Page 68 of The Loves We Lost

I think about Viola’s comment in the kitchen. About how she’d let me love her for the rest of our lives if I weren’t an Outlaw. I was mad when she said it. Still am. But what does it say about me that my President is calling me out and my first thought is still Vi?

“I am. I got this.” The rest of the men come out of the clubhouse.

“Good, then let’s get this party started.”

It takes about two hours for us to get to the docks and get situated. Jasper Haven, our contact provided the paperwork to get in without a fuss. It cost us a thousand bucks, which, in the grand scheme of this war, is cheap. Especially as we intend to sellthe weapons and already have a buyer in South America. Wants them for a coup or something. Like I care.

“Where the fuck are they?” Niro mutters from our spot up on the mezzanine of a warehouse the delivery is expected to pass through.

I’m sweating. It’s two in the morning, but the building is like a sardine tin. All metal that’s been baking in the sun for the past two weeks. “Patience is a virtue.”

“Fuck patience.”

I try to stifle the laugh that wants to escape. “I thought you were working on that.”

Niro shrugs, his eyes scanning the warehouse. “Some days I’ve got it, and some days I just don’t. Today’s been one of the latter.”

“That because Catalina is away?”

“It’s because King’s a dick.”

“He’s not. He’s running the club. And she and Saint were the best fixed to pick up the cash from the Dallas chapter. You wanna be an enforcer, you gotta be here. You wanna fuck your old lady, you go on a run to Dallas. You wanted this, remember?”

“Fuck off,” he says, but I know the different ways Niro uses the two words. There’s no aggression in this one.

“Is it really a problem, or are you just complaining ’cause your old lady isn’t around?”

Niro gives me side-eye.

“So, you’re missing your old lady then? How about you start with that instead of calling your president a dick?”

“Dude. The woman and kid you love are only a state away, and I’ve caught you checking where they are through their trackers often enough to know that you arenotthe person I should be taking relationship advice from.”

“Ouch,” I say, and look toward the entrance.

“Sorry,” Niro says. “I’m needling you ’cause I’m pissed off. And you aren’t the only one. I worry about my niece too.”

I smile and stay silent. This isn’t the first time he’s referred to Avery as his niece, and I like it. I don’t have any siblings, and Niro’s sister was killed. I like that we call each other family, even beyond the club. I haven’t told my parents yet that I’ve got a kid because I know what they’ll ask. When can they meet them? Why don’t they live with me? And my parents already don’t approve of my life choices. Not so much that they complain when I toss them some cash when they need it, but enough that my mom drew a line at me stepping into her house wearing my colors. As a result, they don’t see me very often.

Niro shoulder checks me and tips his chin in the direction of the small mezzanine office across from where we’re hidden. A light has come on, and there are two men inside. They appear to be arguing about something. We can hear the tone but not the words of their disagreement.

“I’m going closer,” I say, creeping around the edges of the building, my back pressed into the shadows. Thankfully, it’s messy up here. There are supplies for cardboard packaging and hessian sacks.

“The deal was ten percent,” I hear one of the men say.

“Well, now I want thirty to allow you to get it out of here.”

A deal going south. This makes me happy. Distractions are good. Makes it easy to do what we’re planning to do. The lower half of the office wall is solid, the upper half glass. Niro and I creep beneath the office windows until we are crouched on either side of the door.

There’s a scuffle. We hear furniture scraping across the room, the sound of flesh hitting flesh.

Niro raises his head slightly, then puts his hands up for me to wait.

The grunting continues.

Something slams.

Someone yells for help, but there is no one else in the warehouse to hear it.