Page 50 of Outcast

Esteban pulledPapá'schair out, and tucked it underneath me as I sat down. The crowd held much the same expressions.

Ricco stood before I had a chance to greet everyone.

"I'm glad you're all here. You too, Rita. It's come to our attention that someone took Leo's head, and we know where it went." He glanced around. There weren't many looks of surprise.

"Damen delivered it to the new club this morning, hoping it would be enough of a deterrent for a war." Ricco pressed his meaty fists against the table. "Which is the exact type of behavior that got Leo killed."

What the fuck? I was supposed to be running this meeting. I opened my mouth, but Ricco kept talking.

"Which brings us to today's meeting. We need a vote. Who's going to be our next president."

"Ricco, this is my meeting," I said calmly.

He glanced at me. "Cariño, this is a Dirty Dogs meeting. You're a Dirty Dog, but you're not part of the gang."

"Like fuck I’m not." I bent forward. "My father created this club. He built it up with his blood, sweat, and tears. He never hid that from me, or the business. I've run just as much of the club as you have."

Ricco stiffened. "You have your business with the Castillos’ girl now."

"They’re not the Castillos. Call them the Bastard Brothers if you don’t address them by name. And I can do both." Looking out over the crowd, I laced my hands on the table. "We do need to have a vote. And I'm throwing my name in too."

A bomb could have exploded underneath us and no one would have noticed.

12

MATÍAS

"You look like right shit." Parker fell into the chair across from me. They'd moved into a new place, a proper mini-mansion, and decorated it the complete opposite of Vicente's home.

This place was classy, yet built for comfort with darker tones and colorful art. There were quite a few pieces appreciating women. I wonder who had sourced those...

Sarcasm. It was Parker using his resources from his art heist business.

For all that the Institution was a thing of the past, they'd kept many pieces alive. Like Grey and his fights. Parker and his art. Andre and his spy and law enforcement contacts. It was really only Lafe who had completely rewrote his story.

He was opening clinics and managing healthcare businesses with our old friend, Doc. Of all of the brothers, he was now the cleanest.

"Fuck you." I pressed the squishy, half-melted ice pack against my face. It was better than a bag of frozen vegetables and prettier too. The pink and green color scheme screamednewborn baby. Although, what Cossette needed this kind of pack for, I had no idea.

Grey sauntered into the kitchen in his workout clothes, grabbing an apple off the counter. "It wasn't his best moment. Which, while you're here, Matías, we're hitting the gym. I'm going to teach you how to knock a man out instead of tickling his chin."

I shifted in my seat, glaring at him through my exposed eye. The obnoxious crunch of his bite into the apple only irritated me more.

Lafe laughed as he carried baby Cossette into the kitchen. "Good luck. He whipped all our asses when he felt like we needed to brush up on our skills. It's really just an excuse to beat us into the ground."

Grey smirked as he cut his gaze to Lafe. "It's hard to find good sparring partners. At least with you three, I know it's going to be a good fight."

"Give my sweet little thing here." Parker plucked Cossette from Lafe's arms as he walked by. "You hog her too much."

This was surreal. It was like Amorette was off being the working mom and these fourpendejoswere the ridiculously dangerous stay at home dads.

"I don't have time to train with you. I'm heading straight over to the compound as soon as my head stops throbbing."

Yesterday had been bittersweet and wretched all at once. It had been the closure I didn't know I needed, to be there for Javier's funeral. It had also been a breath of fresh air to see the ones I cared for after so long.

When I followed Rita into the backroom, I hadn't expected to fuck her. I also hadn't imagined even on my worst days how she would react to me finding Grace.

Fucking hell. If I could take it back, I'd do it all differently. I would never purposely hurt her like that. This wasgoing on my new list of things not to do to protect Rita's heart.

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