Gabriel’s lips tightened. Guy still loved his toddler-like answers. Worse than a fuckin’ three-year-old.
Nodding to Jak, who motioned he’d get the door, Gabriel nudged Eva in the direction of the chair next to the fireplace. He took up sentry next to her as Jak came back with the biker.
He then invited V to get the ball rolling. “Fill us in.”
But instead of giving up the deets, the idiot got to his feet. “Paynne, glad you could make it.”
“Yeah. This is what I live for, pleasing you, asshole. Like my makeup?”
The room stilled, the air thickened as Gabriel slowly swiveled his head to give the biker an are-you-fucked? look before righting himself so he’d have a good view when the action started.
But Vincente was grinning. “Sorry, brother,” he said, actually sounding as if he meant it. “Keeping up appearances, you know?”
Feeling let down, Gabriel asked Paynne, “What happened? Stefano came by and waved a photo of Nika under your nose?”
“That’s what he left behind?” V cut in, his tone taking a nosedive. “Photos of your sister? I was curious about that.”
“You were with him?” Gabriel said in surprise.
V nodded once.
“Asshole said he’d go there if he had to.”
Caleb’s comment caused Eva’s nails to come together.
“I thought he dropped that plan after I talked to him.” Gabriel reached out and put a halt to the nervous gesture. “I’m sorry he involved her, Paynne. Where is she, by the way?” He thought the girls would hang out while he and the boys talked.
“She texted and said she had to get home,” Eva answered with clear disappointment.
Paynne crossed the room and squatted in front of her, his knees cracking like cap guns. He spoke quietly, his words meant for her alone.
“The asshole made a stink about her leaving this morning, so she went home to keep the peace. She felt like shit. Said to say sorry.” He grinned. “Actually, she said, ‘Tell her I’m really, really sorry, Caleb. Really sorry.’”
Eva smiled and covered his fist where it rested on her leg. She began plucking at a worn leather strap he wore on his wrist. “What a dummy. And, listen, it should be me apologizing to you guys. You should never have been dragged into this.”
“Hey.” He waited until he had her full attention. “You have no control over what’s going down here, so there’s nothing for you to apologize for. This isn’t on you.”
She nodded after an extended moment, and the biker thumped his fist on her knee before he straightened.
Gabriel was grateful for their earlier conversation. Had they not had it, he’d have punted the asshole into the hallway after watching that show of intimacy.
Turning his attention to Jak, he said, “Send a few guys to Nika’s place.”
“We have a couple of our boys there already,” Paynne informed him, obviously referring to the MC.
“So do I,” V added as he tapped something into his phone. “I sent a deuce in when Stefano first mentioned her.”
Of course he had. Good man. “Extras won’t hurt. Address?” When Paynne supplied it, Gabriel turned back to Jak. “A pair will do since there are others. I want Tox leading, though. Let him know he has free rein on whatever methods he wants to use to keep her safe. And, not that you should have to, but tell him to stay hidden. Stefano’s people aren’t stupid. You two might want to let your boys know to expect them,” he told V and Caleb.
Jak moved to Gabriel’s side. “Free rein?” he questioned under his breath. “No offense, but this is Toxic were talking about.”
As if Gabriel needed the reminder that their most recently acquired—a nephew of one of the family’s veterans—was a chemist at heart and liked to experiment with the shit he cooked up in his backroom laboratory. The guy was fucking brilliant, holding a Master of Science in chemistry from the University of Toronto, where, according to his proud uncle, Tox had studied his ass off in the Molecular Genetics Department. It wouldn’t surprise Gabriel in the least if he popped in at Tox’s place one day and was greeted at the door by the Incredible Hulk himself.
“Free rein,” he repeated.
“Shit just got real,” Jak muttered as he wandered off with his phone to his ear.
“Are we making plans today?” Paynne was asking V, “Or can I head back to Nika’s? I’d feel better being there to watch over her myself.”