Page 89 of Caution to the Wind

“Only we own this fuckin’ corridor,” Zeus growled. “And the T-Squad owns the local casino. There’s no way they’re lettin’ the triad in on that cash cow.”

“No,” Curtains agreed. “But they don’t really need to workwiththe Thunderbird Squad,” he said, referrin’ to the local Indigenous gang. “They just need to funnel enough money through straw men they send through the casino. As long as they don’t use their own gangsters, which they aren’t stupid enough to do, they’ll be able to get away with launderin’ a decent amount of cash.”

“Fuck,” Bat murmured.

“That’s about the size of it,” Zeus agreed. “Right. Curtains, do some work on findin’ out which triad this corp buyin’ up land in town is tied to. Red Dragon and Seven Song are two different beasts, and we need to know who we’re dealin’ with. Last I heard, they fuckin’ hated each other, some bad blood that goes way back. Look into that, too. Get every motherfuckin’ thing we can use against ’em. We don’t want outsiders buyin’ up Entrance wholesale, and we sure as fuck can’t afford for another syndicate to buy land near our fuckin’ burial grounds. Let’s get Pigeon, Carson, and Ransom doin’ the rounds in town, seein’ if they’ve approached any other businesses. And Axe-Man? What’s your bead on this Jiang Kuan?”

“He said he wants a meet with you. The last time I saw the man was eight years ago when we tried to save our own asses when Seven Song and the Calgary chapter were warrin’. It didn’t go down the way we hoped, obviously. He and his brother work together, but they didn’t exactly see eye to eye back in the day.” I hesitated, knowin’ Carson was standin’ behind me. “Jiang had a white male lover back then. Kasper didn’t approve on either count. The night shit went down––Iwent down––Kasper murdered his brother’s man right in front of him. We could use that if we gotta.”

I heard the shuffle of Carson’s feet behind me and turned to address him. “Use it againstKasper, brother. Not use Jiang’s sexual preferences against Jiang. You get me?”

Carson didn’t meet my gaze for a moment, starin’ at his boots. He was still young, and even though he was wickedly in love with his high school sweetheart, Benny, it was hard to be a gay man in an MC, even one as progressive as Zeus Garro’s. Finally, he looked up with a familiar obdurate expression and gave me a nod.

“Jiang’s a wily one, but he’s more westernized than his older brother. It might be worth it to feel out what he wants and if it’s the same thing Kasper Kuan wants,” I suggested.

Zeus stared at me for a long moment, and I could read his expression after years of practice.

This is bringin’ up ghosts for you. I’m sorry, but I’m gonna need ya on this anyway.

I jerked my chin up at him and nodded back.

“Set the meet. Tomorrow, dawn, somewhere on our turf. ’Til then, keep an eye out in town for triad blood.”

“They’re easy enough to spot, the flashy fuckers,” Wrath muttered, and despite myself, I grinned, ’cause it was the damned truth.

“On another note,” King said. “H.R. and Danny are gettin’ married in six weeks, and we still haven’t thrown the guy a bachelor party.”

“Says he doesn’t want one,” Zeus muttered. “And I’m on board for that.”

Boner rolled his eyes. “You’re such a dad. The dude needs a bachelor party. It’s basically a crime against nature not to say goodbye to the good ole single life without a proper send-off.”

“Meanin’ strippers,” Buck confirmed.

“Well, yeah,” Boner agreed. “Leave it to me, I got this.”

“I’m his best man, so you can helpme. If I left it up to you, you’d turn the whole thing into some kinda bacchanalia,” King corrected.

“No fuckin’ clue what that is, but it does sound sexy.”

“Talk about this shit on our own time. Church adjourned,” Zeus declared, thumpin’ his fist on the table.

Everyone echoed his movement before gettin’ up and filterin’ outta the chapel.

Bat and I stayed at the table as everyone else left.

“No Kodiak again today,” Bat noted.

“He’s up at the house.”

My friend slanted me a look. “He’s appointed himself Cleo’s fuckin’ watchdog since everythin’ went down.”

He had, and I wasn’t gonna complain about it. Kodiak was a quiet sonovabitch, but he was smart and fierce as hell. He wouldn’t let anythin’ happen to my girl when I couldn’t be there, and it took the edge off my panic whenever I was away from her to know he had her back.

“Just be careful, yeah?” Z said. “The kinda men we are, someone who inspires that kinda loyalty in us often inspires other kinds’a feelings.”

I bared my teeth at him. “He’s not gonna hit on my daughter after she’s been fuckin’ attacked. Kodiak doesn’t deserve you even sayin’ that.”

Zeus blinked calmly at me, openin’ his hands on the table. “Not sayin’ he would. I’m sayin’ loyalty and love are two sides of the same coin. Just don’t be surprised if the situation develops into somethin’ more.”