Page 82 of Hart of Vengeance
Duke strutted in. His light-brown hair was slicked back, his jaw was clean-shaven, and he was wearing his normal scowl. He headed for the kitchen, loosening his tie.
I balled my hands into fists as I stalked toward him. “Did you want me to die? Tito was about to put a bullet in my head, man.” Steam filtered out of my nose.
Dillon rushed up and blocked me. “Fighting will get us nowhere.”
Duke opened the fridge door. “Tito wasn’t going to kill you. He’s bragging that you’re going to get him a spot in my organization, though.” He punctuated the word “my.”
Fucking Tito.
Growling, I went over to the island.
Dillon trailed, staying close, making sure I didn’t lash out at our brother. I wanted to, but Dillon was right as always. Fighting only led to bloodshed and two pissed off brothers, and we needed to figure out how to deal with Tito. Then Duke and I could work out our differences.
Duke carried three bottles of beer over and set them on the marble counter. “Denim, how are you going to do that?” He sounded genuinely curious, not condescending or patronizing.
Dillon slid onto a stool, taking a beer.
“If we don’t give the fucker what he wants, hewillkill me.”
Duke twisted the cap off his bottle. “None of my associates want to deal with Tito Alvarez.”
I sat next to Dillon. “They don’t have to.” I held up my hand before he cut me off. “Hear me out. The FBI has a hard-on for you. They think that because I’m your brother, you’ll divulge your business dealings about gun trafficking or whatever it is you’re doing.”
Duke sipped on his beer. His face was expressionless. He just sat attentive and quiet as a mouse, which was kind of unnerving. He reminded me of our old man, who would always listen to our excuses when we did something wrong. Then after we’d finished talking, our old man would strike with a belt, his hand, or a beer bottle. Whatever he had close by was what he’d used to beat us.
“I informed Agent Travers earlier that I would get him someone other than you. What if we gave them Tito? Tito mentioned he can throw you a big bone to gain your trust. Let’s meet with him and hear what he has to say. Then we can formulate a plan from there.”
I gave myself a mental high five. For one, Duke wasn’t kicking us out or yelling. He wasn’t being an ass, and he seemed like the Duke I knew before I’d gone to prison.
Duke pulled off his tie, nodding. “I would like nothing more than to get that bastard out of my way and my life.”
I would second that. Jade and I didn’t need to be running forever and always looking over our shoulders.
Duke set his beer down. “I need to get out of this suit. Then we can talk through some scenarios and set up a meeting.”
That had seemed too easy.
“Cool,” I said. “Agent Travers gave me a week. We need to act fast. Otherwise, the offer to clear my record vanishes.” I sighed. “Oh, and he mentioned hemightarrest you. I suspect he was just trying to get a rise out of me, though.”
Duke didn’t flinch. “He can’t. He doesn’t have shit on me.”
“Are you sure?” Dillon asked. “I would hate to see my other brother go to prison. That shit is getting old.”
Amen to that.
“The Feds could raid me now, and they won’t find a fucking thing. If they think they have something, then the most damage they could do is hold me for questioning.” Duke spoke every word with confidence.
The Feds wouldn’t arrest Duke unless they had something concrete. If he wasn’t worried, I wasn’t either. Besides, I had my own shit to deal with, and knowing Travers, he was probably pissed he had no control over me. So he’d thrown out an idle threat to see if I would bite.
Duke unbuttoned his shirt. “Denim, it’s best if you stay out of this. I can handle Tito. You’ve been through enough.”
My heart tripped at his last line. He did care. It was the perfect opportunity to ask him why he hadn’t visited me in prison, but I didn’t want to get off track, and part of me knew when I finally got him to tell me, I wasn’t going to like his answer.
“I need to be involved. If things go south, he’s coming after me, Jade, and those I love.” It was up to me to make sure I protected Jade.
Dillon took a swig of beer and played his ace card. “That means Grace, bro.” His tone was soft, calm, and packed a wicked punch.
Duke went ramrod straight and paled for a mere second before he banked his emotions. It was good to see him react even if it was fleeting.
