her sister.
“Okay, then. Thank you for letting us know.”
“You’re welcome,” she replies, and then backs out of the driveway.
Romeo turns to me, his hand on my shoulder, head lowered. “What do you think? She was right about Leif—what if she’s right about the rest? Or is she setting us up for a trap? They could all be waiting at Lisa’s house for us. Or on the road along the way.”
I realize that without River here, I have become Romeo’s second most trusted, his right-hand man, and I’m proud to be given that position.
“We need to get their mom to the clubhouse,” I tell him, because it’s not worth the risk. “What’s the best way to do that? Would she get in her car and drive here? Less conspicuous than a group of motorcycles.”
“We need her here before River lets Tatum go,” he says, pulling out his phone. “Get Corey to call her mom and tell her she needs to come here now. Otherwise, we need to leave right now to go and get her.”
Shit.