Page 9 of Bastard Prince
That shit would feel fuckin’ incredible.
“I gotta say, this is some serious bullshit, boss.”
I turned, leveling a glare on Tricky Chris where he stood at my elbow.
“What, exactly, is bullshit, Trick?”
“Well,” he drawled, rocking back on his heels and smirking at me, completely unphased by my dark look, “you fuck off to New York and get married and deny us the enjoyment of throwing a bachelor party?” Trick shook his head. “Like, where’s the fun in that?”
“I didn’t realize I needed to run all my life decisions by you,” I responded, arching an eyebrow at him. There was no seriousness in his words; Trick could always be counted on to be the comedian.
“Nah, boss, it’s not like that. But next time, can you give us a heads up, yeah? I woulda got you a stripper or three.” And with that, he clapped me on the back and moved off to join Massimo at their usual table.
Next time.
Not fuckin’ likely.
There would be no next time marriage for me. Even the thought of leaving Francesca, of letting someone else touch her the way I touched her, of some other fucker hearing her moans, made me downright murderous. I had no idea I could be a jealous, possessive bastard when it came to a woman, but there was no denying it; I’d kill anyone who thought they could puttheirhands onmywife.
And that was what this meeting was all about.
I finished my drink just as the back door opened again, admitting the last member of this little board meeting, and I watched as an unusually frantic Lexi stumbled in, her blue hair thrown back in a simple ponytail, her clothes not at all her typical off the wall aesthetic, but instead just a pair of denim shorts and a t-shirt. Shit, she even had on a pair of glasses.
I met Rocco’s eyes across the room, and he looked just as confused as I did.
Lexi walked quickly through the empty bar, lugging a laptop bag to the booth in the back and completely ignoring the dangerous look Lucky threw her way when she began to set up shop at the same table. In less than two minutes from the time she entered the building, Lexi was typing madly on the keyboard while Lucky shrank back from the bright glow of the screen like some kind of vampire.
Although, that might not be far from the truth.
Leaving my glass on the bar for Benny to grab, not that he would have noticed with the way he was staring at Lexi like a lovestruck puppy, I moved across the room to stand next to Rock, then turned to face my people.
“As some of you may have heard,” I said, speaking loud enough to be heard at the back where Lucky and Lexi were lurking, “I got married last week.”
“Talk about a shock,” Trick crowed, bringing a round of barking laughter. I smirked, because no one had been more shocked than I was.
“I agree,” I said when the noise quieted. “However, the fact remains that Francesca is my wife, and as such, a threat to her is a threat to me, and by extension, a threat to all of us.”
I noticed Lucky sitting up straighter in her booth, the switchblade she was previously toying with now still in her hands. Her eyes tracked my movements, watching me like the predator I knew she was.
“Someone comin’ after your woman already, boss?” Trick asked. “How’d you manage that?”
I gave a grim smile. “Actually, my wife came with a fair amount of her own drama, which is not any of your concern. But it appears that her drama has followed her here to our turf.”
“Well, I hope they’re ready to see how we do shit here in Sin City, bitches.”
Trick followed up his statement with a pound to Massimo. Masi didn’t talk as much as Trick—fuck, no one did—but the curl of his lip as he bumped knuckles with Trick told me everything I needed to know about his feelings. He’d be down for whatever shit was coming our way.
Clearing my throat, I waited for the two of them to look my way again, before continuing. “It has been brought to our attention that there is a hit out on my wife.”
“Who’d you hear it from, boss?” Benny asked, leaning his elbows on the bar. I noticed he was now doing everything in his power tonotlook at Lexi.
Fuck me, this reality show love connection bullshit was gonna kill me.
“It doesn’t matter who told me,” I bit out. There was no way in hell I was gonna mention Special Agent Fuckface; that was a headache I didn’t need. “What matters is that we confirm if the threat is credible. Lexi?”
Her blue head popped up from behind her laptop screen, eyes wide and red behind her glasses, like she hadn’t slept. Not that going with no sleep was unusual for Lexi, but I had a feeling she was taking what happened to Francesca last night to heart. None of it was Lexi’s fault, even though I wasn’t gonna tell her otherwise, but I could see in her face she felt responsible and was doing her damnedest to fix shit.
And that was exactly what we needed, so I was happy to let her stew.
