Page 71 of Rubies and Revenge

“How long have you managed the Den?” Pat asks.

Angie shoots them A Look and doesn’t answer.

“I’d like to come as a pedestrian someday,” Pat chatters. I know they’re half-distracting her, but the other half might be flirting, and I want to tease the shit out of them for it. “Do y’all ever do any non-binary or trans nights?”

“It’s on our socials.” Angie finally utters words.

“I’ll check it out.” They hold open a door that doesn’t look like a door. “I never would have guessed this was under the club.”

“That’s the point,” Angie grumbles.

Pat hurries to walk beside her again. “Who all knows about it?”

“Me, Darius, Tamayo. And now you two.” Angie stops, purses her matte-black lips and considers us one at a time. Her gaze is heavy as a judge’s gavel when it pounds a verdict. “This family is all most of us have. We take care of each other better than blood ever could. Without the Tamayo Family, half of us would be dead.”

“Would you?” Pat asks.

“Yes.”

The proud Gallo inside of me wants to hiss and scratch this woman for her perception of me, for the accusation of a future betrayal, but I know that’s not the way to convince her. Or anyone. And worse—a small piece of me wants to know how Tamayo inspires such loyalty. I don’t think I’ve witnessed a single Gallo capo speak of my family with such raw belief.

I meet her judging glare. “You won’t believe me, but I’d be dead without this family, too.”

She scoffs, arms crossing her chest. “You’re the Gallo princess.”

“Promised to man who would kill me if he could.” And still might.

“With the power of a Cardinal Family behind you.” Her lip hitches in a sneer. “If you knew how to wield it.”

“You mean steal it.” Despite what Angie thinks, I can’t simply walk into my family home and start commanding capos. They answer to my father—and my mother by proxy. I don’t command their loyalty any more than an amusing niece they all put up with and assume will grow out of my rebellious phase.

Even if my parents ran the Gallo Family so far into the dirt that they now have to sell their daughter or be buried alive. Even then, they stay loyal to my father. Even then, I’m just hisnaïve, lesbian daughter, who can’t be trusted because she has boobs and likes pussy.

“You have more power than you understand, Miss Gallo.” Angie shakes her head.

“And a lot less than you believe, Angela,” I murmur.

She steps forward, grabbing a hidden latch in the wall beside her, and opens a door to the back alley behind the club. “If you betray her, our family, you betray yourself.”

I shrug off the blanket, balling it up and pressing it into her chest with too much force as I stride out the door. “Thanks for the blanket and snacks.”

“See you soon!” Pat calls, waving with a wide grin as they rush to open the car door for me.

Angie rolls her eyes, letting the door fall shut without another word.

I slide across the bench seat. “You have drool on your chin.”

“I don’t.” Pat drops onto the seat beside me and yanks the door shut. “But if I did? Understandable. I’d let that woman slap me and call me bad names.”

I fake gag. “Gross. She’s kind of a bitch.”

“Exactly.” Pat waggles their brows, and I smack their arm.

The car pulls out of the alley and onto the street. My feet ache, strapped into these heels for far too long, and my scalp is tender. My wrists, too. Both of which cause a shiver to ripple down my back, reminding me of Andrea Tamayo fucking me.

Pat nudges me, and I frown. They hand their phone over, a note typed on the screen:Birdwatcher?

I chew my lip and remember my promise to myself before I asked Tamayo to kiss me:Giving in won’t affect our deal or my goal. I can take what I need from her and still do what must be done.And that’s exactly what I must do. Because this is a game of blood and money, and I refuse to be collateral damage. Andrea Tamayo may have fucked me into next week, but I can’t miss a chance to save my family.

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