Page 121 of Mouse Trapped

Tse hugs me so tightly. When I wince, he sweeps me into his arms and carries me up to the clubroom. He sets me down carefully, then stands back, his dark eyes examining me. Worried Blade’s been left with my father, I shoo him away. “El Procurador. You need to see to him.”

“Yeah. You okay for a minute while I help Blade get him settled? Drew, can you watch her?”

“I’m fine,” I reply fast, as Drew nods.

I expect Tse to be gone for ages, and lie back on the couch, my hands protectively over my stomach, as I try to calm my nerves. In fact, he’s back surprisingly quickly.

“Where’s my father?”

He grins. “Tied up.”

“He shot Ma,” Drew tells him.

Tse’s face turns grim and he pales as he drops to his knees in front of me. “Why the fuck didn’t you say? What happened?” His hands reach out, then hover. “Where? Where are you fuckin’ hurt?”

I point to the vest I’ve just removed. “Blade’s good idea saved me.” Gingerly I pull up my tee shirt, and Tse’s eyes widen, then he grimaces as he stares at the developing bruise.

“Fuck, woman. That must have hurt.”

“Understatement,” I tell him. Now the tension has gone, it’s pain that’s making me feel faint.

“She threw a knife. Got him in the back. He dropped the gun…”

Tse stands and ruffles Drew’s hair. “Slow down. You can give me the details later. Run to my room, I’ve got some Tramadol in the drawer. Think your sister could do with a painkiller.”

When Drew leaves, Tse again kneels in front of me and takes hold of my shaking hands. “It’s over now, or will be. He’s not leaving here alive.”

“Make him disappear, Tse. If anyone knew he was dead, they might still deport me. If he drops out of sight, they’ll still think he’s out there.”

“That’s why you brought him back?” His eyes go wide, as if realising. “Fuck, Mariana, that was good thinking.”

“I trust you and your brothers, Tse.”

“You’re one brave and clever fuckin’ woman, Mariana. We know exactly what to do with scum like him.”

“Make him hurt.”

“What the fuck’s going on, Mouse?” Wraith runs through the door of the clubroom. “You said it was an emergency? Thank fuck we were already well on our way back. Twisted throttles all the way from Casa Grande.”

“Mouse?” Peg’s appeared behind Wraith.

Tse stands. “We’ve gotEl Procuradorhanging in the storage room. Blade’s keeping him occupied. He tried to take Drew, Mariana here showed off her knife throwing skills and disarmed him. Oh, after she was shot.”

“Shot?” Slick’s now in the entrance too. “Doc on his way?”

Tse brushes his hands and grins at me, as if he’s only now realising it’s a long story. “Blade made her wear a bullet-proof vest.”

Then the rest of them are there, and I tune out the remainder of his explanation. I don’t need to hear it.I lived it.

Chapter 43

Mouse

“Comfy there, VP?” I joke, spying Wraith sitting in Drummer’s space at the head of the table. I’ve left Drew with Mariana as Wraith decided to call everyone in here rather than continue the discussions in the clubroom.

Wraith grins, leans his chair back, and presses the sole of his shoe to the table. He tries to mimic Drummer’s death stare, but fails. To give him his due, he doesn’t fall that short.

Blade’s the last to arrive, Matt having gone up to relieve him of his head-of-cartel-sitting duties. Taking his seat, he points his inevitable knife toward me. “If you hadn’t married that girl, Mouse, I’d have taken her.”