Page 6 of Ruthless Reign

My new wife spent the majority of the ride to the clubhouse looking at her phone, which was fine with me because I wanted to talk to her about as much as she wanted to talk to me. This wasn’t a love match, and I wouldn’t pretend I had anything in my heart for the Caputis other than suspicion and animosity.

But if I wanted to end this war between our families, I would do what I had to do…including putting up with the mafia princess and ignoring the way her indignant gaze made me want to claw her eyes out. Sure, my house wasn’t as big as any blood-money mansion she’d lived in, but it wasn’t a fucking shack.

Whatever. I didn’t give a shit what she thought about our living arrangements. Her opinion changed nothing. We were stuck together regardless.

When I pulled into the clubhouse driveway, she glanced at the building with a sneer, her dark gaze sweeping over the gravel pavement and ancient vinyl exterior with incredulity.

“It truly is a wonder the Roses have managed to hold my family off for so long,” she said. “Everything you own reeks of dereliction and decay.”

I put the gear shifter into park before turning to face her. “Well, feast your eyes, princess. Everything I own is fifty percent yours now.”

She gave me a side-eye before opening the passenger door to hop out. I sighed, running a hand back through my hair. Julia could hold her own, but I feared what would happen when we walked through these doors. I’d never had reason to be afraid of my brothers before, but only half of them had wanted this alliance. The other half had threatened to walk because of it. I was barely holding the fractured pieces together.

Three months ago, the FBI had raided the Steel Roses headquarters and arrested my father, the former president. In his absence, the rest of them had elected me the interim leader, but I didn’t think I was ready for the responsibility. I wasn’t sure I’d ever be ready. I could count on one hand the number of people I trusted, and my wife wasn’t one of them.

Get it together, Montgomery,I scolded myself before climbing out of my truck to lead Julia inside.

At this time of night, most of the members were already here. The old ladies, MC princesses, and hang-arounds mingled about, gossiping and talking and getting rowdy. Normally, I would have found one (or two) to flirt with, but those days were long gone. Recently, I’d been too focused on ending this war to fuck around, and now that I was a married man (with an infidelity clause in my contract), I didn’t see the point.

The room went quiet when we walked in, all eyes turning in our direction. Julia froze, stiffening her spine and steeling her jaw against the pervasive onslaught. Some were curious, my sister among them. Verona sat in her boyfriend’s lap with his arms around her while my acting vice president, KC, looked up from his spot next to his wife, Alba. For the first time in probably all of SRMC history, none of these motley motherfuckers had anything to say.

A tiger had entered lion territory, and all waited to see who would attack first.

“Well?” I said, jumping to my new wife’s defense. “What the fuck are you all staring at?”

Some cleared their throats and went back to their activities. V and Hollywood, a.k.a. my best friend who had started dating my little sister, stood and walked closer.

“Congratulations?” V said, opening her arms to hug me before turning to Julia. “You must be my new sister-in-law.”

“Indeed,” Julia said, holding out a hand for V to shake.

“What’s it feel like to be a married man, huh?” Hollywood clapped me on the shoulder and threw an arm around my neck. Of everyone in the club, he was the comedian, the one most likely to crack a joke to break the tension.

“About the same as it felt being single,” I said, which caused Julia to snap her attention to me and raise an eyebrow.

“It’s nice to see you again, Julia.” Hollywood flashed her his trademark grin and a wink.

“Likewise,” she said, but her tone suggested it wasnot,in fact, nice to see any of us.

I nodded toward the back of the clubhouse where the MC usually held church. “Is Leo here yet?”

Julia straightened at the mention of her brother.

“No,” Hollywood said. “He texted he’s running five minutes late. He should be here soon.”

I nodded and headed in that direction, but KC and Alba cut me off. My buddy looked suspicious of the Caputi princess. Alba only pushed her glasses higher on her nose and smiled.

“Julia, this is Alba,” I said, introducing the two relatives.

“Right,” Julia said, raising an eyebrow. “Alessandra’s daughter.”

“Penny’s daughter,” Alba corrected. “It’s wonderful to meet you.”

“Well,” Julia said, “any Caputi blood in the Rose thorn bush is sure to make me feel right at home.”

I winced because despite beingtechnicallyrelated to the Caputis, Alba had never considered herself one of them. Her mother had run away from that life and faked her death after getting pregnant with her. She’d lived on Rose territory ever since. Alba didn’t know this about herself until two years ago, but now that they were standing side by side, it was easy to see the family resemblance. They had the same nose, the same mouth, the same cheekbone structure.

“C’mon,” Alba said, nodding toward the bar. “You look like you could use a drink.”

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