Page 13 of Outcast

See? The window was perfect.

"They said nasty things. You can’t do that and expect people to like you." Molly fumed, balling her hands up by her thighs.

"Fair. But fighting got you caught. What's the lesson?"

She glanced up at the ceiling, sticking the tip of her pink tongue out. Eventually she returned her attention to me. "Punish them a different way?"

"Right. Show them a little karma, but not in a way that will come back on you. I learned that the hard way. You're lucky I did, so I can help you avoid the same mistakes."

She stared at me for a beat, then two, seeming to think my suggestion over. I thought we were getting somewhere until her next words.

"But it's satisfying to land my fists into their faces."

I let myself laugh this time. "Fair, but they're in training too, and pretty faces are just as much a weapon as sharp nails. You can't damage school weapons."

Molly slumped and grumbled under her breath.

Amorette held up a hand as she answered her phone. Immediately the blood drained from her face. Before she said anything, she barreled toward the door, swinging it open with so much force, the handle probably dented the wall.

"It's Javier! He's in the hospital!"

Papá.I jumped up. That couldn't be. He was invincible. Larger than life.

"What happened?" I patted my waist and hips like I was going to find my phone, but I'd left it in my office.

Amorette gulped. "Heart attack."

3

ESTEBAN

Itook a long swig from the cold beer and pulled the cloth from the back of my jeans to wipe my face.

"This shit is out of control. Who came up with this idea?" Leo spit on the concrete, and I swore it sizzled. The heat was definitely doing the devil's work today.

Sliding my thumb over the condensation on the bottle, I sighed. I wasn't at the bottom of the chain anymore. It had taken me a couple years, but now I was solidly in the middle. Due, my best friend, and I both were. He started right before me, and since then, we were inseparable. Except for when I was chasing Rita, taking it upon myself to be her bodyguard.

That was probably why Due and I had been promoted to officers. I'd kept Rita from doing something that would have gotten her killed the year before. Due had backed me up all the way.

Javier appreciated it, but damn, none of it mattered. Not when I had to sit out behind this shithole and supervise the “new” business.

The sound of metal cutting into metal came out of thebays and another wave of heat rolled over me. Fuck, we needed to add air conditioning. We'd already had two guys pass out from the heat in the last two days.

"Javier," I answered in a bland tone. That shut him up for about two seconds.

Leo was a newb. Brand new as of last month and he hadn’t grown up here like most of the other guys. Damen recruited him from his hometown somewhere south of here. So his self-preservation was still a little weak.

Don't get me wrong, I could bullshit with the best of them and make a joke out of anything. People loved me. But I knew when not to question my highers. Javier was the highest there was. This was his club and he was like a father to me.

"Okay, but seriously? We were doing just fine in the drugs business. That's what Damen said."

Now he was throwing his friend under the bus. I shook my head.

"When Dirty Dogs had the girls, the gang lived like Kings." Leo licked his lips. “Now we have to pay for that shit.” He scoffed.

The Dirty Dogs was a gang through and through. We were rough, dirty, and wild. We more than dabbled in crime. Around here, in this melting pot of Latino cultures, being a Dirty Dog was the highest honor.

But that didn't mean we hadn't changed over the years. The last year especially had been the largest overhaul I'd seen. All because of Rita and how she had Javier wrapped around her cute manicured pinky.

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