Page 108 of Savage Cravings

“What are you having?”

I pointed to the lone patron. “I’ll have what he’s having.”

The bartender nodded and walked away without a word.

I kept my eyes on him as he made the drink. In my line of business, it pays to be careful. The fucking last thing I wanted as my legacy was to be poisoned to death.

He placed the glass in front of me. I took it and swirled the gold liquid around, watching as it caught the dim lighting of the bar.

My trip to the east side of the state had yielded nothing new.

There were some men who had escaped the massacre of the club.

And the fucker, Cline, was the one trying to gather the men, both current and former members of the club. We didn’t know what he was planning, but the fact that we knew he was alive should give us an edge.

If only we could figure out why the fucker wanted Mila back at his side so badly that he’d sent men after her.

Could Cline be afflicted with the same thing Silas had?

An obsession. I shook my head at the thought and downed my drink. I made a sign with my hand for another glass when I caught the bartender’s eye. I didn’t plan on getting drunk. Two glasses would hardly do me in.

The chair beside me slid out just as the bartender placed my drink down. I didn’t react, though I was beginning to wonder when that fucker would make himself known after tailing me for the last two days.

Unluckily for him, he picked a day I didn’t feel like entertaining.

“Tell me something, Killian,” Special Agent Matthew Jones said. I didn’t bother with a reply. “What would the three heads of the Tiernan crime syndicate be doing in New Orleans?”

“Tiernan crime syndicate? I don’t know what you’re talking about, Matty-boy. My brothers and I are respected, tax-paying businessmen. We’re here on vacation. And the way you’refollowing me is getting old, don’t you think? I’d say you’re in love with us, but this is starting to feel like harassment to me. Does your boss know you’re here?”

His face turned red from the blatant disrespect, as he sputtered some bullshit. I shook my head, cutting him off. “Do you think I really want to hear what you have to say?”

I went back to my drink.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m simply here on vacation, too.”

I smirked. Agent Jones had been a pain in our ass since the moment he’d realized there were even bigger monsters in Las Vegas. But I gotta admire the man’s tenacity.

He was like a fucking dog with a bone, gripping on so tightly, we might just need to break his teeth to get him to let go.

He had been on our uncle’s ass at first, thinking about bringing down his organization until he realized we were there, running the drug trade.

Our uncle might have run the casinos, both above board and the underground variety, while also providing loans to the moreenthusiasticplayers, but my brothers and I were something else entirely.

We’d made a name for ourselves in Las Vegas, and we would do the same in Chicago.

“After all these years, you’re still so closed-lipped about everything. Don’t you think we can be friends?” he asked, shooting me a slimy smile.

If I didn’t loathe the idea of going through the process of assaulting a federal agent, I might have punched the fucker in the face to wipe away that shit smile.

“I have enough friends.”

He shook his head and tsked. “Is Maverick really worth going to jail for? Sure, he’s your brother, but they don’t call him the Savage for no reason.” Actually, people calledusthe Savages ofLas Vegas. “You really trust him not to throw you under the bus to save his ass? It’s only a matter of time before all his activities catch up to him. If you make a deal with me, I guarantee you’ll walk away a free man.”

I shook my head, wondering what he thought he would accomplish here. I would die before I betrayed my brothers.

When I didn’t say anything, he stood. “You know how to get in contact with me. And whatever you’re hoping to accomplish here in New Orleans, perhaps you should rethink it. I have men watching the three of you and that hotel you’re staying in.”

He saluted me and walked away, whistling on the way out.

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