Dead Man Walking (The Fallen Men 6)

A growl ripped from my throat before I could think to curb the impulse, and suddenly, I was lunging three steps across the room to get in the large man’s face. “Like fuckin’ hell you will. I’m the scariest motherfucker in this place. If it’s good for anythin’, it’s this.”

“Maybe you’re too invested,” King suggested mildly. “Never seen you lose your shit at a brother like this.”

My eyebrow curved high on my forehead. “Oh? You think this is losing my shit, do ya?”

Cleo shivered behind her dad, Axe-Man, and moved closer to him, prompting a grim smile to cross my face.

I wanted to pound my chest, bare my teeth, and flourish my knives to prove to them all just how motherfucking dangerous I was. If something evil wanted Bea, they’d have to get through me first, and I doubted they would expect someone who could match the depth of their moral depravity blow for blow.

“Priest,” Bea said softly, moving toward me with her hand extended.

I held still, vibrating like a plucked cord with tension as she placed that hand on my chest. It made me realize I was barely breathing and hardly blinking. The need to protect had brought the animal out in the man. I clamped my hand down on hers over my sternum and bared my teeth at her.

She smiled softly back at me. “We don’t even know for sure what’s happening, right now. Let’s assume it’s less about me and more about Brenda Walsh.”

“There was a Bible verse,” Cressida added. “Inside the box.”

The energy between the brothers ramped higher, testosterone leaking into the room like gas.

“Like the woman fed to the wolves,” Curtains remembered bleakly. “Up on the rez.”

“What?” Loulou asked, turning in Z’s arms to stare up at his troubled face. “There was another murder like this one?”

He nodded grimly, stroking his beard as he did when he was deep in thought. “Yeah, the leader of the T-Squad sent word about it today. Happened last week, but they’ve kept it quiet.”

“Could this be Ventura?” Axe-Man wondered aloud. It was weird to see him holding his daughter delicately, strange to think a man I’d once watched throw an axe ten metres straight into an enemy’s forehead care for someone more vulnerable than himself. It gave me pause because it begged the question, if Axe-Man could do that, could I too?

“He has come at us from all angles before,” Bat agreed. “But this doesn’t have his signature on it. I say we call Dane in on this. He spent years profiling in the military, who better to help us out now?”

“He ain’t a part’a the club,” Skell muttered.

“Don’t be a racist asshole,” Nova snapped, wrapping an arm around Lila’s waist so she wouldn’t physically defend her brother. “He’s a good man. I say, he wants a place in the club, he’s the kinda man we should take.”

“He’s got skills,” Curtains agreed, almost eagerly because he was a genius, and talent was his turn-on. “We could definitely use that.”

“He’s also got a good heart,” Lila drawled too mildly. “And he could use the brotherhood. He’s…he’s been struggling since he got back from the Middle East.”

“He starts answerin’ some questions ’bout what the hell he actually did over there, I’m open to it,” Zeus stated. “But that’s not up for discussion right now. We’re talkin’ ’bout a woman killer ’ere. Let’s stay focused.”

“In my experience with Javier,” Lila piped up, the clear authority because for some reason, the bastard had staved off murdering her when he had the chance once. “He wouldn’t hide behind religious bullshit.”

Bea shifted, and I realized she was still holding that damn arm. My hands clamped down on her hips to turn her toward the pool table at our left, and she took the hint, gently depositing it on the felt as if it were a bomb. I didn’t take my hands away when she was done. They felt good in the subtle angle of her torso arrowing into her hips. Almost as good as the feel of a blade handle against my palm.

“Don’t cross it out yet,” Zeus said, stepping forward to gently clamp a warning hand on my shoulder. “Let’s wait until Lion gets here to jump to any conclusions.”

“Religious bullshit?” Speak of the devil. Lion held the door to the clubhouse open for Lysander Garrison, Cressida’s somewhat estranged brother.

The atmosphere went flat like old soda.

“What’s he doing here?” Zeus demanded.

Lion shot him a dispassionate look as he walked toward us and stopped at Bea, checking her over visually. When he reached out to touch her, I snapped my teeth at him. He rolled his eyes but didn’t try to put a hand on her again.

“Sander is my guy. He’s workin’ for me now.”

“Say the fuck what?” Boner asked, eyebrows raised. “You trust that motherfucker?”