Page 3 of Deadly Aloha
“That’s my business. Yours is figuring out why the Bloody Scorpions are on my islands.”
Red and Aftermath exchanged a look. Tangaloa, dripping from his dip in the pool, came over to the table just as the waiter brought our beers.
“Aloha,” he said with a nod. “Tangaloa Ano.”
Both introduced themselves again before Aftermath turned to me. “Our Prez, Capone, said we were meeting one man, not two. Who is he?”
I took a sip of my beer. “Guess your Prez was misinformed.” I saw Red pull out his phone and assumed he was texting his President. “Tangaloa’s with me. That’s all you need to know.”
Until I knew if I could trust these two, I wasn’t cluing them in on the fact that Tangaloa was family, despite the divorce papers. I loved my sister, Kalea, but she’d taken Tangaloa’s heart out and stomped on it before setting it on fire. I’d kill for my sister, but Tangaloa was my brother long before he put a ring on her finger. She hated that we were still friends, and she hated even more that I sided with Tangaloa in the divorce. If she wanted me to side with her, maybe she shouldn’t have slept with a coworker and gotten pregnant by himwhileTangaloa and she were trying for a baby.
For three wonderful weeks, Tangaloa had believed himself to be the proud father of my beautiful niece, Pualani—until a blood test showed that hecouldn’tbe the father due to his blood type. Tangaloa was gutted. I loved my niece, and I would never blame her for my sister’s actions, but it did something inside me every time I saw her because I knew how much her existence killed Tangaloa. Any other man might have gotten even, might have done something to avenge his failed marriage and broken vows, but not my brother. He’d simply walked out. He was good with me in his life as long as I abided by two rules: never mention my sister andnevermention my niece in front of him.
I still had to come up with a lie as to where I needed to go in a few weeks, though he was smart enough to figure out it was my niece’s second birthday party. But I was happy to tell the lie, and he was happier believing it.
I trusted Jameson, but that didn’t mean I automatically trusted his men. I knew who Jameson was, and I knew what to expect from him. These two? Just because they wore the Royal Bastards cut—figuratively, because neither were wearing their colors now—did not make them trustworthy. It got them a meeting with me, and nothing more.
I would kill for my sister, but I would burn bridges for Tangaloa. While some might question that logic, I stood by the belief that it was easier to kill than it was to live with turning once-friends into enemies.
Though if there was one thing I might have in common with these twohaoles, it was the understanding of brotherhood.
Tangaloa was watching me spar with Aftermath like he was watching an amusing fencing game. Due to his size, people often misjudged him for being a fighter. And while Tangaloa was no harmless puppy, it was true I was the deadlier of the two of us. The difference was, Tangaloa had the patience to wait for the opportune moment to strike, whereas I was impatient to feel the blood of my enemies on my hands.
The only time I did have an ounce of patience was when I was fucking with people. Like now. Aftermath and Red needed me, and therefore, this meeting was on my terms. They knew it; I knew it. They weren’t happy about Tangaloa’s presence, but they also didn’t get much say. That grated on their nerves, and I was content to sit back and watch their discomfort until they sucked it up and accepted that this was the way it was going to be.
I might be the one who owed Jameson the favor, but it was Tangaloa who would have the information they were looking for. I was out of the life—or so I kept telling myself.
Finally, Aftermath said, “Whatever. What do you know about the Bloody Scorpions?”
It really was hard to take him seriously with those pink sunglasses on his face, but I pushed past it. “Reputation only. They deal mostly in drugs?”
“They deal in mayhem,” Aftermath corrected. Red put his phone down and slid it across the table at Aftermath. The big man picked it up, read whatever was on the screen, and then grunted. He pushed the phone back. Due to the sun directly over us, I couldn’t see what it was Red had shown him, but Aftermath seemed to take a quick glance between Tangaloa and me, and I wondered even more what had been on the phone. Was it a message from their Prez or something about Tangaloa?
“Put it this way,” Aftermath continued as if there hadn’t been a pause, “if the Bloody Scorpions are here, then that’s very bad for your ‘paradise’.” His mocking tone was not lost on me.
“What did you figure out? Jameson said you’ve been here for a few days.” I nodded towards the pool. “Undercover, no doubt.”
“Our Ol’ Ladies are smart enough not to ask questions, but they know this isn’t a vacation,” Red informed me.
“Last night, we were able to track the Bloody Scorpions north towards the Kool-Aid Mountains.”
Tangaloa and I exchanged a look. “Koolau,” I corrected.
“If you say so,” Aftermath shrugged off the mispronunciation. “Unfortunately, we lost them. But one dropped this when we were tailing them earlier in the day.”
He pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket. I took it. I glanced over it for a moment before passing the truck rental agreement over to Tangaloa.
“Dropped it or left for you to find?” I asked.
“We’re not sure yet,” Red answered, and I turned my head to face him. “As far as we know, no one knows we’re here. We didn’t take our private jet to avoid being traced, and we leftour colors in the hotel room. We booked where we thought it was unlikely to find two bikers and their women, and have been trying to spend our time doing touristy things in case we are being tracked.”
“DolePlantation?” Tangaloa asked.
Red nodded, “And Pearl Harbor.”
My ex-brother-in-law nodded in approval. “I’ll give you a list of places not on your tourist maps that your ladies will definitely thank you for.”
While Red looked interested, Aftermath got back to business. “That’s why you’re here,” he told Tangaloa. “Or,” he faced me, “whyyouare. You’re our guide around the island.”
