Chapter 22 Texas
TWENTY-TWO
TEXAS
ONE MONTH LATER
“I still can’t believe that shit about Boulder,” Stone said.
“You mean Officer Terry Woolf. He’s got an actual name,” I said.
“Fuck his actual name. And fuck his nickname. Just fuck him in general.”
It had been a month since Jett was killed, and Stone was still pissed.
I mean seethingly pissed. Knowing we had someone undercover in the crew put him on edge.
Which meant we were changing up everything.
The routes we took on a daily basis to have our weaponry and armor delivered to us.
The places where we went to get ammunition.
Hell, Stone even wanted to uproot where the damn bar was and put it someplace else.
Thank fuck I talked him out of that bullshit.
“I still don’t buy that shit about it being some sting operation, either,” Stone said.
“I don’t know. I haven’t given it much thought,” I said.
“Why the hell not? They told us that bullshit cop penetrated our ranks because of some sting operation to take down corruption in a local department. Or in the courts. Or shit like that. But what the fuck does that operation have to do with us? It doesn’t make sense to me.”
I shrugged. “You’ve got me so busy running around doing all this fuckery to try and reroute deliveries and funnel our money through other things that I haven’t stopped to think about it.”
“At least those two jackass judges were indicted on corruption charges.”
“That’s about the only good thing to come out of this shit. You know, other than Jett biting the dust.”
“Still wished you would have pulled that trigger?” he asked.
“Hell no. My ass would be in prison for life right now had I done that. Then who the hell would keep your ass in check?” I asked, chuckling.
“I heard there were seven dirty cops that got taken down too. Too bad Officer Woolf wasn’t one of them.”
“Yeah, but most of those seven were our contacts into the police in the first damn place. At least they knew better than to give us up.”
“Guess it wasn’t all bad, in the end,” he said.
“We’ll need to find new contacts in the department, though. So, try not to make Fake Boulder hate us too much,” I said.
Stone chugged back the rest of his beer while Bronx flipped burgers at the grill.
He took it harder than anyone else. Mostly because Boulder and him had grown close.
Bronx shut his entire life down after Boulder revealed himself to be nothing but a fucking pig.
He stopped inviting us over to his place.
He stopped coming to a lot of the social functions at the bar.
His world completely shut down, and I was worried about him.
But hey, at least he was flipping some damn burgers at my new place.
“So, how’re you doing? You know, in this new place? And with shit in general?” Stone asked.
I kept trying to focus on Stone, but my eyes flickered over his shoulder many times.
Ella stood over in the other corner talking with some of the guys.
She looked good. She looked like she was getting along fine.
And I figured Keva was with that Joanne woman across the way since she wasn’t at the cookout to break in my new place.
That took me almost a month to settle into after spending so much time at her house.
“Earth to Texas. You there?” Stone asked.
“Sorry, what was that?” I asked.
He looked behind him and stared at his sister before his eyes slowly came back around to me.
“You know, Ella used to smile a lot more when you were around,” he said.
I shrugged. “Shit happens when you try to keep women at arm’s length.”
“Arm’s length, my ass.”
I still wasn’t sure if this was a topic I wanted to broach with Stone. Especially since the two of us were almost three beers deep into our evening.
“Thanks for keeping her safe,” Stone said.
“Just doing my job,” I murmured.
“No, you did more than your job. You and I both know it.”
Our eyes locked and my heart leapt into my throat.
“Stone, we—”
“Do you really love her?”
I wasn’t sure I’d heard his question right.
“What?” I asked.
“You heard me, asshole. Don’t make me repeat it,” Stone said.
I blinked a few times before I drew in a deep breath.
“I care about our friendship more than anything,” I said.
“Not what I asked, V.P.,” he said.
“Stone, it really doesn’t matter anymore.”
“Look, Texas. You’ve always been there for us. For the crew and for our families.”
“You’ve been the same way. Which is why I don’t want to do anything to fuck it up,” I said.
Stone sighed. “Falling in love with my sister ain’t gonna ruin our friendship, Texas.”
“What?” I asked.
“You got something in your ear you gotta dig out?”
“I’m just not sure I’m hearing you right,” I said.
Stone slapped my shoulder as a smile crossed his face.
“Man, I’ve considered you a brother from the moment we first met.
You and me, it’s a kindred spirit sort of deal.
You know this. I know this. Everyone knows this.
But if you wanna try to be the brother-in-law instead, I can handle that.
Especially after the lengths you went to—and were willing to go to—to keep her and my niece safe. ”
I was shocked. Dumbfounded. Completely caught off guard. Was Stone really giving me his approval to go after his fucking sister?
Would Ella even want me still, if that was the case?
“Thanks,” I said.
“So, I got one question for ya,” Stone said.
“And what’s that?” I asked.
“You ready to take on Keva?”
I furrowed my brow as Stone’s hand fell from my shoulder.
“Don’t get me wrong, she’s a sweet ass kid.
Funny as hell. Brightens up my life. But she also saw her father gunned down right in front of her.
That girl’s gonna need a lot of love—and therapy—when she’s old enough to realize what happened to her.
You’re gonna be fielding that if you take on my sister.
You ready for something like that?” he asked.
“Stone, I love Keva with all my heart. And I’d love her like she was my own. Always.”
“Then why the hell are you still standing over here with me?”
“Other than assuming you’d gun me down in front of everyone?” I asked.
Stone chuckled, but he didn’t deny it.
“I’m not sure Ella feels the same way,” I said.
“How the hell do you know that? You talked to her?” he asked.
I paused. “No, actually. We’ve never had an explicit conversation about it.”
“Then why are you talking to me like that shit’s set in stone?”
I rolled my eyes. “You find a way to work that phrase into everything, don’t you?”
“Whenever I can, brother. Whenever I can,” he said, chuckling. “But I’m serious. Man the fuck up and tell her how you feel. I thought your balls were bigger than that, anyway. You telling me my sister’s probably fallen in love with some limp dick man-child? Because we already know how that ends.”
I laughed out loud before I shoved my drink into Stone’s chest.
“Hold my beer then,” I said, grinning.
And when I looked over at Ella, she caught my eye.
She raised her beer to me, as if to congratulate me on the new place.
But that was the last thing on my mind. As I strode away from Stone and made my way to her, the guys around her cleared out.
She looked up at me with those gorgeous eyes I’d missed for weeks since leaving her place that night, and I prepared my speech in my head as I stopped in front of her.
“Hello, Ella,” I said.
“Hey there, Texas,” she said.
“Can we talk?” I asked.
She looked around the backyard before her eyes came back to mine.
“Sure. What would you like to talk about?” she asked.
“I’d like to see how you’re doing. I’d like to see how life’s been treating you this past month. And, there are some things I’d like to get off my chest,” I said.
“Is everything okay, Texas?”
I rose my hand and cupped her cheek, and my heart slammed against my chest when she nuzzled softly into my palm.
“Everything’s much better when you’re around,” I said.