I wanted to.
And maybe that was enough.
Cam kissed my temple, then he let me go, standing me up straight as he squared my shoulders. “Brothermeans family, Mats. Till the end. And we ride out for family no matter what.”
20
MATEO
Cam moved church from the chapel to the empty bar so Juana and Liliana could get some rest upstairs while we guarded them below.
Without the table to guide us, we were spread out; me hovering by the stairs while Embry crouched on the fucking floor as far from me as he could possibly get, vibrating with whatever emotions were running through him right now.
He didn’t want to be here, I could tell. In the same room as me. Breathing the same air. He wanted out and I knew the second we were done here, he’d be gone.
Saint too, but I took him loitering by the exit less personally. When shit got rough, he needed fresh air to breathe. And shit was rough. My brothers had stood for me, but that didn’t mean they weren’t fucking livid.
Only Rubi seemed chill, calmly making notes and swiping an iPad with Alexei, the two of them an efficient combination I never saw coming.
“If this is what we do...” Alexei leaned across Rubi and tapped the iPad. “It will have to be someone else who stays with them. I need to be here. So does Mateo. We need him on the ground with the enemies we already had before today.”
He shot me a look that was half bloodthirsty and half somewhere close to human.
It made my head spin.
Cam noticed and beckoned me closer. “You don’t need to guard the stairs. The gates are secure, cameras are on, and no one’s getting through Embry and Saint.”
“I’m not worried about that.”
“What are you worried about?”
“That a trick question, boss?”
Cam glanced at the iPad screen as Rubi held it up. Nodded. But the words made no sense to me. I was a slow reader at the best of times, and this was worst of the worst of the worst.
“Just tell me?” I pleaded.
Rubi set the iPad down and exchanged a glance with Alexei. “I can’t speak for what’s going to happen with granddad, but the first thing we need to do is get your girls somewhere safe. Somewhere off our usual turf and easy to protect.”
The only property the club owned out of our territory were strip clubs and gay bars.
A growl formed in my chest.
No fucking way.
They were easy to protect because brothers swarmed to them like bees to honey, eager to take a job at a place teeming with willing pussy and cock, and they did a good job because they wanted to milk it for all it was worth.
I knew the men who guarded these places. Not bad men to take to a fight, but not the kind of cunt I wanted near my daughter. “I have money. If Alexei can forge me some IDs, I can rent a place in a fake name.”
Alexei made a soft sound. “Maybe down the line, enforcer, but there is not time for that now. Your family need to be safe by tonight. Safe and hidden no place any regular King would ever think of if they’re put to the blade and questioned.”
I could think of only two locations that fit those requirements. Embry’s family cave and... “You want to take them to your flat?”
Alexei nodded, amused by whatever he saw in my face. “It is a penthouse in Bristol. One entrance, no access from above or the windows. Even if Esteban discovers it, when he learns it is mine, it is... unlikely he would force his way in.”
“Not impossible, though,” Cam said. “I’ve picked your lock a thousand times.”
Alexei bared his teeth. “You exaggerate, biker boy. Do you think there is any reason you were able to break into my home more than perhaps that I wanted you to?”