Then a few more of Pagano's men exited their vehicles as our crew filed in behind and around Sly and me. I could see Colt's hand playing at his holstered gun. Easy, I thought. Let's not escalate this before we have to. Billy stayed stock still, sitting on his bike.
Two of Pagano's men stepped forward to pat Sly and me down. I raised my hands and nodded to Sawyer when he started to make a protective move toward us. Pagano's man eyed me with a hard stare as he ran his hands over my outstretched hands. I stared back and thrust my chest out. I sneered at him when he bent down to pat down my pants.
"Careful," I said. "You might get me excited."
His counterpart laughed while he finished patting down Sly. "Better be careful there, Dan, all those years in prison, McLain's probably playing for the other team now. You're probably his type."
"Dan" turned red-faced and I blew him a fake kiss when he looked up at me. He patted the inside of my thigh, stiffened and stood quickly, murmuring a few "fuck yous" and "cocksuckers" to his companion. That's it. Squirm, asshole.
"We done playing?" Sly said.
Londo threw a menacing look at Dan and the other man and the two of them backed off, clearing a path for Sly and me to walk toward the warehouse. Sly took one last look at Billy, making a downward motion with his hand. Keep everyone cool.
At that point, George Pagano stepped into view. He got out of the very last vehicle surrounded by two more thugs who looked like they could be Londo's clones. Bile rose in my throat and I worked on keeping my expression blank.
I hadn't laid eyes on him in almost fourteen years when he taunted me outside the courthouse during my trial. What should have been his trial. He looked like the old man he was starting to become. Completely bald now, his tanned head was now peppered with liver spots. His face was rounder, beefier, his dark eyes seemed stuffed into it as if his head was made of dough. The buttons of his black suit strained at the middle. He seemed wider, but smaller somehow. I'd never stood this close to him and I had probably eight inches on him.
Finished with Londo, Sawyer made a move toward Pagano to pat him down. The two men beside him stiffened until Pagano smiled and put up a hand. He wore a large red signet ring on his left ring finger and it flashed in the sunlight.
"We've given our word, haven't we?" Pagano said. "I have no problem with showing our guests we've invited them here in good faith." He showed mercy on his suit coat button and unfastened it before he raised his arms. Sawyer did a thorough job of making sure the man was clean and gave me a nod when he was through.
"Gentlemen?" Pagano said. Londo followed him. Sly and I passed a look between us then he looked back to Sawyer and the others. Stay close, listen, be ready for shit to break loose.
Then Sly and I walked into the warehouse behind Londo and Pagano. The place was cleared out of everything but a long table and a few folding chairs. Sly and I stood angled almost at each other's backs as we scanned the walls, the windows and the catwalk above us.
"I'm sorry we don't have luxury accommodations for you," Pagano said. I wanted to punch the fucking smirk right off his face.
"We're not here for a lunch date," Sly said. I bit the inside of my mouth to keep from talking. I had to let Sly run this meeting. It was my job to watch and listen ... for now.
But George Pagano had other ideas.
"It's good to see you, Declan," he said. "You don't look too worse for wear after your time away."
I threaded my thumbs through my belt loops and kept my back straight. I wouldn't even give him the satisfaction of a change in my facial expression. He finally smiled and turned back to Sly.
"I have to say I was very glad to hear you've come to your senses."
Sly shook his head. "Oh yeah? How's that?"
"Well." Pagano walked over to the table and sat at the edge of it. I expected the thin legs of the thing to buckle under him, but no such luck. "Meeting face to face was really the only way to make sure we completely understand each other. I've got some large shipments coming through in a couple of weeks and it's good business for us to make sure we're on the same page with the money transfers."
"We're not here to talk terms, George," Sly said. "Though you're right. We need to completely understand each other. We're out. You got that? You overplayed your hand both at the gym and the club. You can do your own dirty work from now on. GWMC is done with you."
Pagano raised a brow and looked to Londo. Londo's face seemed to lose a little color.
"I'm sorry," Pagano said. "Are you under the impression this is some kind of negotiation? We're beyond that. I've indulged your lack of vision and courage long enough. Your little side businesses wouldn't exist without me, now it's time for you to repay me in a manner commensurate with my contributions."
