Page 21 of Forsaking All Others

“Been a long time since I left my family to ride the wind,” Parrish starts, pulling the toothpick from his mouth. “Took a lot for me to get good with standing in the shadows, but I did, and it awarded me time with my boy, Danny. It awarded me precious fucking time with my granddaughters too. A man gets awarded all that good, he gets used to it and soon he finds himself swearing on a stack of old bibles that nothing will drag him back to that wind. Love my family, Maverick. Hand to God love them with everything in me, but if it weren’t for my brothers, I’d have no family. They pulled me out of the darkness long before my wife came along and took on that burden and they pulled me out time and time again. Now, they’re heading to Hell and I gotta ride that wind one more time. You feel me?”

I do, but I don’t tell him that.

“Property of Parrish,” he rasps.

I stare at him for a moment, not comprehending.

“Come again?”

“You give people that, you make them yours, they’re yours until you leave this cold earth.” His dark eyes bore into mine. “I’m not a man who believes in miracles, Maverick, I’m a man who performs them and I’m sitting at your table, asking you to help me perform one more goddamn miracle. You give me that, I’ll give you the wisdom you need to perform your own fucking miracles for you and yours.”

My father taught me a lot of lessons before he died, but the most valuable one was how to read a man and how to read a man well. He said it won’t be easy to spot an enemy because they’re usually disguised, but an ally I’ll recognize immediately because his pain, fears, and morals will match mine.

Jack Parrish may be out of the game, but he’s loyal to his brothers. He’s a man that knows when his ticket is up, it’s his brothers who will take care of his treasures—those treasures being his wife, that boy he talks of with pride in his eyes, and the granddaughters who have him wrapped around their tiny fingers.

And me, I’m the man who is putting a trailer on his property to keep his ex-wife close.

Treasures, man. They’re everywhere.

You find them, you try not to lose them.

You lose them, you find them again and bring them back.

You hold on any way you can.

That being said, I’m also the man who is going to piss on his word to another charter so I can help Jack Parrish perform his miracle.

“Your call, Prez,” King says. My gaze cuts to him and he gives me a quick jerk of his head, communicating we’re on the same page. Gripping the edge of the table as he leans back in his chair. “But we’re not talking nine millimeters and handguns. We’re going to need a concrete plan for transportation.”

“How do you move your product to Boston?” Parrish asks.

My eyes slide back to him.

For a man who keeps the world guessing, the relief in his eyes is easy to spot.

That makes my lips quirk slightly.

I like Jack Parrish, I like him a fuckuva lot.

“We own a barbeque place in the next town over. The Corrupt Bastards sends a refrigerated truck to Sally’s and we hide the guns in the cow carcasses. It’s a seamless transition because they own a steakhouse in Massachusetts.” I tip my chin to Parrish. “You got a restaurant in need of some beef?”

“I got a bar and some whiskey barrels.”

It’s doable if we hide the weapons inside the barrels. Maybe a couple of kegs too.

“Maverick,” Shady calls and my gaze cuts to him. “It’s too risky. Their garage was already attacked. You bringing shit straight to their doorstep when they got eyes on them is only going to fuck us. It can’t be an inside trade. You need to transport to a business they have no affiliation to.”

As much as it pains me, he’s right. That’s the thing about me and Shady, personally we never saw eye to eye, but when it comes to the club, he’s gotta keen sense for spotting things I overlook. He’s an asset even though he hates me.

“What if we got Gary involved? He owes us a couple of favors,” Shady suggests.

At the mention of Colt’s boss, my mind wanders back to the conversation me and Holly had in her car.

“How are things with you and Colt?” King questions.

I eye him warily.

“How do you think things are with me and Colt?”

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