Ride or Die (Rejects Paradise 4)

“That’s not a compliment,” I tell him.

“Wasn’t meant to be,” he says. “Now, follow me. It seems we have a few things to discuss.”

Russo turns his back and almost on queue twenty men follow him, one of them being the guy, Snake, who had held his gun to my head in that damn alleyway. I’m shoved in the back, and as I go to curse out the fucker who dared touch me, I find the man who had saved me, the man with the kind eyes. “Just walk,” he grunts in my ear, pushing me along.

I do as I’m told, and I follow the group of men into some kind of meeting room. There’s a massive table, but no one seems to stand behind it, they just hover, waiting to hear what needs to be said.

Russo clears his throat once the last of his men have entered the room. The door is closed for privacy, though I have a feeling that privacy is something that I won’t get much of around here. “This is Oceania Munroe, Big Lou’s kid. She’s a—”

“A fucking Widow, that’s what she is,” one of his men spits, staring at me with hate in his eyes. “I’ve seen her with those pricks. She’s their little plaything. Why the fuck is she here? She’s not our problem. You’re just bringing more bullshit to our door.”

Russo eyes his man and the look sends chills sweeping down my spine. He takes his gun and gently lays it on the table in front of him. “Did I ask for your input?”

The guy clenches his jaw, keeping his eyes on his leader. “No, boss.”

“The next time you question me, you better be prepared to fight for it. Is that understood?”

The guy nods and takes a hesitant step back, folding into the line with the other men surrounding him, trying to hide away like a fucking pussy.

“As I was saying,” Russo continues. “Oceania has come to us for help. Her father was my second, and we owe it to him to hear her out. Oceania is family. She bears our mark and has vowed to honor our mark. So you will give her the respect she is due.”

Russo falls silent and all eyes look to me, waiting expectantly for me to come forward. “Oh, umm … am I supposed to make some kind of speech?” I question, having absolutely no idea what’s expected of me right now.

Russo raises an expectant brow, daring me to get on with it, so I shrug my shoulders and do just that. “Alright then,” I say, glancing around at the twenty or so men. “As a woman, I feel it’s my duty to educate you all on the importance of washing between your ass crack and under your balls. It’s imperative. You can’t just let the water rush over it and expect it to be clean. I can not stress this enough. The two in one shampoo and body wash is not okay. It does not get the job done. Believe me, chicks do not dig a man with a stanky ass.”

A hand slams down on the table, making me jump. “Do you think this is a joke?” Russo demands as the Wolves all seem to creep in closer, each and every one of them with a disgruntled scowl on their faces, all except my friendly guy who looks to be hiding a smirk.

“Oh,” I say, sucking in a breath. “So, is this not a little ‘get to know the new chick’ thing?”

“You have two seconds to explain why you’re here before I'm forced to get the information out of you.”

I let out a heavy sigh and raise my chin, ready to get it over and done with. “Eight months ago, Dominic Garcia killed my father, and then he killed my boyfriend’s father as well. He’s done all sorts of unspeakable things toward me, and yes, up until a few days ago, I was loyal to Nic. He’s been my best friend for years but killing my father? He needs to pay. I won’t let him get away with it, and as of a few days ago, I turned my back on him.”

Snake scoffs from across the room. “And I’m assuming you want us to do your dirty work?”

I scowl at him, unable to even pretend to be happy that I'm in this room. “Don’t act as though you guys haven’t been searching for my father’s killer too. If you knew it was Nic, you would have gone after him ages ago. My father was a Wolf and not just any Wolf, but your second in command. That’s gotta mean something.” I take a breath and look around until I come back to Russo. “This morning, I found out that I was pregnant with my rapist’s baby, and no, I have absolutely no fucking idea what I plan to do about that. But, I know that if I decide to go ahead with this pregnancy, I need to have this finished. I will not bring a child into this world that will be a target for Nic.”