“Brother,” Officer Pavers grits out, and everyone shifts their attention to the man who seemed calm a second ago but now looks like he’s thirty seconds from throwing down.
Mack takes a deep breath and bobs his head in greeting. “Little brother. Good to see you.”
“Can’t say the same.”
And with that, I go to the fridge and grab a beer. The last one. I make a note to stock up Viv’s fridge. This night just got longer, and I need something other than the memory of a sweet pussy gripping my cock to get me through it.
Of course, that helps too.
Chapter 14—Viv
“All we need now is popcorn,” Summer side-mumbles to me as she grabs her own chair and pulls it next to me to sit.
I nod in agreement. Mack and his brother used to be close. Well, as close as half-brothers with a twelve-year age gap between them can get. Oh yeah, and one went into law enforcement while the other works almost exclusively in the city’s underbelly. I’m sure it doesn’t help that Mack’s little brother, Ryan, blames him for his mom’s death, and Mack blames Ryan for pulling his dad away. If they actually had Thanksgiving as a family, I bet the dinner would be intense. Kind of like it is now.
“The kids with your ex?” I ask Summer without taking my eyes off the people in front of me. No one else is saying much, just letting the testosterone level elevate with every passing minute.
Her snort pulls my attention to her as she shakes her head. “Can’t get the guy to pay child support. You really think he’d be willing to spend time with his own kids?”
“Right.” I shake my head at my own stupid mistake. “They with your mom?”
“Yeah. I dropped them off earlier for a sleepover.”
“You had a fight tonight?” Summer adores her kids and puts up with her ex solely because he gave them to her. She’s rarely away from them unless she has a fight scheduled. And if she does, I usually know aboutit.
“You fighting?” Mack’s sharp tone has me turning to see all that pent-up hostility he has with his brother now on my bestie. Guess he didn’t know either.
“It was nothing. Just a small thing for a few extra bucks.” Summer waves it off, but I stiffen beside her. Her sister did a side thing once, and it didn’t end well for her.
“You know the rules, Summer. You fight for me, or you don’t fight at all.” Mack crosses his arms, and I can only assume it’s to keep himself in check so he doesn’t reach out and strangle my best friend. He’s drilled that into our heads from the moment we said we wanted to do what Winter did. He was willing to let us in, but only if we follow his rules. And rule number one: No fights he isn’t in on. It’s not about the money but the safety. He can’t protect us if he isn’t there. And he’s there for every fight we’re in. He has a few girls on his roster, but we’re the only ones he watches in person rather than having one of his guys track us.
“Yeah, yeah, okay, Dad. Now back to the part where Viv has someone taking pictures of her and leaving them on her doorstep.”
I should be pissed at her for putting the focus back on me, but that is the reason everyone’s here. And the sooner we get this sorted, the sooner I can get most of them out. I’m still debating on who I want to keep, though. My bestie or the best lay I’ve ever had? Not that I’m going to tell anyone that. Girl’s gotta have a few secrets.
“Right.” Ryan takes a step forward, and out of everyone, I’m actually surprised he’s the one who gets back to the subject at hand. Then again, he’s the cop. Maybe they teach that at the academy or something. You know, get your shit together and focus on how to catch the criminal.
Ooo, maybe it’s a seminar I can take. I don’t want to catch anyone, but I have problems with getting my shit together. Usually if I spiral, I ask Mack to line up a fight if I don’t have one scheduled already. Apparently, my coping ability lies in hitting things. Might not really be a coping technique, but it’s what I’ve got for now, till I take that seminar.
“Want to walk me through what happened? What time did you get back? Did you notice anything out of the ordinary? Who all touched the package? Basically, any detail you can think of, even if it’s small.”
“You ain’t a detective, Ryan,” Mack mumbles, his annoyance clear.
“Any details you have. Better to get it out now while it’s fresh, and then if I or someone else needs to go over it again with you, it’ll be in my notes, and nothing will be forgotten.” Ryan talks as if his brother isn’t in the room, though he might as well be on the other side of the state with the way he’s ignoring him.
“Right. So, we got home about forty, maybe forty-five minutes ago. No one was driving down the road, and no one was parked close by that was different from any other day. We walked up, and I unlocked the door. I didn’t even notice Domino was holding the envelope till I offered him a beer. He gave it to me, and I opened it on the counter. I picked up a few of them, mostly in shock, but left everything else where you see it now.”
Ryan nods as he writes this down in a small notebook that he pulled out when I first started talking. “And what did you do after?”
“Itook a shower. I felt gross. Got out a few minutes before you showed up.” I shrug, unable to offer much, which is kind of why I didn’t see a reason to call the cops. But that’s me. I’m a no-fuss kind of girl.
“And you, sir? Can you tell me your side?” Ryan looks at Domino, who’s closer to Mack, but Ryan still makes a point of keeping most of his back to his brother.
“Like Viv said, we didn’t notice anything when we got here. I wasn’t looking for trouble, but I glanced around the road, mostly at the club, to make sure all was in order. When we walked up the stairs, I only noticed the envelope by happenstance. Most of it was under the mat, but a corner was showing. I thought it was odd, so I picked it up and gave it to Viv, thinking it was maybe a payment or something for her art downstairs. She opened it, and we both grabbed a few pics before we left the rest as it is.”
“And when she went to shower?”
“I called my boys, and then we called you.”
