Page 76 of Brand
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Brand
We’d been sitting around the common room shooting the shit when the front door opened. I raised my gaze to see who was coming in, then I got to my feet with a speed I didn’t even know I had. Using my body, I shielded Cami as best as I could.
Wasn’t every day that the leader of the D13 gang rolled up into your place and when he did, you bet your sweet ass it wasn’t for anything good.
I didn’t go for my gun seeing as they had strolled in casually and hadn’t pulled theirs, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t ready to draw if they so much as flinched.
“Chris,” I growled and said nothing else because I knew he’d get it.
Behind me, I could hear him getting to his feet.
“Cami, come with me,” he said calmly, and to my surprise, she didn’t bulk or ask questions, she simply got up. Then I heard their feet shuffle off towards the back and I assumed into the kitchen.
I fucking hated that she’d been here to see this. That she had possibly been put in the middle of something that had nothing to do with her. But I was proud of her for taking it like a pro and listening.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Gwen making her way to follow Chris and Cami.
“Where he at?” Dion asked looking at Mouse and I could only guess that he was talking about Iron.
“I’m here,” Iron said coming out of nowhere. “Something I can do for you?” His tone as cool as ever but I could tell he was ready to go in the blink of an eye.
Dion made his way up to the bar, his entourage of three right behind him. I stepped up beside Iron while Knight took his other side. B-ry slid in on the right, keeping a good ten feet between them.
“I ain’t want problems between us. Figured I ought to fix shit before it got any more outta hand.” Dion flopped a shoebox down on the bar top.
“I’m gonna need more than a pair of shoes to make this thing alright.” Iron said.
“It ain’t about the shoes,” Dion said then flipped open the lid. I craned my neck to look. A pair of high-end sneakers with a little daily wear dirtying up the bottom soles. They were perfect white…you know, except for the rust-colored blood splatter that covered them. By that, I could tell that the blood wasn’t completely dry, and it left me to wonder if he’d driven straight over here after it’d been done. “It’s about the dead motherfucka that used to be wearin’ ‘em.”
Iron took in the scene in front of him, not a single thing was given away on his face.
“’Case that ain’t enough for you,” he tossed his phone in front of Iron.
On the screen was proof that whoever had been wearing those shoes was now dead, hole in the head and I imagined the one to the knee was to prove a point before he got the final sendoff. And by the bodies that lay around him, he wasn’t the only one dead.
“Ain’t tryin’ to have no beef with you. Kid disrespected me, went behind my back to start some shit, and paid the fuckin’ price. I sure as fuck don’t want to be on your bad side, or any of you fucks.” I could only guess he was talking about the other crime factions that ran the underbelly of the city. “Next time you got a problem with my side, you shout, you hear? Don’t send some punk ass to sneak around my place. Next time, he won’t walk away lookin’ so good.”
“Understood,” Iron said, not bowing down but showing respect and agreeing that they were on the same page.
“We good?” Dion asked.
“We’re good.” Iron said with a nod.
“Good. Imma get the fuck up on outta this place now. Smells like grease and leather.”
Then he went out the way he came in, taking the box with him. And I was pretty sure that we all breathed a little sigh of relief after the door closed.
“Did that just fucking happen?” B-ry said what I was sure we all were thinking.
“Yep,” Iron said as he stared at the closed front door. “Church.” He looked at Knight and then me. “Five minutes.”
I gave him an appreciative head nod because he was giving me a minute to check on my girl.
I respected Iron in every way. He was a good man and he knew that sometimes there needed to be a little balance between club life and personal.
Knowing that he meant five minutes and not a second longer, I scurried off to get Cami and Chris.
