He was more right than he knew. Cam needed to tell him about the threat from the new Crow king. Then the disquiet in his senses would paint a picture he understood.
Bikes began revving in the yard. I put my hand on Embry’s shoulder, just for a moment. “Have patience, chaplain. You’ll get your closure, I promise.”
It was not my place to make promises to Cam’s men, but it was one I believed.
I left Embry and returned outside. Saint and Nash were on their bikes, preparing to head out alone.Not enough.The rogue Crow had given no indication that the Kings were still active targets, but the pull to guard Saint’s back was so strong my legs were cinderblocks as I walked to Cam’s SUV.
There were no grand goodbyes. Saint and Nash rode out and Cam did not watch them go.
He joined me at his car and tossed me the keys. “I’ll leave my hog behind if you drive.”
“You do not like your car?”
“I’ve had rashes I’ve liked more.”
“That is quite the image.”
Cam flashed me a brief grin and slid into the passenger seat.
I got behind the wheel and counted the bikes gearing up to come with us. Mateo. A couple of trusted brothers whose names I had not bothered to learn. And... “Rubi is coming?”
Cam grimaced. “He wants to ride and I’ve got no moral authority to tell him he can’t.”
“Because you are an idiot too?”
“Yup.”
I started the engine and eased the powerful car out of the parking space. It was bigger than mine. Meatier. But I liked the dark interior. And I liked that I could smell Saint in the air. That his favourite cigarette lighter was on the dashboard. “Where is this meeting?”
Faint humour coloured Cam’s features. “Strip club in Weston-super-Mare. We sold it to them a few years back.”
“Sanitising your property portfolio?”
Cam’s grin faded. “Absolutely. There ain’t nothing wrong with a consensual operation, but I didn’t have the manpower to police that, so I sold every titty bar we had and plugged the money into the yard. We still run protection for some, though.”
“Why?”
“Intelligence. Dudes have loose lips when they have everything they need—why are you looking at me like that?”
“I’m not looking at you. I am driving.”
Cam tapped his fingers, itching, perhaps, for the cigarettes in his pocket.
I gave him an inch. “I am just thinking that you have travelled so far on this road to legitimacy, maybe you are nearly done.”
“Done?” Cam rumbled a bitter laugh. “That’s a pipe dream. Every time I think we’re nearly there, some other clusterfuck happens to yank us back under. I thought we were done with the Crows, then Rocco’s blowing up Nash’s phone. We’re done with dodgy construction, but here we are, making tracks to a shitty club I sold these cunts five years ago. Way I see it, we ain’t ever gonna be done.”
He was halfway to shouting by the time he was done, a trait I’d noticed in him most when he was talking to his siblings. Did that make me family? Or had I touched a nerve so fragile it broke him?
I checked my mirrors. Mateo eased around the car, taking point as Rubi stayed behind with the prospects. “Who are we meeting, exactly?”
After a beat of silence, Cam levelled his stare at me. “Gianni Sambini. No one mentioned Lorenzo.”
“I told Gianni it would be the end of his life if he saw me again. If he believed me, it will be quite the shock to see me at your side.”
“Will it? I don’t think there’s a Sambini from that night who didn’t get that you were rolling with us now.”
“Rolling with you?” I turned the phrase over in my head, gauging the meaning. “You do not mean sex?”