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"Las Cruces?" I recognized the tattoos now, the specific way they held themselves. Not just any cartel, but one already allied with the Serpents. The worst possible combination.

"Smart man." Cruz's mask slipped for a moment, showing the obsession writhing beneath. "They needed a legitimate business for certain transactions. I needed muscle to reclaim what's mine. Everyone wins."

"This about Lena?" I kept my voice steady even as I calculated angles, distances, reaction times.

"Everything's about Lena." The words came out raw, possessive in a way that made my trigger finger itch. "But thisis bigger now. Business opportunities. Territory expansion. Your club's in the way of progress."

One of the Serpents shifted, jacket opening just enough to show the grip of a sawed-off. The cartel soldiers hadn't moved at all, but their presence was threat enough. We were outnumbered, outgunned, and trapped in a glass box with too many angles to cover.

"Prospects," I said quietly. "Back toward the door. Slow."

They obeyed without question, training overriding their instinct to fight. Good. Last thing I needed was dead prospects on my conscience because I'd underestimated Cruz's connections.

"Leaving so soon?" Cruz asked, but he wasn't stupid enough to push it. Not yet. This was about sending a message, not starting a war in broad daylight.

"You've chosen your side. That's on you." I backed toward the door, keeping my body between the threats and my prospects.

"Oh, before you go." His smile turned sharp, anticipatory. "Hope the wedding goes well. Thor and Mandy, right? Would hate for anything to . . . disrupt the celebration."

Ice flooded my veins. The wedding. He knew about the fucking wedding.

"Beautiful venue. So many access points. So many opportunities for . . . reconnection." His eyes glittered with malice. "Maybe I'll finally get to give Lena that wedding present I've been saving."

Every instinct screamed to put a bullet between his eyes. To end this here, witnesses be damned. But the math didn't work. Not with prospects to protect, not with cartel soldiers ready to turn this into a bloodbath.

"This isn't over," I promised, hand on the door.

"No," Cruz agreed, surrounded by his new army like a king holding court. "It's just beginning. Give Lena my love. Tell her I'll see her soon."

We backed out onto the street, movements controlled despite the adrenaline flooding my system. Into the truck, doors locked, engine starting smooth despite my hands wanting to shake. I pulled out slow, normal, just another Tuesday afternoon in Sunview.

"Holy shit," Rico breathed once we'd cleared the main drag. "Was that—did we just—"

"Call Duke," I ordered, tossing him my phone. "Tell him the Serpents and Las Cruces are in bed together. Tell him it’s all about the wedding."

"But—"

"Now, prospect."

He made the call while I drove, mind racing through implications. The cartel meant drugs, weapons, a level of violence we'd managed to avoid. The Serpents meant old grudges and territorial disputes. Together, they meant war.

And in the middle of it all, Thor's wedding. Lena in a purple bridesmaid dress. Civilians and family and a thousand opportunities for bloodshed.

My phone buzzed with another message from Lena, but I couldn't look. Not now. Not when I needed every brain cell focused on the threat assessment, on protecting what mattered.

First, though, I'd deal with my bratty girl who had no idea how much danger had just landed on our doorstep.

I had a stop to make at an electronics store. Had to buy some equipment to upgrade the security at Lena’s apartment. And I needed a way to keep track of her if we got separated.

But after that, the consequences she'd begged for were about to get very, very real.

Thedoorclosedbehindme with a click that echoed like a gunshot in my skull. Every nerve still fired from the confrontation at Cruz's store, adrenaline mixing with rage until my hands shook with the need to hit something. Preferably Cruz's face. Repeatedly.

But first, Duke needed intel. I pulled out my phone, thumb hovering over his contact, when movement in my peripheral vision made me freeze.

"Welcome home, Daddy."

Lena's voice floated from the kitchen, honey-sweet and full of trouble. I turned slowly, phone forgotten, and my brain short-circuited completely.