Page 131 of Mountain Men Heroes

Every. Damn. Time.

Watching from across the bar top, she flicked her tongue out to wet her dry lips. The Elder turned his direction and filled Damon in, all of them unaware of the war bombing her insides. “Ethan is telling us what he found in the backlands.”

“What?”

“I found Reaper’s brothers snooping around on our property. When I confronted them they said they wanted to see if we were around. Said they had some visitors the night before and thought it might be us. Woke to find footprints outside their cabin and that led down to ours. When I told them it wasn’t us they asked about those traffickers you took down a few years back. Asked if they might expect some trouble coming back to haunt you.” Ethan reached into his pocket and pulled out a bullet. “And they found this on their front porch railing.”

He handed over a bullet with three slashes down the side.

“Fuck,” Damon swore loudly, taking the bullet that looked longer than her ring finger. “I knew that shit was going to come back sooner or later.”

“Drug traffickers? How far away are the backlands? We’re safe here right?”

Damon quickly took her hand. “You’re safe here. I give you my word on that.”

She believed him from the intense way he held her gaze and hand. Like he wanted her to believe every syllable.

Instinct told her to pull back and retract her hand, but she had no desire to listen to the small voice of reason. It hadn’t gotten her anywhere lately, to be honest with herself. She stayed close, looking up into his eyes. “What are they after?”

“A little revenge when they think no one is around. During the winter some folks head south to warmer weather.”

“How do you even know that this is them whoever them is?”

“Russkaya Mafiya.” Damon passed the bullet to her. “Those three lines stand for each of the heads of families within the organization.”

“And this was their calling card?”

“Bingo.” Damon nodded turning to the men. “I think we need to keep our ears to the ground. Keep the family close.

Ivy’s hair stood up on the back of her neck at Ethan’s question. “Is this something we need to worry about? Zahara is due in just a few weeks and what about all the residents here?”

Ethan snorted. “Worry about a gang of gun-toting psychos? I’d say yes.”

“There’s nothing to worry about,” the Savage elder offered.

Damon studied her face and let out a heavy sigh. he skimmed the back of his knuckles down her cheek. “I can tell what you’re thinking, Ivy. We don’t condone wild west antics. Everything is done by the book. Once we are done here, I’ll call local authority and my old boss. Give him both a heads up on the return of a bitter old enemy.”

Ethan shifted positions as the front bell hanging over the door tinkled and a mass of Savages flooded into the bar. It seemed Saturdays were family reunion days.

“Ivy!” Zahara, flanked on either side by her new family, shot an arm up and greeted her with a wide smile. “You remember Remy from last night?”

Grateful for the bar dividing her from the outpouring of all the hugs going around, Ivy locked away the conversation with everything else she still needed to digest and busied herself with flipping over several cups. With them lined up on the edge of the bar, she made quick work with serving up her special dose of chocolate.

Flurries of snow chased everyone inside, and a gust of heavy wind to tangle with the strands of hair escaping her less than artfully styled side braid she couldn’t quite manage to wrangle into place this morning.

“Oh my God!” Remy and Zahara peeled off two layers of coats each and scooted around the men to join her at the end of the bar.

“I knew you were cool the second I saw you with your sister and Damon yesterday. Sorry, I couldn’t peel away and give you a proper welcome.”

Ivy smiled when Remy tapped her black-framed glasses that looked identical to her own. “Love the look!”

“Yeah, I don’t get around much without them or my contacts, but in this cold, contacts feel like sheets of ice on the eyeballs.”

“Ouch! Tell me about it. I’m just glad to know we share similar tastes.”

Zahara leaned over the bar with a raised brow, signaling she had something juicy to share as everyone else chatted and ribbed each other. “From the news traveling the grapevine, we share more than just blood. I hear you share the same taste in men. Savage men to be exact.”

Remy gave an audible gasp. “Do tell!”

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