Page 6 of The Vow
“Sure thing.” Rafe stood, too, and lifted the little man down. Rafe smiled and babbled back to the little guy, and baby Chase toddled off with his arms in the air, giggling, with Rafe in hot pursuit.
“What are your plans for today then, April?” Blue asked. April rubbed her back and winced a little. “Quiet day, looking after Chase?”
April barked out a laugh. “Ha, no day looking after Chase is quiet. And no, I’m getting a massage then I’m directing the set up for the party.”
“Are you sure you’re okay to be doing that in your state?” Blue frowned, flashing Colt a judgy look. Colt deadpanned back at Blue, but Colt wisely stayed silent.
“In my state?” April rounded on him. Carmelo kept his head down, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire. “You mean pregnant? Are you saying there are things you think I shouldn’t be doing, because I’m pregnant?”
Blue cleared his throat. “I’m just saying you should be taking it easy-”
“Did you miss the bit where I said I was getting a massage?”
“Colt shouldn’t have you doing club business.” Blue crossed his arms over his chest.
“Colt doesn’t have me doing anything,” April snapped back. “I’m overseeing a party welcoming back our friend and brother. And I’m planning this amazing black tie charity dinner for next year. Raising money for the town’s favorite charities. And you are going to come, and you are going to wear a black tie, and be gracious about it. And I should be doing anything and everything I want to do, thank you very much!”
Blue held up his palms, looking affronted.
April frowned. “And don’t look at me like that! As if I’m attacking you! You’re the one who came in here, casting your thoughts about what I should and shouldn’t be doing-”
Colt licked his lips. “April, Kitten-”
“And don’t you ‘Kitten’ me! What, I can’t raise my voice and tell you lot to fuck off, because of the ‘state I’m in’? Well, let me tell you…” April took a breath and Carmelo braced himself.
But April blew the breath out slowly. Then took another deep breath in. “Do you know what, I can’t be bothered. Just, don’t even… okay?” she said, and turned on her heel and marched away with her head held high.
The table took a collective sigh. Carmelo thought they’d gotten off lightly.
Colt sat back in his chair, shoved his plate to one side and crossed his arms, too, regarding Blue with a frown on his face. “You want to go deeper with the Guardians of Purity?” Colt said.
“Yes, weapons grade plutonium-”
“Fuck’s sake,” Colt spat. “Shall we light the fuse of this fucking bomb they’re building, as well? We’d be fucking less guilty if I offered to light myself first as the flint-”
“Colt, don’t be over dramatic. We’ve fit a vehicle for you to transport, you’ll have to steal it from one of our compounds but we’ll make it easy for you-”
“Well, thanks so much,” Colt murmured sarcastically.
“If you can be the trusted partners to transport the plutonium, then we’ll plan the sting for when they have all the equipment and ingredients together, to get them maximum time.”
“Hmm,” Colt grunted. “I’m for that, I want to put those fuckers away so they won’t see daylight again. But you’re playing a risky game, Blue.”
“High risk, high rewards, I don’t need to tell you that, Colt.”
Colt grunted again. “I think I prefer the Armenians.”
Blue sniffed. “The Zakarian Syndicate? Yeah, without the Demonios they’ve picked up a lot of the drug trafficking in the area. Getting rich, rising up…”
“Yeah, well, they have all complicated codes of honor and shit, quite old fashioned in their thinking, you know, the women stay home and look pretty and have kids, the men carry guns and get business done-”
“-maybe they got the right idea,” Blue muttered.
“-but they are fair, and level headed to a point, not bat shit crazy like the Guardians,” Colt continued.
Carmelo tried again with his eggs. His hands trembled and his stomach turned. Fuck, he thought he’d shared a bottle of whiskey with three of the girls, but by the sounds of things he’d drunk it all himself, and that was a lot for him. Too much.
“It’s good to get in with them, Colt, for now. We’re keeping the Zakarian’s in place, they are doing a good job, keeping peace, bringing stability, keeping the product lines flowing… they got a professional set up but we’ll keep watching them. Really good with your new Vegas Chapter because there’s some cousin once removed or some shit who are doing business in Vegas so a consolidation is on the cards…”