Sinners' Playground (The Harlequin Crew #1) - Caroline Peckham Page 0,166

phone, checking it again, my mind stuck on the only girl in the world I gave a fuck about. And I happened to give all my fucks about this one.

“Still haven’t heard from her then?” Chase asked me and I shrugged, tossing my phone from one hand to the other. “She’s probably gone forever then.”

“Shut up, man,” JJ shoved him in the face as I glared at him.

My phone rang and I answered it before I even checked the caller ID. “Hey, where are you?”

“What’s it to you?” a deep male voice came down the line and I cursed internally, jamming my thumb on the speaker phone so JJ and Chase could hear.

“Shit, hey Dad,” I said.

“Who were you expecting?”

“Just a girl,” I muttered, pushing a hand into my hair as I shared a look with the guys. Telling Rogue that Luther Harlequin was dead hadn’t exactly been the smartest move, considering she was gonna find out we’d lied one way or another. But I couldn’t have her running off again because of him. I could handle my dad. I just needed to figure out how to unfuck the situation first. Because by Harlequin law, he was bound to kill Rogue if she ever came back to town. But I wasn’t some kid anymore. He’d left me in charge of Sunset Cove. It was mine to rule. So my word meant something to him now. But that didn’t mean he was going to forget about the code either.

“How’s it going in Sterling?” I asked to change the subject.

Dad rarely came back to town these days. He was running a bigger division of the Harlequins up in Highbridge County, claiming new territory and pushing back our rivals The Dead Dogs. We’d brokered peace with them several years back, but since some asshole Shawn Makenzie had taken over, he’d started fighting to claim territory from us again. I’d thought he was just some redneck nobody up until the day he and his gang had killed eleven of our men, ripped out their goddamn insides and written his gang name in their blood right on the fucking street. Dad was dealing with the brunt of his shit. He hadn’t attempted to claim any of my turf down here yet, but we were ready for when he did. I had my men recruiting left, right and centre, and if he wanted a war, he’d picked the wrong fucking crew to come at.

“Shawn took a hit last night. We drove the message home good, but the fucking scumbag isn’t giving up easy. If he moves south, I need you on standby,” Dad said.

“We can handle him,” I growled. “Do you want me to come up there?” I asked, though the thought of leaving Rogue behind pained me. But I had duties I couldn’t ignore, and if Dad needed more men on the front line, I’d be the first to fucking volunteer.

“No, boy,” he growled and I hated that he still called me that. “How’s Sunset? Has Maverick cooled off yet?”

JJ rolled his eyes and I had to agree with that. My dad did not get the fucking message that Maverick was a turncoat psycho who was never coming home. He still held onto the hope that I could bring the asshole to heel, whatever the fuck that meant. Maverick had never been tame, but Dad didn’t seem to remember things right.

“He’s our enemy,” I hissed. “Him and his gang killed eight of our men the other day. He cut off John Merkle’s head.”

“Ah shit,” Dad sighed. “Merkle won’t easily be replaced.”

“Is that all you give a shit about?” I demanded.

“Maverick’s just having a tantrum. He was always like that as a kid.”

“It’s been ten years,” I said in exasperation, biting down on my tongue. “One of these days, either I’ll end up dead or he will.” I could taste blood in my mouth and realised I’d bitten too hard.

“Yeah, which is why I’m getting tired of how long it’s taking to broker peace with him,” Dad said in a gruff tone that made my heart pound. Luther was the scariest motherfucker in the pacific west, but I wasn’t some child he could boss around anymore. My reputation was as fierce as his these days and I wasn’t going to listen to this bullshit.

“He’s a dead man,” I snarled.

“He’s your brother,” Dad pushed. “We’re fucking family. Harlequins don’t kill Harlequins.”

“He’s a Damned Man,” I snapped, my blood heating. “He started this war, but I’ll put an