I glance out the door to find the lobby still empty. Looking back at Bronco, I know showing weakness is a mistake. But I feel as if he’s opening the door to a new relationship between us, and I have to be strong enough to look soft.
“When my parents struggled, your home was my sanctuary. I will always do right by you and your family.”
“I know.”
“I know you know, but I still had to say it.”
Bronco offers a loving smile that disappears when Lowell storms into the room.
“I want them dead. Then, we kill their fucking dad.”
“I get that,” I say as he paces around the ping-pong table. “More than anyone, I get that, but killing them is a mistake.”
“Bullshit. Don’t do that calm crap where you work out all the angles until nothing seems like a big deal. What happened today was a big fucking deal.”
Bronco watches Lowell seethe, choosing to remain silent. I’m calling the shots here, and I need to make my future VP stand down and listen.
“Killing them is easy. Going to war with their dad is more difficult. I believe it’s better to have new allies than far-off enemies. If we piss off people up north, we don’t have eyes on them. We won’t know who he might send here.”
“We’ve fought plenty of assholes.”
“Yes, because you had to. Because they wanted Elko, and the club and the Woodlands can’t survive unless we hold this town. But Clive McNamee doesn’t want our territory. He doesn’t even want Monroe and Needy. Clive’s a big man in a little town, and he demands respect. Monroe running off bruised his ego. Then, we took Needy, and he looked like a chump.”
“I don’t fucking care,” Lowell growls.
“Monroe doesn’t want us to go to war with her uncle and cousins.”
“Well, I don’t fucking care about that, either. She doesn’t see them as threats, but they attacked her today. One of them punched her in the head. How are you okay with them living?”
Despite Lowell baiting me, I remain calm. “The Executioners shouldn’t be dragged into a possible war to make us feel better. Isn’t that why the club didn’t help me grab Needy? Because personal business isn’t club business.”
“I want them dead.”
“Because you’re thinking like Monroe’s dad.”
Lowell’s expression shifts and he looks like he needs a hug. He might be thinking back to when Summer was shot by a rival club, and Bronco was forced to choose a retaliation that didn’t lead the Executioners into an ambush. Now, Lowell needs to put his personal feelings aside for the community’s benefit.
“The window will be fixed by late tomorrow,” I tell Bronco while Lowell adjusts to how he can’t walk down the hallway and put bullets in Clive McNamee’s meathead sons. “They might end up being here two nights. I’d suggest we get on a call with their father tomorrow before they leave. Monroe mentioned to him how my uncle was the big shit, and her dad was the second-place winner.”
“Shut up,” Lowell growls at my wording while Bronco smirks.
“Point is he knows she’s my woman, but also that I’m not the one calling the shots for the club. It’ll cement our position if he hears from you two.”
“We’ll hash things out,” Bronco says and nudges Lowell. “We’ll turn this into a positive, so Monroe and her mom won’t need to worry anymore. They can focus on life in Elko.”
Sounding tired, Lowell mumbles, “I still want to punch them in the head.”
“I mean, this is Monroe we’re talking about here,” I say, patting his shoulder. “You know she nailed them in the balls, right?”
Allowing a grudging smile, Lowell sighs. “Yeah, but she shouldn’t have needed to.”
“True, but I do have good news for your rage boner. I asked Brian Clive how he knew to grab Monroe and Needy from Bambi’s. I assumed they didn’t just get lucky. Turns out we have a local boy willing to sell info to outsiders.”
Lowell and Bronco share a look that reminds me of when I was a kid and trouble was brewing for the club. My dad and the club guys wore that specific expression. I didn’t know what it meant specifically, but I understood how the community was getting locked down for safety. Now, I know they were gearing up for violence.
“We’ll give the guy a visit later,” I say, and Bronco gets on his phone to send the other men a coded message about the rat.
Lowell sighs and asks me, “Is she really okay?”
“A few scrapes and bruises. Nothing worse than when she wrestles with Dunning.”
“She’s going to destroy that boy’s ball sack.”
“Monroe’s okay, Lowell,” I say, noticing how he’s grinding his teeth. “I understand how you don’t know her well yet, but I do. The violence didn’t scare her half as much as thinking she might lose Elko.”
“That’s the thing. I don’t know her. Now, assholes are trying to steal her away before I even know what her favorite color is.”
“Brown.”
His dark eyes flash with irritation, thinking I’m lying. “You’re fucking kidding, right?”
“Nope,” I say, patting his shoulder a little too hard. “How about once things settle down, you and Monroe can take an overnight trip. You’ll learn a lot in a short time. By Christmas, you two will be as tight as Bronco is with Desi.”
Lowell recalls how his friend bonded with Lana’s then-nine-year-old daughter. These days, they act as if they’ve always known each other. One day, Lowell will feel the same way with Monroe.
Soon, Bronco decides to take off. He’ll meet us after dark to grab the rat and make an example of him. Lowell lingers at the Overlook, though. When I suggest he stay over in one of the spare apartments if he’s worried, he immediately agrees. Lowell Sinema won’t relax until the McNamee boys are out of the state.
MONROE
After Uncle Clive gets his boys back in one piece, he sends an appreciative message to Conor. No doubt, by then, Brian Clive had explained how a war with the Executioners was a dead end. Now, Uncle Clive wants to be friends.
“Scary men can be very big-hearted when they meet someone scarier,” Conor says to me. “The smart ones, anyway. The dumb ones just go charging into battle and end up dead. That’s natural selection at work.”
Clive’s first attempt at making nice is organizing a quickie divorce between Needy and Francis. She even gets a sweet settlement for her troubles.
“I’m still staying at the Overlook with Amity,” Needy insists when she thinks the club might push her out. “I don’t need my own place. I’ll move in with Monroe once the house is finished.”
Having a second den mother at the Overlook proves tricky. Jena and Needy aren’t fast friends, and some of the club guys are leery about partying at the apartments when my mom is around. It’s not as if she’s checking on any of them, but they still hesitate. Finally, Needy comes to Rooster’s one night, shares a few drinks, and mentions all their dicks. That’s when they settle down and stop acting as if their mom is living at the Overlook.
Months later, Uncle Clive puts on his charm offensive again when he travels to Elko for my wedding. I’m surprisingly stressed about his family walking around my safe place.