I stormed out of the room, blood pumping into my cock.
“What?” I barked from the top of the stairs.
German stared up at me. “Maher’s guys are outside.”
That sent a jolt through me. “How many?”
“Three.”
“Maher with them?”
“No. I think they’re here to talk.”
“I doubt that very much. Don’t move, wait a second.” I went back to my room, pausing only to glance back at Cara. She had her back turned to me and she was tying up the lingerie again.
There was no way she’d still be in that when this was all over. I had my chance, but I felt the moment blow away in the breeze as I went into my nightstand and shoved the gun I kept there into the waistband of my pants. I had to get my head in this or else I might not walk away alive.
German was grim when I got back downstairs. “They’re just standing across the street, waiting.”
I looked out the front window. Sure enough, three guys were perched on the stoop directly opposite mine. I recognized all three—Maher’s guys, all right. The one in the middle was Sully, Maher’s second-in-command. That meant this was serious.
“Come on,” I said, opening the door. “Let’s go see what they want.”
Sully stood as we approached. He was a tall man, square chin, always smiling, but never happy. He wore baggy jeans and a black t-shirt. His two goons were pale redheads, one skinny and one bulky and muscular. I guessed all three were packing, but I couldn’t say for sure.
German lingered a few feet behind me. I stopped halfway to the stoop and crossed my arms.
“What are you doing here, Sully?”
“Maher sent me to talk.” He gave me a big grin, his eyes shining. “He knew if he came himself, you’d probably come out shooting.”
“Maher’s not usually one for talk.”
Sully barked a laugh. “True, true. I guess that’s why I’m here instead.”
“What do you want?”
“The girl, obviously.” He shrugged a little. “You know how this goes. Every crew on the street’s hunting her right now, but we’re the only ones that know exactly which spot you’ve got her stashed. Maher’s in a generous mood so he sent me to negotiate terms.”
“I’m not negotiating. The girl’s with me and that’s all I’ve got to say.”
“We’ll split the reward,” Sully said. “Five grand each. Five’s not bad for doing almost no work, you know what I mean?” His two goons both laughed.
I didn’t smile. “If I wanted money, I’d turn the girl in myself. The way it stands, she’s mine, and that’s the end of it.”
Sully clucked his tongue. German tensed. I knew he didn’t like that condescending shit. I held a hand out to make sure he didn’t do something stupid. Sully noticed and smirked.
“This is why Maher doesn’t negotiate with you, Luke. You fucking Russians, all you know is fighting and vodka.”
“And you potato-eating Irish shits only know getting black-out drunk on whiskey and dying in famines.” I put a hand on my gun. “Why don’t you head back to Maher and tell him I’m not interested.”
“The problem is, I can’t go back with that answer.” Sully seemed regretful. “Maher won’t like it. You know what I mean?”
I moved first. The goon on the right, the bulky one with more shoulders than neck, was already reaching for a gun. I came at him hard, whipping my piece out and smashing him in the face like a club. Blood splattered from his mouth and his gun slipped from his fingers and went clattering to the ground.
I didn’t want a firefight. I could kill these idiots here and now but that’d blow my cover. I liked this house and I didn’t want to have to drag Cara all over the city—although it looked increasingly likely that I’d have to move sooner rather than later, considering Maher knew where we were.
Didn’t matter though. German came next and tackled the skinny guy to the stoop. German slammed his head into the skinny guy’s nose with a lovely crunch and looked over at me, grinning with blood dripping down into his eyes.
Sully punched me in the face. I tried to dance back but tripped on the bulky guy’s legs. Sully kept coming, hitting me a few more times, and I felt a cut open on my forehead, blood dripping down my cheek. I managed to get my hands up, blocked a punch, and came in low, slamming my shoulder hard into Sully’s gut.
We toppled onto the ground. I was bigger and stronger than Sully and had the advantage. I managed to wrestle him down before smashing my elbow into his face twice. German appeared then and kicked Sully in the ribs as I climbed back, breathing hard.
Sully groaned, curling up on himself.
“Tell Maher I’m not interested.” I spit blood onto the sidewalk. “And next time you come here, I’ll shoot instead of fight.”