Page 93 of When Sinners Dare

“Hang on, there’s more-”

“Lunch, Mariana. It’s time we got this fucking family back on track,” he says as he storms out and slams the door behind him.

Well, lunch should be something to look forward to.

~

A couple hours later, after storing the gun upstairs and taking some deep breaths, the family arrives.First Shaw, then Knox. They come in, take one look at Kai here, and stiffen. The tension rolls off them in waves. From their reaction, I doubt Abel gave them a heads-up.

“What the fuck, Mariana?” Shaw starts.

“What? Problem?”

“Yeah. Your boy shouldn’t be here.”

“Boy?” Kai questions, almost laughing.

“He’s welcome. Get used to it.”

It’s then that Abel arrives with Lexi on his arm. “Getting to know each other, I see,” he murmurs, looking around the room. “Shall we?”

He leads us into the dining room, where there are seats for us all, but, more notably, Elias, Dante, and Wren’s seats are missing.The air’s heavy as we all find a place, and I reach for Kai’s hand under the table. His eyes don’t leave the rest of the men around the table, but he does give my hand a squeeze.

The food is spread along the middle, and Marci comes in with a large slab of rare meat to make the centrepiece. It smells and looks delicious, and I’m relieved that we’ll have something to keep us busy.

“At least the food’s still good,” Shaw mutters as he spears a slice of the meat onto his plate and follows with some of the mole and pico de gallo.

“You’d eat anything, Shaw. Don’t whine,” I snap back.

“It’s not like you cooked a day in your life. You’ve lived a life being waited on like the princess you think you are.”

“Give it a rest, Shaw. We’ve not even started.” Knox plays ref.

“Food first, then business,” Abel weighs in.

We all set to loading our plates. It looks delicious and tastes beautiful. Kai is tucking in, but I can tell he’s uncomfortable. After the brief conversation with Abel, I’m not even sure what the others will say.

The food does its thing and distracts us for a while.

Until Abel stands. “It’s been a rough few weeks for us.”

“Under-fucking statement of the year,” Shaw moans as he swishes back a Bourbon.

“Shut up, Shaw.” All he has to do is open his mouth, and I want to smack him one.

Abel slams his glass back down on the table making the cutlery and plates jump.

“Give it a fucking rest. Both of you. I'm done with your bitching. That goes for all of you.” He’s got our attention now, and no matter my want to snipe back, I hold off. “I’ll try again. It’s been tough, and things need to change. The first change is Kai. He’s in. There’s a need for someone with his skill set.”

“Hang on a minute,” Knox starts. “He’s in? Just like that? And let me guess; you took it upon yourself to make that decision?” He shakes his head and downs his drink.

“Do you have a problem with Kai?” I ask Knox, pulling his shoulder back so he can look at me when he answers.

“I don't know him for shit.” He shifts towards the head of the table. “But maybe I do have a problem with Abel acting like a king. It’s bad enough with the Reed problem. We’ve been sitting on his girl for weeks now, and still no movement. What’s that about? That’s not Cortez.”

“And I’ve told you, I’ll pick that fight with Cane when I'm ready to.”

“What was New York all about then? Or did Lexi keep you too busy to do what you were meant to be fucking doing?”

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