14. Parker
PARKER
I set the knife down on the edge of the counter as I grabbed a beer from the fridge. Once I'd downed a decent amount, I returned to the knife, using my finger to twirl the handle around in a circle.
What a pleasant surprise, that Little Love.
She was about to spice things up, and I couldn’t wait. Just thinking about her running in on Grey had me barking out a laugh. Would he kill her on sight? Play with her first? Given his unpredictability, it was a toss-up.
Served him right for trying to mess with my plans.
He thought it was about the fight. It wasn’t.
And it wasn’t like I was going to fill him in anytime soon. Or ever. I pulled my phone out and texted Jorge.
Me: How much is this going to mess with my plans?
There were no immediate bouncing dots. He was stateside today, and there was a real chance he was either out of cell range or in the middle of a meeting.
Unlike some of my brothers, I held my own businesses close to the vest, but Jorge was a solid second choice when I wanted to step away for a little break.
Since Grey decided to fuck everything up by causing trouble at the mansion, I needed to retreat and lick my wounds, so to speak. Usually, I could manage my affairs remotely and often did, but I found I needed the short separation.
Rapid-fire Spanish echoed from the commons. Blanca. That woman was full of piss and vinegar when she wasn’t exuding sugary spice. I dropped the knife in the sink and followed the rising sound of her voice.
“Who let that demon woman in here? Do you see the size of the goose on the back of my head? Anton, do you see it?” she screeched.
Blanca was Jorge’s younger sister and the one who kept the kitchen stocked for us.
Standing at five-foot-eight with more than generous curves, her body matched her personality.
Nothing like that little wisp of a thing I ran into in the hallway.
Speaking of, the demon woman could only be one person.
I grinned as I leaned against the doorjamb to the media room. Blanca waved her arms around, nearly hitting Anton’s second in command.
Old Anton. He had been with Grey the longest. While the soldiers worked for all of us, some were closer to a specific brother, and Anton was his.
“I said we should take you to the doctor if you’re so worried about the bump. Clearly, you’re fine. Otherwise, you would shut your fucking mouth,” Anton growled and stalked past her.
“What’s going on here?” Andre was on his way toward the community kitchens when he skidded to a halt and pushed past me.
I’d barely seen him since coming back from the mansion, but the days had not been kind to him. His usually neat hair was a bedraggled mess, and his eyes were bloodshot. What had my dear brother been up to?
Not that I had any room to judge when I’d been working on my own shit since we touched down.
“Andre!” Blanca exclaimed. Our housekeeper had always had a thing for Andre, and no matter how many times he rejected her, she was never able to hide her infatuation.
She rushed to Andre, gripping his wrinkled button-down shirt in both hands as she tipped her head back.
No one else would get away with that kind of familiarity, but Blanca had been with us the longest and was essentially harmless.
Her family would never betray ours, so we’d put up with a little disrespect every now and again.
“What the hell is going on?” Andre gently gripped her hands and set her away from him.
“Lafe asked me to check in on some woman he had up in the apartments, and she tried to kill me! Dios mio ! She slammed something in the back of my head, and now she’s running around the compound!” Her words ended in a wail.
I knew why. What started out as genuine anger morphed into fear as she realized the implications of what that meant.
We were very strict about who came and went through our personal haven.
This was the one place even Vicente didn’t travel to.
Surprisingly, he had accepted that, although I wouldn’t put it past him to have spies here.
And we did have to host associates on occasion.
Andre stilled.
Snickering, I pulled another drink from my beer as I watched the cogs turn in his head. I was sure I would have been just as shocked if I hadn’t run into Little Love in the hallway.
He canted his head, nearly squinting at Blanca. Then he rubbed a finger in his ear as if he hadn’t heard her right. “I’m sorry. Did you say Lafe had a girl in the apartments? And now she’s loose in the compound. Because, see…I’m sure I heard you wrong.”
As if realizing the mood her crush was in, Blanca gulped and stepped back.
“Lafe’s been gone for almost a week. When did he bring a girl here?” The deadly calm in Andre’s voice scared poor Blanca. Even Anton moved further away. Andre wasn’t the violent one of us. They wouldn’t have to fear he would suddenly pound sense into someone for the fun of it.
