An insecure part of me wants to find some way to reassure myself that he’ll still want me and need me, even though he’s not as alone in the world as he thought he was. As if he can sense my neediness, he casually puts a hand on my thigh and gives it a gentle squeeze as he tells us his idea for how to take care of the Reapers once and for all.
“Taking them out one at a time isn’t working. They recruit like crazy and when they’re offering all the drugs and helpless victims a new recruit could possibly want, it’s not hard to find members.”
“We need to take them all out at once,” Sparrow concludes.
Spettro smiles and nods. “Exactly.”
“Not an easy feat with two hundred bikers,” Xaviaro says. “I’m good, but I’m not that good.”
“Then your imagination is lacking.” Spettro smirks. “Every couple of months they get a massive shipment of the ingredients they need to cook. When that happens, they throw a rager at the clubhouse. No one misses it.No one.”
“So if we can find out when the next one is, all we have to do is block all the doors and light that bitch up.” I follow his train of thought to its obvious conclusion.
“Exactly,” he says again.
“How do we find that out?” Sparrow asks.
Spettro’s smile gets even wider. “I’m in their group chat.”
“The Sleepless Reapers have a group chat?” I don’t know how Xaviaro manages to call them fucking morons with his tone alone, but he does.
“Why does this feel too easy?” Sparrow asks.
“It won’t be easy,” I say. “The plan is simple though, which is a good thing.”
Xaviaro grunts and nods in agreement. “I don’t see any reason Lorenzo won’t approve this, but I’ll go ahead and run it by him. Alessio, you can handle explosives?”
“Of course.”
“Good, and Benny will stay on top of the group chat,” Sparrow says.
“Spettro,” he corrects him, and then gives his brother an apologetic look. “Benny doesn’t feel right. I don’t think that’s who I am anymore.”
A sympathetic smile flickers on Sparrow’s lips. “I get it. Who I was before…” He clears his throat and shakes his head. “It’s not the same, but that version of me is dead too.”
They share a look for a long second, and then Spettro reaches for my hand. He never put his gloves back on, so our bare skin is touching as he slips his fingers between mine.
“Great, so we have a plan, and now it’s just a matter of waiting for the right moment,” he says, and something in his voice tells me that as happy as he was to find his brother, it’s a lot to wrap his head around and he’s ready to go home and start processing.
We both stand up and Sparrow jumps to his feet too.
“Let me give you my number. You can text or call me any time, okay? And maybe we can get together for lunch or drinks or…”
“Sober, remember?” Spettro says with a quiet chuckle.
“Shit, that’s right. I swear, I’m going to wrap my head around this new version of you. Just give me a minute and we’ll figure it all out together.”
“We will,” he agrees, still holding on to my hand as he reaches out with his other to pull Sparrow into another hug.
They exchange phone numbers and agree to set up a plan to get together later this week, then we head out.
As soon as the elevator doors slide closed, he sags against me.
“Holy shit,” he murmurs, and I feel his hand trembling. “I didn’t know I could feel so many things at once. It’s amazing, but it feels so fucking out of control.” He clenches his free hand and squeezes mine again.
I take a chance and card my fingers through his hair. He lets his head rest heavier on my shoulder and blows out a shaky breath.
“If you need to get that feeling of control back, I’m happy to help,” I flirt, because I don’t have the first fucking clue what else to say to someone who’s just discovered that they have a brother and a past that they were sure didn’t exist.