Page 7

Chapter Seven

S kippy needed a different approach with Yael. He knew that the second he held out his hand and asked if they could start over. Yael would argue his point until there was nothing left to say. Skippy had a feeling Yael was much better at speaking his mind than Skippy. And he might have a point about getting to know each other better, but Skippy had to wonder if Yael was like the rest of the Wingspan clan. Judgy as hell and worried about the wrong things.

Yael responded well when Skippy took charge. That was a positive. And he hadn't given up on Skippy even when he took Skippy's response as rejection. Skippy wasn't sure what that meant about Yael's personality, but it was also a positive for their current situation.

Not that he knew what their current situation actually was.

Skippy made his way behind the bar and grabbed some of Ronin's dragonshine. After pouring a cup, he sat at the bar and waited for the others to get there.

Landry came out from the back where his studio had been.

Skippy hadn't realized he was there, so Landry's sudden appearance startled him. Not that he would admit it. "Silent little shit."

Landry smirked, as if he knew Skippy's heart lodged in his throat for a second longer than he cared to admit. "Heard you out here, so I thought I'd let you know I was back there."

"Is Enzo coming to the meeting?" He wanted Enzo's opinion. Enzo's only stake in the game was being Landry's mate. He hadn't been rescued by the Dragon Skulls and had been around before they'd gone legal. Enzo didn't have a problem with change like some of the other guys. He was the most impartial member at this point.

"He's on his way. He had to make a stop at the bookstore to talk with Jazlyn about her mother coming to stay with us." Landry wrinkled his nose but smiled as if something smelled good, but he didn't want to like it.

Skippy raised his eyebrows. "She's staying with you and Enzo, but you don't want her to?"

Landry walked behind the bar and grabbed a bottle of water. "I don't want to want her to."

Skippy nodded in understanding. "She's a nice lady."

"Very nice. And she doesn't have to try to be likeable. She just is." Landry sighed. "She knows she makes me uncomfortable, so she steers clear, which is also kind of nice, ya know? But Enzo says I should try to get to know her, so I told him I would. Now I have to and that annoys me. Not that I want to tell him that."

Daruss came in then, which made Landry clam up. Landry wasn't the type to confide in more than one person at a time. He'd always been that way, even though he trusted all of them. Skippy knew he wouldn't say anymore, so Skippy didn't comment. He just hoped talking about it helped Landry work through some of his misgivings.

Daruss held Raylee's hand and had Jude tucked under his arm. He scowled at Landry. "Are you the bartender tonight?"

"No." Landry didn't come out from behind the bar, though. Instead, he tossed Daruss a bottle of water. Daruss caught it before heading to the back of the room. "Do you want anything else?"

"Nope. Thanks, kid." Daruss met Skippy's gaze. "Come here."

Skippy exaggerated a roll of his eyes when he met Landry's gaze, making Landry smirk again.

Izzy and his boys came in next. "Why the fuck am I here so fucking early, Skip?"

"It's not early." Not for Skippy, who started his landscaping job in the morning, every morning, except for Sunday. But it might be for Izzy, who slept in until the afternoon. "Not everyone can have your life of leisure, dickhead."

Skippy made his way across the room and sat in the chair across from Daruss. Daruss whispered to his boys, and they got up, making their way to the bedroom. Jude leaned into Raylee. He appeared flushed. "Is Jude okay?"

"He has a fever. Raylee's keeping an eye on him, but we're pretty sure it's just a common cold." Having a sick mate was more of an issue when your mate was a human.

"I hope he feels better soon. If I can do anything, let me know." Skippy felt bad for calling the meeting. He wouldn't have if he'd known Jude didn't feel good.

"He'll be fine, Skip." Daruss raised his eyebrows. "Gavin's pissed at you."

"For what? Getting arrest or for being his assistant's mate?" Skippy raised his eyebrows.

"Getting arrested again, I assume. I'm not sure if he knows about you and Yael." It meant Yael hadn't told him. If he hadn't, then he wondered what that meant. "Congrats on your mating."

"Thanks, but we're still not sure about each other."

"Which means what?"

"That he's probably a better arguer than me, but we're still deciding that. I also have a strong suspicion I have met my match."

Daruss chuckled. "Welcome to the club."

Skippy grinned. "He might be just a little judgy. I'm not fond of that and I don't know what to do about it if he is."

"He's Gavin's assistant, Skip. He knows a lot about us. He knows what we do." Daruss had a point. Yael probably knew more than the average clan member, but it wasn't like Gavin kept files on all the Dragon Skulls. Why would he? Especially considering Gavin had been on some of their missions. He was as fierce a fighter as any one of them. He just didn't like it as much as Skippy did. No one liked it as much as Skippy did. But Yael had set up nearly every meeting Gavin had and probably knew exactly how often Gavin had bailed Skippy out of jail. He might even have access to Skippy's arrest records.

"Shit."

