Page 23 of Deadly Aloha
“Keep me posted,” he ordered. “O‘ahu’s yours, brother. Welcome to the Royal Bastards.”
Chapter Six
We called in Nohea Oni. If there was anyone who could clean up this amount of carnage in a short amount of time, it was Nohea. In the underworld of O‘ahu, he was known as theMano, the shark, because he always could sense where the blood was.
I left Tangaloa and the twins with Nohea. Virgil said he had to get back to check on his dog, but then he would journey to my house. Rory left it undecided if he was going to follow us back.
In the rental SUV, I broke the news to Aftermath and Red that I had accepted the cut from Jameson. Neither looked surprised.
“We told Capone we could head back,” Red told me, looking over his shoulder to where I was sitting in the rear bench seat. I took a dip in the sea to get most of the blood off me, but I was still going to need to scrub myself raw when I got home. “But we can stay if you need us to, Alo-he-he.”
“Aloiki,” I corrected. By this point, I had no idea if they kept mispronouncing my name to fuck with me.
Red shrugged, “That’s what I said.”
I snorted.
Aftermath glanced at me in the rearview mirror. “You certainly have a way about you. You go from fighting like a madman, to fucking like a possessed Casanova, to joining the Royal Bastards all in the span of a few hours. Bit impressive.”
I studied both of the LA brothers for a moment. “Do you ever regret it? I don’t care what your reasons were for joining, but do you ever feel like you locked yourself into a life you no longer want?”
Both shook their heads. “I think I speak for both of us,” Red answered, “when I say that we joined to belong somewhere, but we stayed for family. I’m not talking about our ladies. I’m talkingfamily. Tangaloa is your brother, yes? Because he’s not blood, and not because he was once married to your sister. But because of who he is to you.”
I nodded slowly.
Red punched Aftermath on the shoulder. “I found my brothers. They’re rough around the edges, and none of them would ever fit into ‘regular society’. They’re wounded, and some are tortured, but they’refamily.We would kill for each other, but more importantly, we would die for each other. And as much as it would kill me to be separated from Nadia and my little boy that way, I don’t fear dying, because I know that my brothers have them if something happened to me. There’s never a doubt about that.”
I nodded again, also trying to hide my surprise that Red was able to stop blushing long enough to procreate.
“Why would you agree to join, to create a chapter here, if you’re questioning your decision?” Aftermath asked.
“I’m not,” I said honestly. “I know joining is the right decision to keep my promise to Lu. I need the support of the RBMC, because it’s more than likely that first boat took my people off my island, and I highly doubt they brought them to another island. They’re somewhere out there in the world, andI’ll need all the help I can get to get them back. But I need people, a club, and not all of them will be officers. I need to know how to handle them if they choose to leave.”
“Well, that’s where prospecting comes in,” Red explained. “They need someone within the club to sponsor them. If they’re not a good fit within that year, they’re out.”
I understood that, and already knew that, but I didn’t have a year to allow members to prospect. I needed members, warriors, now. The Bloody Scorpions were already established here, and declaring myself a club did nothing unless I had the people to back it. I patted my pockets for my phone, only to realize that I was in my underwear and my jeans were currently burning in a trashcan. Probably with my phone still in the pocket. Fuck it all.
I was tired enough to not really care. I’d have Tangaloa send out the messages I needed when he got back to the house later. I trusted Kanoa to watch over Lu. The two of them were friends. I’d bring him into the loop tomorrow.
Realizing the path Aftermath was taking us, I said, “Make a left up here.”
“Why?”
I raised an eyebrow. “Unless you don’t want to pick up your wife?”
I’d been on my neighbors’beach before, but never been up to their house. The long, winding drive took us through dense trees and lots of open land that had belonged to my family generations ago. I didn’t feel anything nostalgic when I saw it now. I could only imagine the cost of upkeep on a plot of land this big. My old neighbors had beenhaoleswho used it for a vacation home, buttheir children sold it when their parents died. They’d offered to sell it to me, but I didn’t have that sort of money. Even before Hiro had taken my life savings. I was doing well for myself, but notthatwell.
The large house was three stories, with a massive wraparound porch and a second story balcony in the back. I had always assumed cops weren’t paid that well. Maybe this guy took some bribes? Either that, or he came from family money. Maybe it was his lady who was rich and he was her sugar boy.
Nah, I scratched that idea almost as soon as I had it. The one time I’d actually had a conversation with the guy when we’d exchanged numbers like good little neighbors, I’d gotten a very dominant vibe from him. I couldn’t see him as the ‘kept man’ type.
Though it was still early morning, the front lights were on. A man I recognized as my neighbor stepped out onto his porch as Aftermath stopped the car. I got out so he knew who we were. The gun in his hand was telling.
He nodded once in acknowledgement. Red and Aftermath got out too. Together, the three of us ascended the big staircase up to the front door.
“Dare I ask what happened to your clothes?” the guy asked.
I shrugged, not really caring. “I set them on fire.” He lifted his eyebrows but didn’t otherwise inquire. I liked a man who kept his opinions to himself. I held out my hand. “Mahalofor watching the ladies.”
