Chapter Thirteen
Duke walked into the clubhouse a little after noon, and the guys inside gave a hoot and poured him a cold one.
“The whole club’s seen the feed of your little spitfire taking the guy down,” Tiny told him. “She kicked ass and her girls backed her up. Nice.”
Duke smiled, accepted the beer with a nod, and sat at the bar. “Isaac and Frisco are to be treated with respect. Heads up about Isaac, he wasn’t lying when he said he could likely take us all on at once. Even Nathan Pierce gives him a wide berth.”
“What is he?” Dozer asked.
Duke shook his head. “Some vows from my old pack I still hold, and Isaac’s an old friend who’s more than earned my loyalty. If ya’ll need to know for your safety, I’ll tell you, but he’s a good man and won’t attack unless we fuck with him or his. Just know he’s a bad-ass, even by our standards, and he ain’t a wolf.”
Brain was stretched out on one of the sofas wearing jeans and no shirt. “He’s aligned with the vampires as well as the local pack, and seems to have arrangements with a helluva lot more.”
“Yeah, and we grew up together, so I know him. He’s good people, we don’t have to worry about him, and if all goes well with Gen we may end up being family.”
“How you figure?”
Duke looked at Dozer a few seconds before answering. “Brother, I know you got a problem with guys doin’ it with each other, but he’s my woman’s brother’s partner, which means he’s her family. You tell me what her family is to our family?”
He shook his head. “Ours, but three men and one woman in bed just ain’t right.”
Tiny, seated on a stool behind the bar, asked Dozer, “How do you feel about one man and three women in the same bed?”
Dozer smiled to show he didn’t have a problem with it, as most of the rest of the room said something along the lines of “Not a problem,” and “Works for me.” Duke rolled his eyes at Dawg’s “Felt pretty good last night. One sittin’ on my face, one reverse cowgirl, and the third licking my nuts and the other chick’s clit.”
The entire room intoned, “Daaawwwg.”
Duke looked at Brain in question, and got a shrug and then, “Saw him walking to the back with them… two blondes and a brunette. Kinda hard to call bullshit.”
“Yeah,” Duke said, looking back at Dawg. “I’m thinking you need to double-check the condom inventory, see if we need to order another couple of cases. Your responsibility from here on out.”
Tiny’s voice was deep. Serious. “You haven’t asked for a status update yet, Boss.”
Duke sighed and looked to his giant of an enforcer. “Yeah, I know. Wanted another couple minutes to smile, ‘cause I could tell by the looks on your faces it ain’t gonna be pretty. You shoulda called me.”
Brain didn’t sit up, but caught Duke’s eye as he said, “Nothing we couldn’t handle. Wasn’t gonna interrupt your first night with your new lady.”
Duke shook his head. “Out with it.”
“Cameras picked up a dealer on third near Hawthorne, just at the edge of our territory,” said Dozer. “Brain sent me in, but something didn’t feel right so I asked for backup but told them to stay out of sight unless I needed them.” He shook his head. “Bastards fuckin’ ambushed me, came out of the surrounding houses. If I didn’t have backup I’d been in trouble, brother.”
“I hurt one worse than I meant to.” This from Tiny, still behind the bar. “If they ramp up, might cause us some problems. Pretty sure I shattered his jaw, but it wasn’t the intent.”
Duke nodded. “Things happen, Tiny. If they ramp up we’ll deal with it. Any of our people hurt?”
“One of ‘em stuck me,” Dozer said. “I pulled it out and stuck him back, folded the knife, put it in my pocket. Got big-eyes over it, so I imagine my bad-ass status is further elevated.”
Brain laughed. “I have it on video if you want to watch. They probably think we’re nursing some black eyes and sore ribs. Can’t hurt to be seen out and about without them, today. I’m thinking we pay a visit to the houses they came out of, make sure the homeowners are okay, be clear they have our numbers in case they need us, or need to give us a heads up.”
Duke nodded and stood. “Agreed. I assume you’ve got the names and associations of everyone in a folder on my desk?”
“Of course.”
“Okay, give me fifteen minutes to look it over, and the video, and then we’ll go have a talk with the neighbors. Me and Dawg in the houses, Tiny and Dozer outside, Brain on the cams.”