26. Riley
Dante murmurssomething to Nico when we reach the front of the shop, then slips him some money.
“That wasn’t the deal,” I say, pushing my way between them. “I can cover my own—”
“I know,” Dante interrupts, grinning down at me. “But let me.” He runs the backs of his fingers down my cheek, leaning close to whisper. “And I can’t wait to mark you up with a few more tattoos. Seeing you get inked like that was fucking hot.”
I hide a grin of my own as he finishes up business with Nico, taking a moment to look at some of the art they’ve got on the wall. I might as well, since I’ve got a feeling Dante’s going to follow through and convince me to get a lot more ink in the future.
An idea that I definitely don’t hate.
“Ready, princess?” he asks, putting a proprietary hand on my back as we head out the door but then pausing before we exit to tug the low neckline of my shirt up a little higher, smoothing it over the new ink. “Gotta keep that shit out of the sun for a while.”
“I know.”
“Oh you do, do you?” he asks, a playful note to his teasing that I’ve really fucking missed.
We step out of the shop. “I was actually listening to the aftercare instructions.” I tease him right back.
“Well, shit.” He pulls me against him and presses a kiss against my temple. “Guess I didn’t do a good enough job of distracting you then. Next time, I’ll need to—what the fuck?”
He shoves me behind him so fast that I stumble, managing to keep a grip on my arm at the same time so I don’t actually go down, but then immediately releasing me once I’m stable so he can surge forward and address the threat.
Sienna Morgan.
“What the fuck?” I repeat, echoing Dante as adrenaline surges through me.
I don’t know where the hell she came from, since we’re deep in Reaper territory. The last time I saw her, she was sneering at my captivity and telling me how her boyfriend, Austin McKenna, planned on killing me once he was done with me.
Dante recovers from the shock of her sudden appearance before I do. He lunges at her, shoving her into the alley next to the tattoo parlor and pinning her against the wall.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” he demands, his voice as cold and deadly as I’ve ever heard it. “Even if we weren’t in the middle of this shit, you know you’re not welcome. Did McKenna send you?”
“No,” she whispers, her voice hoarse.
“Then you can turn around and get the fuck out of Reaper territory,” Dante says before she can get another word out.
“Dante,” she bursts out in protest, earning not even a hint of sympathy despite the fact that she looks like shit. Her hair is a hot fucking mess, there are puffy circles under her eyes, and the clothes she’s wearing look just as unkempt as the rest of her, even though they don’t do jack to hide the fading bruises visible on her face and body.
I can relate to how few fucks Dante gives, though. The bitch deserves none of them.
“I don’t want to hear it,” he says, pulling her away from the wall and spinning her body so that he can bend her arm up behind her back and use it to propel her forward. “Fastest way for you to be gone is to head toward 26th and Jefferson. Go.”
He shoves her, but she stumbles and then turns back to face him. “Do you know how fucking hard it was to make it here? Fuck no, I’m not going. I need to speak to Maddoc.”
Dante crosses his arms over his chest. “Nope.”
Sienna flips her straggly hair and narrows her eyes at him. “Trust me, he’s not gonna like that.”
Dante usually operates at a much more even keel, somehow able to look out at the world from a laid-back place of humor and acceptance even during seriously shitty times. Not so much right now, though, and I love him a little bit harder for that, since I know it comes from a place of unshakeable loyalty to Maddoc.
But unfortunately, we can’t ignore the fact that Sienna is probably right.
“Dante,” I say softly, resting my hand on his bicep. It feels like coiled steel, and he’s still got his body mostly angled to block me from Sienna, protecting me in case she turns out to be a threat. But as pissed off as he is, he doesn’t ignore me.
We share a look, clearly both aware that whatever Sienna’s playing at could very well be some kind of trick or a trap she’s cooked up with Austin. But finally, Dante gives me a slight nod. “Maddoc will want to know about this.”
I can see how much he hates giving Sienna her way in anything at all, so I whip out my phone and make the call.