Daruss chuckled. "I know you. You didn't hide who you are. He'll either accept you or not. And maybe you'll need to get rid of at least one of your jobs."

Skippy shook his head. People relied on him. Even law enforcement called him when they needed a job done. He couldn't let people down. Not until he had a replacement.

As if on cue, Skippy's phone chimed with a message. He held up a finger for Daruss. "I'd like to talk about this more, but I need to take this."

Daruss nodded. "Avit might be a good a choice."

"A good choice for what?" Skippy's mind was on the file his handler sent him.

"To take your place." Daruss' expression turned knowing.

"I'll think about it." Skippy waved his phone at Daruss and stepped away.

As soon as he opened the file, he knew he wouldn't make that basketball game. And he'd have to do some sweet talking with Yael. Or maybe he'd just tell him the truth. He'd do it before he left tomorrow and tell him exactly where he'd be going. Maybe he'd even send Yael the file.

****

Skippy pounded on the top of the bar to get everyone's attention. As soon as the room quieted he began talking. "We need to fix a problem. And that's letting anyone and everyone into the club."

Skippy held up a hand when everyone started talking at once. "We have too many enemies. It's as simple as that. We let our enemies in once and it nearly cost some of us our lives."

Skippy met Izzy's gaze. He still hadn't recovered from the incident. Izzy was overly protective of his boys because of it. Not that anyone, including Skippy, blamed him. Skippy had met his mate, so he had a better understanding of what that protective instinct felt like.

Daruss sighed. "I don't want another incident either."

"I think we need to shut down admission to everyone but Dragon Skulls until we figure it out," Izzy chimed in.

Enzo spoke up, which came as a surprise. "The family of members could be an exception. Depending on the family, of course."

Raylee came out of the bedroom. "Not Auntie Tianna again. Gods."

Enzo winked at Raylee. "I know you all are using the door’s admission fee to keep the club going financially, and it's a good idea, but only if you work out the kinks first."

Daruss nodded. "We probably should have accounted for a few bumps. And by bumps, I mean the human traffickers who we take down. I say we go hard at them. Kill. Leave no one alive."

"And what about your body count? How are you going to clean up the amount of mess that would leave behind?" Enzo shook his head. "There's way more of a chance at prison time if you go that route. It's only a matter of time before law enforcement catches up with you."

Skippy wanted to argue the point and say something stupid like how they wouldn't get caught, but he couldn't. Enzo's down-to-earth realism was exactly why Skippy wanted him there.

"Alright, so if we go that route, we'll need a clean-up crew." Warlocks were good at that. Skippy turned to Seryn, and then Ulises, who was tucked under Izzy's arm.

Izzy shook his head. "No way, man. He's not going to clean up dead bodies."

Ulises paled. "Yeah, no thanks."

Seryn shrugged. "I'm usually not the clean-up crew."

Jonik raised his hand. "I have someone."

Daruss and Izzy shut that down with a resounding "No."

"Some of you already are on his payroll. What's the problem?" Jonik shrugged.

"Being beholden to the fucking mob. That's the fucking problem, Jon." Daruss growled.

Jonik rolled his eyes, but he let it go.

"Maybe we can charge a yearly membership." Casper stayed behind the bar, standing next to Landry, who put an arm around him.

He hadn't been the same since the kidnapping and the beating. His shoulders went up to his ears, and he hugged his middle. That's how he stood ninety percent of the time. And he shied away from some customers, especially if they were loud. Even the more exuberant and happy party goer types seemed to set him off.

Skippy met Daruss' gaze. Their thoughts seemed to align. Daruss nodded, as if giving Skippy permission to take control of Casper's mental health.

Skippy nodded to Daruss before meeting Casper's gaze. "Tell us more about how that might work."

"Well, if we had a big yearly fee there might be fewer people here, but those who wanted to join would be easier to vet."

"Like a country club?" Izzy asked. He made a face as if the thought smelled bad.

Casper shrugged again. "I guess. Except we wouldn't be vetting people based on the amount of money they have. There would have to be other criteria, though. Like who they’re affiliated with. Other gangs or the mob, maybe. No offense, Jonik."

Jonik smiled. “None taken.”

Izzy seemed to get on board with the idea, but he met Daruss’ gaze. “We’d need someone. Maybe even more than one person to do the vetting. That could be extensive.”

“I’m not sure I have a good fit for that type of job besides Avit, and he’s on another assignment. But I’ll look into it.” Daruss held up a finger. “I know there’s a lot of uncertainty about the Dragon Skulls because of all the changes. For those of you who are struggling financially, or in another way because of those changes, reach out to one of us. We’re family. Nothing has changed about that. We have kinks to work out still. That’s what this meeting is about.” Daruss met Skippy’s gaze and then darted his gaze to Casper.

Skippy nodded, knowing what Daruss was saying. They’d tag team Casper later and find out what was up with him. Skippy had an idea of what that was anyway, and he knew how he’d help Casper. It seemed a change in jobs was in order and he was in a place with his business to hire someone new.