Page 90 of Crooked Crows (Boys of Briar Hall 1)

Four against seven.

I didn’t like their odds, but Diesel St. Crow and his sons didn’t seem bothered by them in the slightest. In fact, with the exclusion of Corvus who looked wound tighter than a top, they all looked calmer than they had right to be.

Rook especially. I eyed him suspiciously. The fucker had draped his arm over the seat and his fingers brushed into my hair. Like an idiot, I shied away, moving away from his touch. Unless he was more drunk than he was letting on, there was no way he hadn’t figured out there was something back there that shouldn’t have been. But if he’d known, then why not say something?

Why not call the whole thing off?

Turn around and take care of their unwanted passenger?

It didn’t make any sense to me.

Hedidn’t make any sense to me...and yet, he didn’t have to. I felt like I knew him on a level wheresensedidn’t have to play any part at all.

“Welcome,” Diesel called into the chasm of devoid space between their two gangs. “I think we all know why we’re here, so let’s get to it, shall we?”

I dug out my phone and flicked to the video screen, tapping record.

I hadn’t had a chance to spot the man himself last night at the fight and now, seeing him for the first time, I could see why he was their leader.

Formidable. Tall and thick through the shoulders with hooded eyes that cut like a shard of ice. A tapered beard and strong jaw. But it wasn’t his looks alone that made him exude power. It was something in his stance. A relaxed power. A predator’s grace. The unfeeling, unflinching mask of his expression gave not even an inkling of what he might be thinking beneath it.

If I was a weaker person, I’d cower at the mere sight of him. It was said many had, but he only served to pique my interest further, and I watched him closely, trying to figure him out.

A man across the yard stepped forward, putting himself a few paces ahead of the others. It was clear this was their leader, though he didn’t have the same atmosphere about him as Diesel.

I’d done a bit of digging, well, as much as I could without drawing unwanted attention, to know that his name was Leonard Boniface. Aka Lenny Ace.

Shorter than I thought he would be. Younger, too. With coiffed brown hair and a clean-shaven, gaunt face. In a black t-shirt, bulky with what was unmistakably a bulletproof vest beneath, with two silver-handled pistols proudly strapped over his chest, lying flat against his ribcage.

He was the original Aces leader’s nephew. Took up the position when his uncle died a couple years back undersuspiciouscircumstances. As an outsider, it was easy to see how the death wasn’t an accident. That it was very likely Lenny Ace himself that did it, but his gang brothers didn’t seem to mind. They all stood in a neat row behind him, ready to give their lives for whatever their leader deemed a fair price.

“We heard about your man,” Lenny replied. “Sorry for your loss.”

Diesel cocked his head at Lenny, and a moment of silence stretched on between them. Long enough to make me squirm internally, my pulse picking up speed with anticipation.

“Appreciate it,” Diesel replied finally. “Though I’ll admit we were under the impression you might’ve had a hand in it.”

A tick made Lenny’s jaw jump. From my vantage point set a ways back from mid-field, I could see it easily, but I wondered if Diesel could. If his sons were paying close enough attention because that man was definitelylying.

He may not have pulled the trigger himself, but he knew something. I was certain of it.

I glanced to the Crows, finding Grey and Rook watching intently, studying Lenny and his entourage as closely as Diesel seemed to be. But Corvus...Corvus’ eyes skimmed their faces. Unseeing. His brows were pinched tight and there was a distance in his eyes like he was a million miles from here. It wasn’t what I expected from him and made my insides chill.

What was he doing?

Why wasn’t he paying attention?

“Us?” Lenny asked, a brow lifting. “What made you—”

“The ‘A’ carved into Randy’s chest. Your gang tag. The same one you paint over your territory.”

Lenny’s jaw ticked again.

This wasn’t good.

“Now,” Diesel continued, raising a hand in a calm gesture, not allowing Lenny to rebuke him. “I’m not saying it was by your command, but perhaps one of your men went a little rogue. It happens. You understand, Lenny, that blood must be paid for the life that was taken. Think carefully before you speak again.”

The thinly veiled threat hung in the air like a promise and a thrill went through me, making me shiver despite the warm black pullover I wore.

---