Page 25 of Brandishing Betrayals

“Nic is meeting with his cousin tomorrow,” Marcos said, dropping an anvil like it weighed nothing.

“What the fuck, dude?” I growled, leaning forward as if that would help me hear better.

Marcos nodded solemnly, taking a sip of beer before he responded. “Las Serpientes are pressing in hard, even the Knights are feeling the squeeze. Shit’s about to pop off, and we are not in any kind of position to defend ourselves, even with the help of the Knights. We need help.”

“And the fucking Mafia is who were asking for help from?” I growled, getting to my feet. “How the fuck could you make him call them?”

“I didn’t,” Marcos shook his head, not even rising to the bait. “Nico offered. Leo and him are working through shit.”

“And what the fuck will Nic owe the Seratelli’s after this? What’s the fucking cost?” I snapped, pacing behind the two chairs set before the president’s desk.

“We’ll find that tomorrow I assume. Or is it today? Fuck,” Marcos groaned and rubbed his temples.

“He’s going today? Fuck. Are we going with him?” I asked.

Marcos shook his head. “No. He’s on his own. I’m picking up Luke from the pool this afternoon and he’s spending the night at my place tonight.”

I stopped pacing, “Your first overnight?”

“Yeah.” Marcos sighed, rubbing his hand over his buzzed hair.

“Damn bro, congrats,” I said, truly happy for my brother.

Marcos shook his head. “I haven’t seen Luke all week. I’ve given Maya space since last weekend. The sleep over was her idea.”

Rage roiled in my gut. “You should be able to see Luke whenever you want to.”

“Bro, you need to lay off. I have been seeing Luke whenever I want. You heard him at dinner; he’s missing his friends. And I wasn’t the one that fucking choked the shit out of Maya. Yeah, I gave her some fucking space this week and Dagger’s been checking in with her daily. You really fucking hurt her bro. She had to take time off work, time she doesn’t fucking have, because she’s new on the job. She’s stressing about when school starts and Luke gets his usual back to school cold, who’s going to take care of him. She’s got a million appointments to take her parents to, she can’t afford to take time off.”

Guilt stabbed at me again. I shoved my fingers through my messy blond hair and pulled. My fucked up was pretty epic this time.

“You don’t seem to get it, brother,” Marcos said as he stood up. “My name isn’t on the birth certificate. I can’t sue for custody. No judge in their right mind would grant me any kind of rightsbased on my felony record, let alone my current title of president of a criminal organization.”

I scoffed, I hated that affiliation when anyone thought of the MC, regardless if it was true or not. I opened my mouth to argue my point, but quickly shut it when I saw the look on Marcos’s face. “You shouldn’t have to live in fear of her taking him from you.”

“I wasn’t afraid of that, until you fucking hurt her!” Marcos exploded rounding the desk and stomping toward me. He got right in my face as he spoke. “She’s made it pretty fucking clear, that she’ll do whatever is in Luke’s best interest, and if she thinks in its Luke best interest to stay the fuck away from us? From me? You better believe I’m gonna beat your fucking ass again. I’m fucking serious, brother. Stay the fuck away from her. And if you do run into her, you keep your damn mouth shut.”

“Alright,” I agreed immediately. “Fuck.”

Marcos shook his head and turned away; he grabbed his beer off the desk chugged it back.

“For what it’s worth man, I am sorry. I’ve been making myself sick over hurting her,” I admitted, my voice low.

“Yeah. Me too,” Marcos mumbled.

Nico

Iranmyhanddownthe zipper of my leather cut, wondering—not for the first time that day—if I should take it off and meet my cousin in plain clothes. I haven’t seen my cousin Leonardo in ten years, but I knew for a fact that Leonardo would be dressed in a suit, the made-men always wore suits.

I looked around the outside of the fancy as fuck restaurant where I was told to wait and narrowed my eyes. This wasn’t my scene. I steeled my spine and walked into the building, holding the door open for an older Italian couple, as they walked out withtheir boxed-up leftovers in hand. Murmuring a brief greeting, I headed into the restaurant after they passed.

The restaurant was busy inside. The hostess looked up with a cheery smile that immediately froze in place as she took in my attire. “Can I help you?”

“Nicolai Gage, I have an appointment.”

The woman immediately looked down at her podium and frowned. She pulled a yellow sticky note off the reservation book and looked up. “Yes. I see. Right this way.” She nodded once, then turned toward the dining room, not bothering to grab a menu.

It didn’t matter, I didn’t think I’d be eating anyways. I followed her as she wound her way through the busy restaurant, ignoring the eyes of the diners as they passed by. She led me through the main dining room to a hallway in the back. We walked down the hall, past the bathrooms and the kitchen and two private dining rooms, to an office tucked around a corner.

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