Page 55 of Marcus: Sins of the Father

I roll my eyes, but Marcus answers, amusement ringing through his voice.

“It’s mostly like a brotherhood. Like a chosen family. And no, I have never been to jail.”

“All right, you passed the first test.”

Marcus laughs out loud, and the sound has me smiling. “Good to know.”

“So, how’d you two meet?” he asks.

“Well, Izzy here was keying the car next to mine when I pulled into high school one morning.”

“What?” Marcus chuckles.

“Yeah, well, David shouldn’t have made out with Sophia under the bleachers while we were still together. Brandy never said a word and actually gave me an alibi, claiming we drove together and walked in together. I knew in that moment she was my ride-or-die friend, and we’ve been besties ever since.”

“Ride-or-die friend?” Marcus questions.

“Yeah, the kind who shows up at your house with a shovel after you tell her you just killed somebody,” I say.

“Yeah, and I’m hers. So, you better do her right.” She stares him down.

Marcus throws his hands up. “I got it. Behave or I end up in a body bag. Message received.”

Izzy and tilts her head in my direction. “He listens well. I like him better than your last few boyfriends.”

“Now that’s something I want to hear about,” Marcus admits.

“I think I’d rather not talk about that,” I chirp.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t want to talk about those losers either,” Izzy concedes.

“Well, to tell you the truth, there’s really only one I’m interested in hearing about.” Marcus’s eyes zero in on Holt across the room.

Izzy follows his gaze. “Ah, Holt. Well, he definitely flung his status and wealth around. Bought Brandy everything she wanted and everything she didn’t. But he tends to lack…” She snaps her fingers like she can’t recall the word. “What do you call it? Oh yeah, a heart.”

“That’s not true. We just weren’t the right fit,” I defend. “Besides, your boyfriends were no better. Remember that one birthday, your boyfriend showed up late and forgot to get you a present?”

“That reminds me. I have a gift for you in the car. Let me go grab it.” Marcus turns and is just out of earshot when Izzy starts.

“Oh, a gift.” She rubs her hands together excitedly. “I can’t wait to see what he got you.”

“He shouldn’t have gotten me anything,” I mumble.

***

Marcus—

As I walk to the truck, my phone starts to vibrate. Glancing down, I see it’s the club. “Hey, what’s up?”

“We’ve had some sightings of Death Heads again,” Crash responds.

“Shit, really?”

“Yeah, nothing concrete yet. But I wanted to make sure you were on alert and answering your phone.”

I glance around, making sure no one is eavesdropping.

“Where were the Death Heads spotted? Same area we had our run in?”

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