“Even better, Frankie has ties to Bartolli,” Jason told them. “His son is married to Fergus Bartolli’s niece.”
“So Frankie could have told Bartolli he was supplying a US Senator with young girls, Bartolli decides to blackmail the senator, uses us to do it so it doesn’t get back to him and Frankie isn’t identified as the leak,” Duke surmised.
“That’s what we’re thinking.”
“Think we can get to Frankie?” Ink asked.
“I’ll talk to Grady. Think he knows Frankie,” Spike said quietly. “I’ll see if I can get a meet set up.”
Reyes nodded. “Sooner rather than later. Meanwhile, let’s keep on this bastard. This could mean a new girl is coming in. It’s our chance to nail him.”
They all nodded and started to leave. “Duke, wait a minute,” Reyes called out.
Duke stilled, giving him an impatient look. He needed to get back to Sunny.
“I’ve got her,” Ink said quietly.
Duke gave him a nod of thanks and waited until the door was shut to speak. “What’s up?”
“You told Sunny about any of this?”
He ran his hand over his hair. He felt torn about this. Reyes wanted this kept quiet between the six of them. There were still men in the club who had been loyal to Smiley and weren’t entirely loyal to Reyes. He got it. But at the same time, he didn’t like keeping things from Sunny.
“Not yet,” he told him.
Reyes gave a sharp nod. “Figured as much. You should tell her.”
Duke raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Wasn’t expecting you to say that.”
“Haven’t been around the two of you much, but the others have. And I see the way you are when you talk about her. You don’t even like her out of your sight.”
“She was attacked today.” But he nodded. He didn’t like her out of his sight.
“You’re in deep. We know that. The Fox might know it too. She deserves to know what’s going on so she can be careful.”
“I’m watching her closely.” Except he hadn’t today. “You think he could target her?”
“Not saying that. We haven’t heard from him in a while. No way of knowing if he’s even still around. But I know if she was mine, I’d want her to be informed. And I’d want her protected. Probably more than she’d be comfortable with.” Reyes smiled darkly. Duke knew the other man’s need for control ran even deeper than his. Any woman of his would be suffocated in his protection. Which might be why he was single. It would take a special woman to understand he wasn’t being an asshole, that he needed it.
Duke got it, because he had some of that inside him. “I don’t think I can do surveillance on the senator anymore.”
Reyes nodded. “Think that’s wise. Rest of us are single. But we need to keep Sunny safe. Tell her what you need to and let us know if you need our help.”
This is what he’d been searching for when he’d first joined the Iron Shadows. Someone to have his back and to know he’d always have theirs.
“Yeah. Thanks, man.”
“It doesn’t even need to be said,” Reyes replied. Something dark filled his face. “She really ran towards the asshole with a knife?”
“She didn’t realize he had a knife, but yeah.”
Reyes shook his head. “I take it she won’t be sitting well tomorrow.”
“Or maybe for the rest of the week,” Duke said darkly.
“Good,” Reyes grunted, turning back to his laptop.
Duke was used to his abruptness and he had somewhere else he wanted to be anyway.