Page 59 of Bound by Family
“You’re fuckin’ nuts.”
Jacks and Ryker carry on as if I’m not even in the room, and I kind of like it. With everything going on, they aren’t giving me anything heavy. Instead, they are lightening the mood. I appreciate that.
“What aboutJudge Joe Brown?” I ask, sitting down on the empty bed, my back to the headboard.
“He’s off,” Ryker says, still flipping. “He got into some legal shit. Jail or banned or something.”
This surprises me. I swear I just watched his show the other day. Maybe it was a rerun.
“Really?”
“Yep.”
Ryker findsJudge Judy,and we watch her kick ass.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
COOPER
“This is what we know,” Buzz starts, holding his laptop as we meet in Pops’ room. Bristyl is only a few doors down, and I can feel the pull to go to her. Strange, yet not. “The restaurant has a back room. There are two exits. One through the main dining area, the other through the back. Cameras don’t show anything, but we all know how well that goes.” He’s referring to when I was a kid. The brothers told me all about the asshole who shot my mother and tried to take my grandmother. He pulled some pretty twisted shit back then, but he’s six feet under now.
“Why, again, are we doin’ this shit in a restaurant full of people?” Rhys asks, stretching his arms behind his back. Damn man is still built like a brick shithouse.
“So, we don’t kill them on contact,” I throw in, pissed at Poe asshole for hurting Bristyl. He’ll be lucky if I keep my gun in its holster and don’t blow a hole through his head.
“This shit’s peaceful. Just a chat to get shit straight. We don’t know what the Red Devils have to do with Sinisters, and we don’t give a fuck,” Pops says. “We get in there, do our shit, and get out. Then we deal with the rest.”
We ride out and head to meet the Red Devils.
The restaurant is glowing with lights bursting in every direction. Large windows allow the florescent to glow outside, even though it’s still bright outside from the sun. Hell, not even my shades are blocking out this much illumination.
People sit in checkered, black and white booths, with shiny blue tables. Five tables are occupied and, counting the drinks at the tables, there are eight people sitting at them. There are nine cars in the lot and seven bikes. Two waitresses could possibly account for two of the cars, making seven cars accounted for. That leaves two.
A brunette waitress yells out at us to take a seat over by the windows, but we don’t listen. Instead, we follow Pops as he leads the way toward the back room. As we go, I clock two people at the grill, getting all my cars in order. Now for the seven bikes.
The hallway leading to the back room isn’t as bright as the front, but once we enter the back room, we are bathed in light again.
I clock Poe right off with a smug as fuck look on his face. Next to him is Nick and Len, the other two who were at the rally. We’ve met the president, Scandal, before. He’s older, long beard that he combs straight down, and no hair on top of his head whatsoever. With his stern eyes, most people would be nervous. Not us, we’re Ravage. No one fucks with Ravage.
Five other men are in the room. Two of whom I’ve seen before, three I have not. When we met with Scandal a few years ago, I was just patching in. It was him and two others.
“Pops,” Scandal calls out, rising from the long table he sits behind.
His five guys sit beside him, while Nick, Poe, and Len stand behind them. There are seats, so some of the guys take them. I prefer to stand, my father next to me.
My blood hums in my veins as the thought of the mark on Bristyl’s leg comes to mind. Even only seeing it when it was red and fresh, there’s no doubt in my mind that she had a huge bruise from the fucker.
“Scandal.” Pops takes the proffered hand.
Greetings and introductions ensue. Once Scandal introduces Poe and his smile turns cocky, my gut screams for me to put him in his place, or six feet under, whichever comes first.
“Seems we have problems with you boys steppin’ in on our business,” Scandal begins.
I barely catch myself from speaking, not that I can’t, but it’s better to listen first, react later. Think smart, always. These types of meetings, it’s best to let Pops talk.
“Bristyl is our business.”
“Since when? When you stepped into somethin’ you shouldn’t have?” Scandal retorts.
