Page 33 of Beautiful Dangerous

“I don’t know. Mark the anniversary of Javier’s death in some way?”

“Did any shit go down last year?”

“Not that I knew about, no.”

“There’s your answer.”

I end the call and put my phone away before leaving the car and heading into the casino, glancing at the rows of bikes parked outside. Eddie must’ve called a meeting.

It’s only mid-morning but the place is already busy, the air thick with the clattering of slots, hundreds of voices merging together in a cacophony of chatter and mundane background music that’s straining to be heard above everything else.

“Lucca! What’s happening, brother?” Merv, the casino manager, meets me by the bar, a slightly concerned look on his face. “Nothing’s wrong, is there?”

“No, everything’s fine. I just needed to escape for a while.”

“Can I get you something to drink? Some breakfast, maybe?”

“No, I’m good. Thanks. Are the bikers out back?”

“Eddie’s called a meeting, yes. They’ve been in there a while now.”

Both the cartel and the bikers use the casino regularly for meetings, we have a room at the back of the building specifically for such purposes. And today it looks like Eddie’s gathered his brothers together to discuss our deal, and the sooner that’s sorted the better we’ll all feel. We need numbers now. People. Enough men to win the ongoing war we’re trying to put an end to. Only then can things start to settle down.

You think things are going to settle down?

Brother, you’re kidding yourself, this shit is only going to get more complicated…

“How’s Olivia?” Merv asks. “Today can’t be an easy one for her.”

I sigh quietly; try to silence those voices inside my head, I’m hearing them way too often these days. Reminding me. Warning me…“She’s okay.”

She isn’t. And I’m regretting leaving her alone now, but I think I need some time to myself as much as she does. She’s safe, at home. As long as she stays there.

“Javier would be proud of her, for how she’s stepped up.”

“She knows that.” I drop my head and drag a hand through my hair, I could do with a drink but it’s not even lunchtime yet. “Actually, could I get some coffee?”

“Of course.”

I turn around and lean back against the bar as Merv leaves to get me my coffee, watching as the world goes on around me, and wondering when mine started to feel so different.

“Hey, Lucca!”

I turn my head to see Eddie striding toward me, a mass of cut-clad brothers following behind him, dispersing in different directions as some of them head to the restaurant, others to the casino floor. Looks like the meeting’s over.

“Eddie. You guys are here early. Everything alright?”

“Everything’s good, brother.”

“You called in the numbers for this one, huh?”

He looks around and smiles. “Yeah. But, your proposition, it’s a big one. Coming on board with you guys means we have to scale back on some of our own business, and that needs a lot of discussion. A lot of delegating. Starting early was a necessity.”

“And? Have you come to a decision?”

“We’re in. There was never any doubt, we just needed to get our own house in order first.”

“Do you want to set up another meeting with Olivia?”

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