“I think, between the two of us, we could take all four, don’t you?”
“Hell, you’re not allowed to cut in on my fun,” he said. “I haven’t had a good dustup in at least two days. All four are mine.” She burst out laughing. Trouble was, he was serious. He looked over and saw that she knew it too.
She smiled, still chuckling. “You can see I’m used to Levi and his crew.”
“It’s a good thing you are too.” They got to the parking lot to see that all the guys had scattered on foot in four different directions.
“Your size really does do that, doesn’t it?” she murmured in surprise.
“First, I’m male,” he said. “Second, I’m huge and I’m fit. I really don’t like getting pushed around, and it probably shows,” he said. “I can’t stand sluggards and people being disrespectful. Most guys decide that it’s just not worth the battle.”
“I like that,” she said. “Being tough doesn’t really give me much of an edge.”
“Basic genetics are against you in that field,” he said. “Seriously I’ve known a lot of women who could handle a ton of shit, and they could take a lot of people, and you’d never know it at first glance. Like Kai, for example,” he said. “She’s at the top of the game, just like Ice. Generally they still get the same flak because they’re attractive women.”
“It’s quite infuriating,” Angela murmured.
“Unless you use it to your advantage. The guys never know what’s coming, and that’s something that Ice and Kai both play on. They know perfectly well that nobody expects what they can do, so, when it comes out of left field, these guys are trying to react, and they’re already off their game, in which case, both Kai and Ice can move in for the kill.”
“That’s very true,” she said, nodding.
“You just have to change your attitude about it all. Everything in life is attitude,” he said. “You can’t let all this get you down or influence your decision-making.”
“It’s not a case of getting me down,” she said. “It’s more about trying to figure out just what to do. I want this to stop now, and I want my town to go back to the way it was.”
“So, using the view of hindsight,” he said carefully, when they were both inside the truck, “can you actually look around this town and see that it ever really was the way you thought it was?”
She looked at him in surprise. “Ah,” she said, “I see what you’re asking.” She frowned, as she thought about it, and he respected her for at least considering his question. “I don’t think I was ever oblivious to what was going on here,” she said. “I did grow up here, so I’ve always known where the drugs are sold and where the alcohol is accessed by kids,” she said. “I know a lot of those tiny dark corners of trouble and the people who cause it,” she said, “but I’ve never ever known or seen evidence of anything like what’s going on right now.”
“Well, that’s good,” he said, “because, if it’s new, as you believe, then it hasn’t really had a chance to hide. These guys don’t seem too bothered about hiding anyway. They must figure they have enough money to make everything go away.”
“Well, they do,” she said. “And sadly that’s the problem. All of it is just going away.”
“What’s the worst thing that can happen here?” he asked.
“Well, they can buy up everything, turning it into a massive property development. There wouldn’t be a sheriff since there won’t be any need for it because it’ll all be incorporated into the city itself, or they’ll just install some security force of their own.”
“Which is probably more likely because then they’ll own the law too,” he said.
“And that’s what they’re trying to do. Get rid of me, so they can put in their own people.”
“You’re in an elected position, right?”
“Yes,” she said, “and I’ve already considered the fact that I may not get re-elected.”
“It sounds almost likely, given the brothers’ influence right now, doesn’t it?”
“It does right now,” she said, nodding sadly. “And, if this isn’t what I’ll do, I’ll have to find another way to earn a living.”
“That’s always hard but not impossible.”
She nodded, and then there wasn’t a whole lot she could say.
He considered her for a moment, then started the engine and let it idle. “So tell me how to get to your place.”
She smiled. “All of this on a first date?” she teased. “Who knew?”
“Levi knew.” Bonaparte laughed.
Chapter 4
“What are you talking about?” Angela asked in surprise. “What did Levi say?”
Bonaparte chuckled. “I wasn’t even going to say anything, but his good old matchmaking heart is in full swing.”
She groaned. “He’s been at that for years,” she said, with a heavy sigh. “He can’t just see that I might be perfectly happy being single.”
“In my experience, the happier married people are, the more they want the rest of the world around them to be happy too. The problem is, they think that you’ll only be happy in the same marital state that they are in.”
“Which, in this case, is permanently partnered,” she said, with a nod.
“Permanently partnered?” He smiled, looking at her. “Huh. I haven’t heard that term before, but, yes, that’s exactly what it is.”
She smiled at him. “But you have kids, so doesn’t that apply to you?”
“Oh no, I’m divorced,” he said, “and it wasn’t a terribly pleasant one either.”
“Is there such a thing?” she asked curiously.
“I have no idea,” he said. “We married young, and I was gone a lot. She didn’t like me being gone. So we separated and got back together a couple times. Then, when she got pregnant, we decided to give it a really good go.” He shook his head. “We did for a while, … and then we didn’t,” he said, with a shrug. “Probably should have walked the first time we separated but …”
“Hindsight and all that,” she murmured.
“Well,
