growls.
I shrug a shoulder. “On what? Leighton is my woman for a variety of reasons. You don’t think that I’m just going to claim anyone, do you?”
He snorts, then pushes up to a standing position as he looks down at me. “You only want her because she’s from money?” he sneers. “That’s what gets you going, dirtying the poor little rich girl?”
“Reason Della has my kid, reason I always used to make it a point to go to the Zanetti famiglia brothel. I’m the fucking vice president of the club, I don’t do runs, I don’t have to, but I chose to do those. This shit cannot be a surprise to you.”
He takes a step back, anger obviously filling him. He spits on the ground next to me, but I’m not offended, if that’s what he’s trying to do, he should get fucking better at it. Tilting my head to the side, I smirk up at him.
“Why do you give a fuck why I made her mine?” I ask.
“She deserves someone who loves her for who she is, not because of where she comes from.”
Slowly, I stand to my feet, squaring my body toward his. Crossing my arms over my chest, I dip my chin slightly and look down at him. He’s only a few inches shorter than me and about ten years younger, but I’d still wipe the goddamn floor with him if he tried to challenge me.
“You don’t know shit. You think you got it all figured out, but I’m tellin’ ya, you have no fucking clue.”
He jerks his chin forward and up. I open my mouth to say something else, my fist balling tightly, ready to take him to the fucking ground when Hawk speaks.
“You two done getting in a fucking pissing match over some bitch so we can get this shit done and get back on US soil?”
We both look at one another, then shift our gazes over to Hawk. I think about his words. Fuck, I want to go home, fuck just going back to the US, I want to get back to my woman. Especially after Dragon informed me that they replaced the goddamn flooring in my house.
I was going to do it, planned on it, but after Leighton took off the first time, I lost all desire to go back there. I should have finished fixing the place up for her. Should have seen to her and her desires for a nice place.
Once again, I’m left feeling like a goddamn asshole, but then again, what’s fucking new anyway? If nothing else, maybe by the end of all of this shit, I’ll get my shit straightened out, find out what it is to be a man. You’d think I’d have done that already, but I haven’t, not really.
I may be in my forties, but living this life, it’s really fucking easy to take on a man’s work responsibilities and not a man’s personal ones. I’ve been a good brother to the Beasts, I’ve been a good friend, and I’ve saved a fuckload of money.
What I haven’t done is been good to a woman, any woman, and I know that. It’s time for me to figure that part out, and there is nobody else I want to figure it out with other than Leighton.
“Let’s do this,” I grunt.
Together we make our way down the hill. Earlier, I checked out exits and entrances. There is only one way in, though I’m not sure about any underground tunnels or shit he has happening. But there is only one door at this level, with one window.
I head inside of the building first, Hawk behind me, then Dutch behind him. We make our way the few feet from the front door to the back corner where I know there is a small hole that heads down to the basement.
When we finally make our way down the entire stairway, I look around the room. It’s full of product waiting to be cut. But there’s nothing else. No people, no workers, nothing.
“Figured you’d be making your way here sooner rather than later when your shit didn’t show up,” the supplier rasps.
Turning my head to the side, I watch as he appears. His sister steps up beside him. Then on the other side is someone that I never thought I would ever see again in my entire fucking life.
Waker Lopez is standing in front of me.
In the flesh.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
LEIGHTON
Looking to the side, I can’t help but tear up at the sight of