Chapter 26 Luca
Luca
The dog plonks his head on my thigh and stares up at me. Rubbing the top of his head, I click my fingers and point to his bed. He plods away and makes himself comfortable by the bar.
“Are you listening?” Angel asks.
Rolling a cigarette between my fingers, I lift my eyes to my VP.
“You’re repeating yourself, sweetheart. I listened the first time,” I murmur.
Rolling his eyes, he opens a beer and slides it across the table to me.
“With Effie out of the picture now, Ford will join us on the run tomorrow. It’s time he gets back to business.”
“I agree,” he confirms.
“King, Warren, and the prospect will stay here.”
“Max still needs to locate the Hades Hog assholes.”
“Warren can handle it himself for a few days, I want Max with us.”
“I get why you want King and Warren to stay behind, but why the prospect?”
“Trey can drive the van, the prospect stays.”
“Not gonna give me an explanation?”
The prospect walks into the bar and I tip my chin at him, and he makes his way over.
“We leave tomorrow for the next run. I want to hear progress is being made getting our hands on the warehouse by the time I get back.”
He nods.
I move from the table to the bar, taking my beer with me. On one of the security cameras, I watch as Max and Warren return. It’s the van that rolls to a slow stop just inside the view of the camera that I focus on.
It doesn’t move for thirteen minutes before my anger mists the world around me blood red. Max has a beer in his hand and his boots up on the table as he fucks about with Trey. Warren disappeared up to his room and hasn’t been back down.
Leaving the bar, I slip out the back door, scale the wall until I’m in the warehouse the old man refuses to sell me and head out onto the street.
I come up behind the van and take out my gun.
Quietly, I try the back doors, but they’re locked.
Releasing the safety, I stroll around the side of the van and knock my gun on the tinted window.
The engine comes to life, and I’m left standing on the curb watching them hightail it out of sight.
If they weren’t hanging around with good intentions, they would have lowered the window. It could have been the gun spooking them, but I doubt it. My gut is telling me they were casing our place.
Putting the safety back on, I stow the gun back in place and cross the street.
Shoving the door open, Max is closest to me, and I drag him off his chair and have him by the collar and shove him up against the wall.
To my left, Angel and Warren rush over. They know better than to touch me. They hover to the side.
“Prez? What the fuck?”
“You and Warren, did you not fuckin’ notice a van tailing you?”
Confusion covers his face. “Today?”
I pull him toward me and slam him back against the wall. “It parked up the street as you and your brother rode in. What the fuck have I been telling ya? To watch your fuckin’ backs!” I bellow.
“It was a one-off!”
“A one-off? That’s all it fuckin’ takes to get to us, you fuckin’ asshole!”
“I’m sorry!”
“I don’t need you to be sorry! I need you to have eyes everywhere!”
I slap his patch. “This means we’re better than every other fucker out there. You made a rookie fuckin’ mistake today and lucky for you, nothing came of it.”
I release him and he straightens his cut. I glance at his brother, and warn, “Watch your fuckin’ backs, and ours, we can’t afford one slip-up.”
“We’re on it,” he vows.
Needing a breather from their blindness, I turn to head up to Tor and I’s room and come face to face with Annabel.
“That was hot. I love a man who can put others in their place.”
“Drop dead, cunt.”
Turning from her, I point for Angel to join me in the back room. As soon as he closes the door, I ask, “What’s Rudi working this week?”
“After tonight, she has a few days off.”
“Good. I’m sending Tor and River to Willow’s Peak. If Rudi goes with her, she’ll be more agreeable to leave. My dad said he’d pick her up, but if Rudes goes with her, they can drive.”
“With us out of town, I’m happy with that.”
“Will she give you grief about it?”
“Nah, she’ll love to see Aspen.”
Annabel is nowhere in sight when I leave the back room.
My feet are heavy as I climb the stairs.
If Annabel continues to put herself in my presence, I’m not going to hold off putting a bullet in her head.
Music plays softly in our room as Tor waters her plants along the top windowsill.
Her ass sways gently to the music and I cast a look across the room to see River asleep in his cot.
I lean against the doorframe and watch her for a few moments. I wonder what the crazy bitch downstairs truly believes in her twisted head to make her think I’d want her over my wife. I cross the space and pull her against me, holding her in my arms and sway with her to the music.
“This is nice,” she murmurs.
“I need something from you.”
“You need to ask?” she retorts amusedly.
“Nah, not that. I need you and our boy to go to Willow’s Peak tomorrow and stay for a few days. Rudi’s gonna go with you.”
She pulls her head back and looks up at me. “While you’re on the run?”
“Yeah. I don’t have a good feeling leaving you here.”
“I can go.”
With Tor and our son back home, it’s one less thing I’ll have to think about.