Page 76 of Overstaying His Welcome

A look around the room showed several of my guys with hands on their weapons and stances geared up for a fight. I smiled softly knowing they were always ready to defend their family.

“There’s no need for blood to spill today so long as Mindy’s intentions are good. Explain.” The commanding tone rolled off my tongue.

To her credit, Mindy didn’t flinch at the sound. Instead, she smiled softly as she shrugged.

“Your name is famous where I come from. I’ve heard about Tank for years. The rest of the team’s information was only recently made known to me.”

Her words didn’t do much to settle everyone’s nerves. I tilted my head to the side as I studied her. Something about her seemed familiar. I just couldn’t quite figure out what.

“You can’t see it can you?” She asked.

I shook my head. “Not fully.”

The others watched our exchange with rapt attention. They trusted me to handle what was happening, though they would step in should things turn ugly.

“Strong was my father’s name. You might know my mother’s better. It’s Bianchi.”

With that, it all clicked into place. I smiled softly, the features I recognized now making total since.

“Ah, yes. She was a beautiful woman. How is Enzo doing anyway?”

Mindy shrugged. “As good as can be. He’s the annoying cousin who doesn’t know when to behave himself. Abuela tried to keep him in line, but you know how he is.”

“I do,” I said with a grin.

Her cousin and I had a history that spanned back to before I met Chance. Unfortunately, the man beside me had been in my life long enough to know this.

His scoff was soft, though enough to get my attention. “Don’t be upset. It’s nothing.”

“Listen to your man, Chance. Enzo has moved on and so has Tank. It’s been ages since they were together.”

I nodded at her words, careful to keep my expression blank. While I did not have any relations with Enzo recently, I didn’t want Chance to think there were any feelings here besides amusement.

Of course, the FBI agent that arrived with Stabler is connected to a mafia man. It makes so much sense. Can you sense the sarcasm rolling off me in waves? It’s a rip current of humorous mocking, if you will.

“Now that you’ve all settled it, can we get an update? I’d love to be able to put the director’s mind at rest on this case,” Stabler said.

That got us all moving again. He and Mindy took seats at the table as Memphis queued up the screen to display what we knew. As he flipped through images, Ronan laid out all the details. We kept it as simple as possible since there was a lot of information to cover. It took nearly half an hour to go through it all.

When we finished, Mindy whistled. “That’s a fucking lot of bullshit to deal with. You guys have been busy, huh?”

“That’s one way to put it.” Orion’s smile was tight as he watched for her reply.

She tilted her head. “You don’t have to worry about me, Orion. I’m not the bad guy in all of this. If anything, my position is really more to keep the rest of my family out of trouble. It’s much harder to buy your way in these days.”

At her words, he softened a bit. It didn’t go away completely — the suspicion of her true reason for being here — though it was enough to get him focused on the case instead.

“Based on what you’ve told us, there’s more to this than just trying to stop you guys from getting to him. There’s a connection between Lune, Pratt, and Tank that makes this personal.”

Takeshi knocked against the table at Mindy’s words. He quickly signed, “There is, but the why isn’t important. We have to stop him before he does any more damage.”

“We might finally get our chance,” Memphis said, drawing our attention his way.

“You’ve got a location on Pratt?”

Stabler’s gaze whipped my way. “How would he be able to find him?”

“Probably tracked his FBI issued phone and/or car, right?” Mindy stated.

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