Page 87 of Brandishing Beginnings

What would he do if he found out I told them about the mayor? As far as I knew, my guys had no idea what I had witnessed. What would happen if they found out Dax was threatening me?

They would go after him. Harder than they already were now.

And he would kill my guys.

No, I decided. I would not be telling my men. I could only pray that this skirmish with Las Serpientes would be the last one. They got their pay back for their missing shipment and raided warehouse. That was it, right?

I paced the empty living room, deep in thought.

Marcos, Jason, and Nico had gone to the clubhouse, despite my pleading that they stay home. Apparently two days home was enough to heal from gunshot wounds.

I shook my head. I couldn’t stay home. I had too much restless energy. It was a Friday night, so I pulled out my phone and made a call. It had been too long since I last saw my friends Arturo and Karma and the whole gang anyways.

Karma answered on the second ring, loud music pumping through the phone. “Yo, Maya!” she yelled.

I laughed and wiped away tears that had immediately welled up in my eyes at the sound of my friend’s voice. “Hey girl! It’s been too long!”

“Fuck yeah, it has! What are you doing tonight? Come on through!”

Again, I laughed. “Hell yeah, that sounds great! Give me an hour, and I’ll be out that way!”

“Right on!”

Smiling and suddenly excited, I hung up the phone and headed for the stairs. I needed to change my clothes and order a ride share. There was no way I would be driving tonight. I’d be breaking one of the cardinal rules in my relationship, but I found that I couldn’t bring myself to care.

The party blazed on around us, just like old times as I sat in an Adirondak chair in front of the roaring fire. Music pounded from speakers on the back deck and people milled about the huge yard. Next to me, both Karma and Stephanie were smiling and sipping drinks as Arturo told a riveting tale of an architect design fail that had happened on the job, that was funny enough with how Arturo told stories.

Kyle and Travis were manning a beer pong table on the deck and shouts could be heard as they closed in on their opponents.

It felt like old times. Only person missing was Kara. Well, and Terri and Hunter, but I hadn’t talked to them in the last two years. Terri was abroad traveling most of the time and Hunter moved out west for med school.

My heart clenched at the thought of my best friend. Phone calls had grown more distant in the two years since Kara had moved to Harvard. Kara’s relationship with Marcos was rocky, and it made it difficult for Kara to speak to me some days. There was too much emotion there.

Just like it was hard for me to constantly lie to Kara when we spoke. There was too much I couldn’t tell her about: the club, the guys being shot, the threats and stalking. It was all just too much.

I forced myself not to think about it all. I downed the rest of my drink and laughed loudly at Arturo’s story. This, I could handle. My friends, this party, this night; I could handle this.

Knowing what would be waiting for me when I finally went home? That was a problem for another time. My phone had started blowing up about an hour ago. It was going on one a.m. so that was typical for my men.

I hadn’t texted them that I was leaving. I left a post it note on the counter that I was going out with friends. They didn’t need to know I went to Karma and Arturo’s. This was my little slice of heaven—my safe space from it all.

I would allow myself to have this for tonight, and tomorrow I would face the consequences of my actions… namely the ride share I would be taking while I was fucking wasted in a couple hours.

It was going on three-thirty in the morning when the car pulled down the long driveway of our rental house. I was struggling to stay awake in the back seat. In the back of my mind, I realized how dangerous of a decision this had been, but I was home safely now and that’s all that mattered.

I was a little surprised that my men didn’t come running out of the house the second the car pulled up, though. I could see all the lights on in the house. They were clearly still awake.

Dread settled into my gut as I climbed from the back of the car. I mumbled something to the driver, before I stumbled into the house.

The house was quiet. Utterly quiet. Though every light blazed on, not a sound could be heard. “Fuck,” I muttered to myself. The silence made my struggles all the more defending as I fumbled with the knee-high boots I was wearing.

Why the hell would they leave all the lights on, if they had gone to bed?

I started shutting the kitchen lights off as I headed out of the room, then the dining room. When I got to the living room, Ijumped back in fright, letting out a high pitch shriek as I found all three of my guys sitting on the couch.

Jason, Marcos, and Nico were lined up on the sectional, elbows on their knees and heads bowed as they waited for me to come home. All three heads slowly raised to meet my gaze as they took me in.

“Fuck,” I muttered again. I could feel their disappointment radiating off them in waves, the heaviness of it weighing on their shoulders. My own shoulders slumped upon taking in their disappointment. “I’m sorr—”

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