"Fuck you," Sly said. "My club is no longer under any contract or understanding with you. I'm here to tell you if you make a move on any of my men or businesses again, there's going to be a body count and you're going to lose. You're operating under an old business model, my friend. This isn't the eighties. You got lucky the last time the feds came after you on RICO charges. You fixed it so Dex would take the heat. That trick won't work again and don't think for a second they're not watching you a hell of a lot more closely."
Pagano stayed expressionless but reached into his pockets. My hands twitched near my belt buckle but I managed to keep still otherwise. He pulled out a flash drive and set it on the table next to him. He looked at me.
"Your daughter, Tora, is remarkable," he said. Every muscle in my body tightened and my blood began to simmer. I could feel Sly next to me, trying to will me calm with eyes that bore into me.
Tora. We'd known Pagano would do this. It was Tora who finally found the evidence to exonerate me. I knew the price she paid to get it and so did Pagano.
"Save it," Sly said. "Tora's not up for discussion."
"Oh? She came to me, did you know that? Such a beautiful young woman she's grown into. Stubborn, like you, Declan. She wasn't afraid to go to extreme lengths to get what she wanted. Shocking, really."
"Fuck you," I said in a tone unrecognizable even to my own ears. Blood rage began to cloud my vision. Sly and Londo shifted; only Pagano stayed stock still, smirking at me from his perch on the table. He fingered the flash drive.
"You keep your hands off the club, or I do what I could have done," I said. "You forget, I know where all of your bodies are buried, George. I survived Marion. You wouldn't."
He picked up the flash drive. "I figured you'd come here with weak threats. And I hadn't wanted to stoop to that level."
"No, but you're willing to nearly kill innocent men."
"You're not innocent. Did you think I wouldn't have a backup plan? I made sure the government had enough evidence to put you away for life. How hard did you think it would be for me to do it again? Do you know how embarrassing your exoneration was for them? They're itching to throw you right back there. You're an easy mark. I'm not."
He tossed the flash drive to me and I caught it one-handed. "Receipts, phone records, a money trail. There's enough evidence on there to put you away again along with most of your club. And this time it's unimpeachable."
Sly stepped between us. "You're going to play this card again? You tried it once. It didn't work. Whatever you have on that drive is doctored."
Pagano shrugged. "That's your story. But you're still just a bunch of biker thugs. You know firsthand how many times the FBI has tried to bring me down. And how many times they've failed. You still don't get it. Blackie Murphy did. Hell, Dex, even your father did. There is no Great Wolves M.C. without me. You exist because of me and you'll cease to exist whenever and however I like. I own you. I own the federal prosecutors. I even own half the judges."
"Then what the hell do you need us for?" I said. "Don't oversell it, George. If you have all of that, you don't need this club to launder your shit."
"We all have our parts to play and this is yours. You'll do what I say or you'll end up back in that hell hole forever. Your little girl won't be able to bat her eyelashes and spread her legs to get you out this time. She'll just do it because I want her to."
When I moved, Sly didn't try to stop me. I fisted Pagano's tie and jerked him forward so I had him nose to nose. I kept my back to Londo. Sly was back there, covering me in any case, I knew.
"You're not going to touch my daughter. You're not going to speak her name or ever think about her again." Tora was safe. I couldn't let this asshole make me forget that. She was safe. I'd made sure of it.
Pagano laughed in my face even though I half choked him. "You just had to stay in your cage. If you'd done that, none of the rest of this would have happened."
I jerked him tighter. His lips turned purple. "You're not going to cross me, Declan. And you're not going to kill me either. It won't save your daughter or that little blonde nurse they said was standing next to you when your fat friend got torn open the other day. You kill me and the rest of my crew makes sure you pay for it. They're going to let you rot in prison and start with Tora and Ava first. You don't think I don't have eyes on them right this second? I know every move she's made since you left Chicago. With you back behind bars, you'll be alive to know about what I do to her. To both of them. You want that? If I die, my family takes my place. Like cutting off the head of a hydra."