His method of dealing with people was far, far worse.
I loved it.
“Why are you grinning?” Andre barked as he twisted toward me.
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because, for once, Lafe is stepping outside of his comfort zone. He’s been living in fear of his shadow for years. I, for one, am happy to see him break outside the box.”
“Chuck it up, pendejo . She could be a plant. She could be an oblivious whore he brought here for a good time. Regardless, there’s no scenario where we want her running around by herself.”
Anton cleared his throat. “Actually, sir. I don’t think she’s alone.” He hesitated, earning a venomous glare from Andre. “Grey called me. Told me to check on a woman in the birdcages. I figure he’d only know Blanca had been hurt if he had captured the woman.”
I wasn’t smiling anymore. Little Love shared more information with that savage than she had me?
Swiping his hand through his hair, Andre made a sound of disgust as he stormed by me. Blanca wrung her hands as she watched his retreat, and Anton cleared his throat. He might have been trying to get my attention, but there was a show to see. I wasn’t about to waste my time with these two.
I finished off my beer and chucked it into the trash by the door.
Then I stuffed my hands in my pockets and strolled after Andre.
There was no use running, I’d already gotten my workout in and then some.
It might be better anyway to allow Andre to blow off his steam in the first few minutes before I showed up.
He got testy with an audience.
Ah, it didn’t matter. Grey must have taken Little Love elsewhere because, by the time I made it to the open commons, Andre was stomping out of the wing with the gym and heading toward our private apartments.
That was a good call. I could see Grey taking her home like a lost puppy. Well, actually, I couldn’t. He should have beaten her on sight. Picking up my pace, I trailed after Andre, my own curiosity beating at me.
At Grey’s door, Andre pounded using both fists. “Open up, Grey!”
I stopped a few feet from Andre. Had Grey taken our little friend somewhere else? The compound was massive in its own right, but Grey could usually be found at the gym or at his place. On occasion, he’d venture out elsewhere, but rarely.
Out of the four of us, he was gone the most, overseeing the fights. He probably didn’t see the need to socialize.
Andre started another round of pounding, reaching in his waistband for the gun he carried when Grey opened the door.
I snickered. Was he about to shoot the lock? Even though we were brothers, working together toward a common-ish goal, we didn’t have keys or codes to each other’s domains. We preferred to keep our privacy.
My big brother was probably regretting that oversight right about now.
“What the hell are you doing?” Grey glared Andre down.
“Move back.” Andre shoved past Grey. He must have seen something he didn’t like because a few steps in, he rushed into the living room.
“Fuck,” Grey muttered, following after him.
As the brains of our operation, I shut the door and locked it. This was our place, our territory we ruled as kings. Still, we could never be too careful.
In the living room, Andre had Little Love’s head pulled back by her hair with his gun shoved under her chin. Grey stood off to the side with his arms crossed, still shooting Andre a stern glare.
“That isn’t necessary,” Grey growled.
“The fuck it’s not. Who is this, and why the hell is she here?”
I had to give it to Little Love. She didn’t cry, didn’t appear afraid, although I knew her heart had to be pounding out of her chest from the flush creeping up her neck and face. She held his gaze with fierce blue eyes, her top lip barely curled in contempt.
Ah, that was why Grey hadn’t killed her. She reminded him of himself.
“Lafe brought her. Found her at Maikel’s. You want more than that, you’ll have to ask him.” Grey dropped onto the end of the couch, his unblinking gaze on Andre and Little Love.
If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he was about to rip her away from Andre.
Grey rubbed one brow. “If you’re going to kill her, kill her. Otherwise, take a seat. You know guns make me twitchy.”
Or maybe not.
Andre’s grip tightened, her head yanking back further in his hold, then he pushed her away and grunted his frustration.
“What have you found out about her?” Andre took a seat on the coffee table facing her as if he needed to be close at hand if she tried to escape.
Not one to be left out, I dropped into the chair on her left. When she turned her attention to me, her eyes momentarily widened before she blanked her expression. I winked.
I told you your short stint at freedom wouldn’t last long…