Page 74 of Bullet

“I’ve got a problem, and I’m going to deal with it my way. This isn’t just about the shit that went downin the warehouse. Barras is a threat to her. That makes him my problem,” he said to Torch. “If Barras is one of Marco’s men, then he’s fucking involved. And this shit gets more complicated.”

Knox became agitated, bouncing his knee and clenching his jaw. With a slight movement of his hand, Marco calmed him.

“He’s got balls the size of boulders,” Knox said.

“I understand his anger,” Marco said. “No one threatens my family.”

“Then we have something in common,” I said.

Torch leaned forward in his chair and spoke to Marco. “If you were involved in trafficking or hurting females, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.” His focus turned to Alex and then Gabi. I was sure I was missing something as Gabi’s posture stiffened.

Marco leaned back in his chair. “Tell me. What do you want?”

“Emerson Barras,” Bullet said.

Marco turned to Knox.

“Low level transporter,” Knox said. “He used to work for Byrne at BrioFagan. They have similar tastes. They like their merchandise innocent and young.”

Innocent and young. Emerson’s words came back to haunt me. That moment when you suddenly have clarity. They called it hindsight, when choices and outcomes become clear. And in that instant, I realized I’d barely been eighteen when I met Emerson. He’d seemed surprised at my age. He’d teased that I could pass for much younger because I was small. My curves were nearly nonexistent along with my breasts.

He’d introduced me to a friend, an Irishman, who’d called me a petite beauty. I’d taken his words as a compliment.Innocent and young.

“Patrick,” I whispered. I hadn’t heard the name in a while, but that could have been the last person I heard Emerson speaking with.

Marco leaned toward me. “Sì, Patrick Byrne. If he is who you want, you can thank my family that he is no longer a problem—for anyone. BrioFagan Group is now associated with the Bruno family.”

“One less problem doesn’t eliminate Barras.” Bullet spun his skull ring on his middle finger. I noticed Marco did the same with a lion head ring.

Knox rubbed his hands together. “Emerson Barras is a piece of shit. Likes to think his hands aren’t dirty because he cleans up pretty. He’s a middleman for the Irish.” He turned to Marco, shrugged, and tipped his head. “Do you want me to take care of it?”

“Nah,” Bullet interrupted. “I don’t want the mafia involved in my business. And I’ll stay out of yours. I want to come to an agreement if that’s what we need. I got commitments to my club and my whores.”

Torch groaned and leaned his head back.

Bullet didn’t seem bothered by the facts. “When I take him and his muscle out, are you going to retaliate?”

“Florian Marseglia,” I said. “He’s usually with Emerson, but he has other business associates. They just bought the Landing Strip.”

“I know the place,” Knox said. He leaned into Marco and spoke under his breath. “Orlando made an offer on the club.”

“Mars and Barras threatened my old lady,” Bullet said. “They’re dead.”

“Torch, I need to speak with you,” Alex said, and the two excused themselves from the conversation. “These negotiations don’t include us.”

A flare of heat burned through me. When Bullet had said Barras had threatened his old lady, he had to infer me, right? I mean, he was here because of me. And all the things he’d said about wanting to be with me. But Emerson and Mars had threatened Bristol. And Bullet had called her his old lady. Maybe the term wasn’t as serious as I’d been led to believe. Maybe it just meant the woman he was currently fucking.

Bullet smiled, but it wasn’t meant to disarm, rather the soft lilt revealed the dangerous man lurking beneath. “I just need to know how many graves I’m going to have on my property. I’d prefer not to make an enemy of the Bruno family, but no one is going to threaten her. I’ll burn down the city to get to him.”

Marco smoothed his pant legs. “This ismycity.”

“You can thank me and a few of my friends for that.” Bullet hardened his tone. “Crawlers and the Toja Ortiz Cartel. Have you heard of them? Read the obituaries.”

“Take a breath, friend,” the man behind Luca said.

“Are we going to be friends?” Bullet asked. “Because I’m not here to make enemies.”

Luca leaned forward. “We are always looking for trustworthy alliances. Your motorcycle club has a reputation. Perhaps there are ways we can work together.”

---