Page 47 of Dragon Strife
“Agreed.” I nod and fall back in my seat with relief.
I don’t want another corned beef on rye for the rest of my life, not to mention, it reminds me of when I came here with Slayer after our training. I’m hoping that training is holding up now. When Chino said I was in love with her, I wanted to punch him in the face. What does he know of love? The way he watched my girl get carted off with the enemy without fighting for her was cowardly. My feelings for her go beyond stupidlove.
“Hey! You’re back.” I stop at the corner of the counter, keeping my body hidden behind the wall, and peek out to find Laith standing at the counter looking uncomfortable while the hostess continues to chipper on. She wasn’t here when we first came in and we’ve been sitting in the booth around the corner out of view. She thinks he’s me. “Do you want the usual?”
“Uh… no.” Laith shakes his head as I roll my eyes. How can anyone confuse us? Sure, we’re identical, but he’s so fucking soft. “Could I get a black coffee?”
“That’s different,” she replies with a snicker. “Are you on a diet?” She’s always been a little flirty with me, which used to drive Slayer insane, but seeing how awkward my brother is makes it all worth it.
I stride toward the counter with the intention of making it worse. If I can’t kill the fucker today, then I will damn sure make it so he wishes I would.
“He’s gay,” I announce to the girl as her eyes widen on the both of us. “He likes the good ol’ cock and balls.” I grab mine for emphasis as her hand moves over her mouth.
“Are you insane?” Laith snarls, but I ignore him while I take in the hostess’ horrified expression.
“Not with me though, we’re brothers… obviously.” I lean on the counter as Laith takes a step back, his skin slowly turning a shade of green. “You know what they say, ‘Cursed is he who lies with any animal.’ No, shit, that’s not the right one. I mean… It works. It’s ‘Cursed is he who lies with his brother, the son of his mother and his father.’ I tweaked it to fit the situation, but you get it.” She gives me a nod as Laith’s boots thud back toward the booth. “Your coffee!” I call out with a laugh.
I get a middle finger thrown at me from over his shoulder, making me chuckle as I wink at the girl behind the counter. “Add some cream to that coffee and I’ll take it.”
Once I have my free coffee in hand and my sandwich forgotten, thanks to Laith, I head back to the booth to find my brother glaring at me while Chino and Diego discuss a plan. Laith has always been so fucking sensitive.
“You didn’t get a sandwich,” Diego points out as I take a sip of my coffee.
“Got a free coffee instead.” I shrug.
Laith grumbles under his breath but mostly ignores me as Diego and Chino continue talking. “There’s only one entrance into the basement and it’s coded. It doubles as a cellar for food and drinks, but only the President and the Vice have the code,” Chino explains as I grab a chair from another table and pull it up to the end of the booth. Laith wouldn’t take too kindly to me sitting beside him right now and I’m willing to behave until I get my girl back.
“The door to the room she’s held in is a large, bulletproof, steel slab. It’s locked, and as I mentioned, Jaeger is the only one with the key. It’s soundproofed and when I went down there to check, I couldn’t hear anything.”
“That’s usually how soundproofing works,” I sneer, earning myself a look from Diego. He can be diplomatic all he wants. I never agreed to such terms. He rolls his eyes before looking at the guys once more, and I finally take a sip from the cooling coffee, moaning exaggeratedly at Laith’s expense.
“Where can we find the basement?” Diego prods and Laith finally shakes off his sulking to lean forward, his elbows on the table and his chin on his clasped hands.
“There are two entrances. The front you would have to come in through the main area and turn left down the first hallway. The door is at the end. Or there’s a back entrance,” Laith describes.
“Which would explain how Jaeger got Genni in with no one noticing,” Chino adds, his need to help Genni finally overshadowing his devotion to Jaeger.
“I doubt Jaeger did anything himself,” I muse. “He’s been needing a lot of help to achieve what he’s accomplished.”
“He didn’t,” Chino murmurs as Laith’s head pops up.Here we go.
“What do you mean?” Laith asks as he straightens, his head tipping to the side as his brows crash over his eyes.
“Cash is the one who brought Genni in,” Chino reveals as Diego raises his brow at me. I give him a curt nod as Chino continues, “He’s been doing a lot of Jaeger’s dirty work and I think he’s also watching us.” He waves his finger between himself and Laith.
“Why do you think that?” Laith snaps, his anger evident on his face and the prominent veins in his clenched hands that are now resting on the table.
“He told me as much today, and then Mariam was acting weird later too, wondering what I’m up to. It’s like she was told to keep an eye on me.”
Laith curses under his breath as he falls back against the seat, his face a mixture of anger and confusion. Hell’s March may be a bunch of sadistic motherfuckers, but when we have a problem with each other, it comes out then and there. I made no secret of my disdain for Bear and Barrett, and when it became a nuisance, Barrett tried to get me to step down as Vice. Unfortunately for him, it wasn’t his call to make, and quite honestly, it wasn’t mine either. We were placed in our positions and if anyone was on the verge of losing their spot; it was Barrett.
I won’t admit it out loud, but I’m worried about Slayer. She killed two March members and by code, she’s now Prez, but there’s someone else who has to confirm it.
“Are you good with that, Malik?” Diego cuts through my thoughts, his brows raised as I down the rest of the coffee.
“Sorry, I was having thoughts of dead Dragons swirling in my head. What did you say?” I wink at my brother as he glares at me.
“They’re going to head over to Genevieve’s old house to make sure Chino isn’t wrong and Jaeger doesn’t have her there, then meet us at the compound in two hours.” He rubs his fingers along his chin and I can just tell he’s itching to pace. Laith averts his gaze to his hands in his lap and I wonder if he still pops his thumb in his mouth when he’s feeling sulky. I’ll ask him later.
