Chuckling, I shook my head. “Alright, cousin mine. I’m game. Let’s do it.”
Leonardo grinned and nodded. “After dinner?”
“Yes. At the gym?”
“Yes.”
Both of us clinked our whisky glasses together, agreeing to the plan.
“Invite the Knights. Let’s get that finished too,” Leo said before he tossed his whisky back and walked away from me.
Marcos
I had just sat down on the couch in the living room when my phone pinged with an incoming text message. Glancing around the room at Maya and Luke watching a movie, while Jason finished up the dishes from our dinner in the other room, I hoped the message wasn’t anything that would pull me away from family tonight.
Dagger:
Leo agreed to a sit down with the Knights. Tonight. At the gym, after family dinner.
“Shit,” I sighed, glancing at the clock. It was almost seven p.m. Family dinner with the Seratelli family started at seven p.m. sharp. It was usually a two-hour affair and then drinks after. But with a fight on the table—judging by the meeting being held at the gym—I bet they would be done by nine, and at the gym by nine-fifteen.
I needed to call Johnny.
“What’s wrong?” Maya asked, her voice soft as she looked over at me.
I glanced at Luke who was engrossed in the movie, before I met her eye. “Just club stuff.” I nodded my head toward the kitchen.
She got the hint and stood up. Maya walked into the kitchen where Jason was finishing up the dishes. Jason looked over at her as I followed behind her.
I got straight to the point, knowing Luke would notice our absence sooner than later. “Nico texted. The Seratelli’s agreed to a sit down with the Ravager Knights. Tonight. We gotta head out in a bit.” I told both Maya and Jason at the same time.
“Where?” Jason asked, shutting off the water. He reached for the dish towel to dry his hands.
“The Seratelli’s gym,” I responded, my eyes on Maya. Her face was hard to read; she looked sad and almost worried. “Maya?”
She met my gaze, but the dazed expression on her face had her looking a million miles away. In the five days since she’d been home, I’d watch her go in and out of these dissociative ‘zone outs’ as I referred to them, but it was like her brain was struggling to keep up with the events in real time. “You’re leaving us alone?” Her voice, as it always was since the attack, was soft.
The instinctive protective urges flipped on inside me, and I let out a low growl, as I stomped toward her. She didn’t back up or cower away from me—thank God, because I realized how aggressive I was being after the fact—no, she looked up at me with a trembling lip and unshed tears in her eyes that broke my damn heart.
I hated how Hillcrest had fucked with her confidence and self-worth. Every time she cried, I wanted to tear Hillcrest down and fucking torture him to death.
I vowed that Hillcrest would pay for every single fucking tear that Maya shed.
I put my hands on either side of her face, cupping her neck and jaw. I made sure to speak gently, but firmly to her. “You are safe here. The house is wired with the alarm system and no less than thirty cameras all over the place. The three of us will receivea message on our phone if there are ANY issues. There will be two prospects outside, and I have a police cruiser parked down the street with someone on our payroll watching the house. You know how to use a gun and where we keep them. Your own gun is in the nightstand too. This is not at all how I wanted to leave you, but we have to go to Nico.”
Maya took a shuddering breath and a tear slipped down her face.
Jason moved behind her, his hands wrapping around her waist and she only startled a bit, until she looked over her shoulder at him. He wrapped her tightly in his arms while I gently massaged her neck and jaw.
Maya’s eyes closed as she tilted her head back against Jason’s chest, giving me more room. I smirked and slowly massaged her jaw and neck muscles in long, slow swipes down her neck. Watching her relax in our arms was a sensual thing.
Jason rubbed his hands over her stomach and up her sides and back down her hips, being careful to keep his touch sensual and stay away from anything that might make her uncomfortable. “You are a brave, strong, woman.” Jason dropped his voice low, making it gravelly as he spoke into her ear.
Watching the goosebumps roll across Maya’s skin, just from listening to Jason’s voice was always a sight to behold, and I would be lying if it didn’t make me a tiny bit jealous. But watching them now, after so long, just filled me with happiness.
“You can handle anything that life throws at you,” Jason continued.
Maya’s eyelids fluttered, but remained closed.