Maddoc answers right away. “You okay, butterfly?” he asks, worry making his voice snap.
“Totally fine,” I assure him. “Really, I am. But we’ve, uh, got a weird development here.”
“Where are you?” he asks sharply.
“Reaper territory. I’m with Dante. I just got some ink from Nico, and—”
“You did, huh?” Maddoc interrupts, practically purring as his voice goes from hard to pure heat. “Then I’m definitely gonna need you to come back to the house so I can inspect—”
“Actually,” I cut in, hating Sienna more than I already did for having to interrupt him. “We found Sienna Morgan here.”
I get a split second of silence. Then he speaks again, his voice flat. “She’s in Reaper territory?”
“She was waiting for us.” I meet Sienna’s eyes, keeping my voice neutral because there’s no way in hell I’m falling for the little quiver in her chin. Even if it’s real, I’m with Dante on this one. “She wants to talk to you.”
This time, the silence goes on a little longer. I’m sure Maddoc’s just as shocked as Dante and I are.
But I’m also not surprised when he tells me he’s on his way.
“Tell Dante to bring her to Clancy’s,” he says in a clipped voice. “Logan and I will be there in ten.”
It’s the same dive bar I first approached the Reapers for help in. It feels like a lifetime ago, but this time, it also feels like I belong.
Sienna, on the other hand, doesn’t.
Dante keeps a firm grip on her as he hustles her to a booth in the back, then pulls a weapon once he has her seated and keeps it trained on her under the table as we wait for his brothers.
I make a move to slip in the booth next to him, but he shakes his head.
“Keep a lookout at the door, princess. Let me know when Madd and Logan get here.”
Since it’s not like there’s any way he won’t know once they do, and it’s definitely not like Maddoc and Logan aren’t going to be able to find us in the tiny place, I’m pretty sure it’s just Dante’s overprotective instincts kicking in to demand that I stay away from the potential threat.
I don’t fight him on it, though. I fucking love him for it. I don’t plan on letting my men see me as someone weak who needs protecting all the time, but I also don’t mind giving in when it will give them a little peace of mind, either.
Maddoc and Logan roll up a few minutes later, and the way they each give me a quick once over, their relief at finding me safe and unharmed quickly masked once they turn their attention to Sienna, just confirms that I made the right choice.
Maddoc leads the way back to the booth, and Logan takes my arm much like Dante did before, keeping me not-so-subtly behind him. Once we get there, neither of them take a seat, and Maddoc crosses his arms over his chest.
“What do you want?” he asks Sienna without any preamble.
She starts to give him what looks like it might become a sultry smile, but whatever expression she sees on his face makes her sigh and drop it. Instead, she waves a hand, taking in Dante, Logan, and me with the gesture. “Can we speak in private, please?”
“We are,” Maddoc says flatly. The bar is practically deserted, and the few patrons near the front are smart enough to ignore us.
“You know what I mean,” Sienna snaps.
Maddoc doesn’t react to the little display of temper. “You can say whatever it is you came for in front of my brothers and Riley, or you can skip it. I literally don’t give a shit. But there’s no way in hell you’ve got anything to say that can’t be shared with my seconds.”
Sienna raises an eyebrow, giving me a pointed look.
Maddoc reaches a hand back and tugs me forward, draping his arm around my shoulders possessively.
“Or with our woman,” he adds, holding her gaze. A complicated series of expressions cross her face, but Maddoc doesn’t give her any time to sort them out. “Decide, Sienna,” he adds sharply. “I’ve got other shit to do. Tell me what you came to say, or get the fuck out of our territory. Logan will make sure you get across the border.”
Her face turns a mottled shade of red, her eyes darting between all of us for a moment, but there’s really only one option here if whatever the fuck she came for is that important for her.
“Fine,” she finally says, lifting her chin defiantly. “You want to know why I came? I’m here to help you take down West Point. I want to fucking destroy Austin McKenna, and you’re the only one who can do it.”