“Did King call?” Rome asked.
Marco sat up and put his book on the side table. He pushed his sunglasses up and met Rome’s gaze.
“No. Neil did.”
Rome didn’t like the sound of that. The amused look on Marco’s face had him grumbling out, “What?”
Marco’s lips quirked. “You really don’t like him, do you?”
Rome let out a grunt and sat down on the sun chair next to Marco’s.
“You know I don’t.”
Marco sighed, then said, “He found the little fucker.”
“Don’t tell me. He’s close.”
“Been right under our fucking noses the whole time,” Marco growled.
A phone ringing had Rome arching a brow at Marco who glared at him for all of a second before letting out a sigh and grabbing his phone.
Marco groaned. “I have to take this.”
Rome gave him a nod and watched as Marco made his way into the house. The stress was clearly taking a toll on Marco and Rome got it. He really did. The only time he’d allowed himself to relax the past few days was when he was with Juno.
He stayed outside with Dante for a long time, trying not to think about what came next and how it might affect Juno and him. They were going after Alvaro no matter what. No matter if the Kings decided to help. Though he hoped they would. Otherwise, he didn’t want to consider the grudge Marco would hold against the Kings and thereby, against Juno. It wouldn’t exactly make Rome want to mention their relationship to Marco. Not that it was a relationship. Or that he wanted it to be. Not at all.
Juno
He was sitting at the table in the room they used for church along with most of the others when King and Joker walked through the door. They sat down and Juno held his breath until King spoke.
“Marco Serrano has asked for our help,” King said.
People started talking. Loudly and with curse words. It was easy to understand why they were confused and possibly offended. First off, a mobster asking them for help? Especially Serrano? Had never happened before in all the time the club had been around. Second. He was sure most were confused as to why they were even holding a vote on the matter.
“Why would we help him?” Saint asked King.
King looked at Saint and said, “Normally, I wouldn’t even consider it.”
“But?” Saint pressed.
“But,” King said with a sigh. “We’re already involved. Maybe even more than we know.”
“The guys who shot at the Jackals outside Dara’s school were all cartel,” Joker said. “Serrano handled them and now one of them is looking to take him out.”
“What does that have to do with us?” Stiletto asked.
“In case you’ve forgotten, the Jackals were working for the Henchmen. How much you wanna bet the cartel doesn’t care what they call themselves nowadays?” Juno said.
The room fell silent for a few heartbeats before King cleared his throat.
“I already talked to Ares. They haven’t had much contact with the cartel since they split from the Henchmen, but that makes sense if the cartel has been focusing on Serrano.”
“Any reason Ares didn’t warn us about them?” Bones asked, irritation clear in his voice.
“He wanted to take care of it himself,” Saint said. “I’d wager he’d say we’ve already done enough for them.”
“We can’t afford another war,” Auggie said and looked over his shoulder at his partner. “We got lucky last time. But a cartel? We’ll lose more than just one man and you know it.”
As much as Juno hated to admit it, Auggie was right. They had gotten lucky. Real lucky.
“Everyone in favor of helping Serrano say aye,” Joker said.
Not a word was spoken and for some reason, Juno felt guilty for not standing behind Rome. He wanted to help Rome. He did. He just didn’t want to compromise his club doing it. Didn’t want to risk the lives of his family for a feud that wasn’t theirs.
Juno glanced around at his brothers and sisters. The last thing he wanted was to lose any of them. He didn’t want to lose Rome either. Right then he understood what it meant to be stuck between a rock and a hard place. Personally, he would help Rome with anything, no questions asked. But with the club? Normally, he wouldn’t even entertain the idea. Things were fucking weird. Crazy. Rome made him crazy. Crazier Rome would probably say. He wouldn’t exactly be wrong, either.
Rome
He walked into Marco’s office just as Marco cursed and threw his phone across the room. It hit the wall just a few feet from Rome and fell to the floor.
“Motherfucker,” Marco growled.
“I take it the Kings won’t be helping us, then?”
“Whatever gave you that impression,” Marco drawled.
Rome sighed and bent down to pick up Marco’s phone. He wasn’t surprised. Disappointed? Yes. But surprised? No. It was a lot to ask of them. They hadn’t started this.
Rome handed Marco his phone just as both their phones went off and Rome froze.
“Is that…?”
“The alarm,” Marco said.
Someone had breached the perimeter. Someone was coming for Marco. Fuck.
“Take Dante,” Marco said. “You know what to do.”
“My job is to protect you.”
“You’re the only one I trust with him.”
Fuck. He clenched his teeth hard, then gave Marco a sharp nod before turning on his heels. He ran out of the office and down the hallway. He made it up the stairs in record time and nearly slid across the floor when he turned into
