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“I guess that’s the answer then,” Chrissy agreed. She put her head against his chest, making his heart swell. Atop her head his chin rested, and for a moment he simply breathed in the sweet scent of her. This was her, the woman of his dreams, and she’d agreed to marry him. Not right away. He understood that. Besides, there was a piece of business that needed attention first.
A rattling of keys at the door brought Saks’ head up and Luke walked in. “Saks, whose car—?”
He stopped short and stared at Saks and Chrissy.
“Hi, Luke,” Saks said. He felt her attempts at pulling away, but a single loop of his arm kept her at bay.
“What’s going on?”
“Chrissy and I were discussing some things.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Hi, Luke,” Chrissy greeted. “Nice clubhouse.”
“Thanks,” Luke replied. He still eyed Chrissy, as if he was trying to figure out why she was in the clubhouse. Luke rarely got riled about anything, but he wasn’t happy with how the Serafini treated Saks.
Saks appreciated that Luke was trying to look out for him. But his boss and friend was going to have to accept that Chrissy was a part of his life now.
“Do you need anything?” Saks asked.
“I was just trying to figure out whose car that was. And, to tell you that you don’t have to rush into the shop this morning.”
“Oh, good. I was getting ready to take Chrissy to breakfast.”
“Actually, Saks, I should get to the hospital and check on Dad.”
“Okay, baby,” he said. “Call me later and I’ll take you to dinner instead.”
“Sure thing,” Chrissy agreed. “I’ll go get my purse.”
Chrissy took quick steps to Saks’ room. Luke gave her skeptical glance. She returned with her shoes on now and, clutching her purse, gave Saks a kiss on the cheek.
“See you later, baby.”
“’Bye.”
“’Bye, Luke.” When she was out the door, Luke turned to Saks again.
“What the fuck?” Luke demanded. “Haven’t you had enough from that chick?”
“That chick is my fiancée, Luke.”
Shock rolled over Luke’s face. “What?”
“I asked her last night. I’m not letting her get away again.”
“Doesn't her family hate you?”
“They might. But they’ll have to adjust.”
“And if they don’t?”
“Then we’ll go somewhere else.”
“You’re serious about this,” Luke realized.
“She’s it for me,” Saks replied. “Besides, it’s your fault.”
“Mine?”
“Yeah. If you didn’t make married life so attractive, I wouldn’t have considered it.”
“Don’t blame your peculiarities on me,” Luke said. “I knew a good thing when I saw it.”
“So do I. But I need your help with something.”
“Don’t ask me to help you pick out a ring.”
“No, I wouldn’t do that to you.”
“Good.”
“I need to talk to Pez.”
“What?”
“She wants this matter cleared up of who got me shot.”
“I don’t blame her. Who wants to start married life looking over their shoulder?”
“Exactly. So, I have to talk to him. But I figure I need backup.”
“I can’t. There’s a little matter of that restraining order.”
“Yeah. I remember.”
“But we’ll talk to Okie.”
Luke pulled out his cell phone and set it to speaker. The gruff voice of Oakland Walker, president of the Hades Spawn, rumbled over the connection.
“Who the hell is this?” his voice grumbled sleepily. “It’s six-thirty in the morning.”
“I know how early it is. And it’s Luke. Listen, Saks and I want to talk to you about something. Club business.”
“Urgent?” Okie asked.
“No. But important.”
“Meet me at the diner, then. I ought to get breakfast out of you after getting woke before the sun.”
“Oakie, the sun is shining just fine. But we’ll meet you there in fifteen.”
Luke powered off the call. “There. Let’s go. I’ll drive.”
They’d just settled into the diner when Okie walked in. He walked with a limp to the table, and sat down heavily on the booth’s bench as if he couldn’t bear standing.
“You okay, Okie?” Saks queried.
“Yeah,” he said in a voice all sand and gravel. “What do you boys want?”
The waitress interrupted by pouring coffee and taking their orders. Okie looked impatient the entire time.
“So?” he demanded the moment the woman was gone.
Saks figured there wasn’t any beating around the bush. “I want to talk to Pez,”
“Why concern yourself with that trash?” Okie poured a bunch of sugar into his coffee.
“I need to find out who sent those guys after me.”
“You do, huh? What the fuck? Why?”
“It will smooth things over with the Serafini family.”
Okie’s upper lip turned up in a sneer while he stirred his coffee. “I’m still not tracking why,” he said.
“He’s going to marry Pandolfo Serafini’s granddaughter,” Luke interjected.
Okie’s brow arched high. “You looking to get in good with that scum?”
Saks stood, pushing his chair backward. He threw his napkin onto the table. “You know what? I’ll take care of this myself.”
“Saks,” Luke said sternly. “Sit down. Okie, don’t dis the man’s future in-laws. We’re not marrying into them, he is.”
“We might as well be. Look at all that crap that went down because of your uncle. Things haven’t been right since. Bad enough Saks is part of the Rocco family, which we didn’t know when we patched him in. Now he wants to join up with the Serafini?”
“Not our call,” Luke told him. “What Saks is looking for is backup to talk to a Rojo. Can we give him that or what?”
“Forget it, Luke,” Saks muttered.
Luke held his hand up. “No. I won’t. What is all that crap we talk about when we patch in, Oakie? Brotherhood? We got your back? We’re here when you need us? Eh? We don’t get to choose what battles we don’t fight when it comes to our brothers. Think about it, Okie. Because you’re right. Things have been shitty for the past year, because of things that you did. This is a club matter, Okie, and we need to stand behind Saks, and Hawk, too.”
Saks pushed back in his chair, overwhelmed by Luke’s outburst. His boss was usually a soft-spoken man, but he was right. Okie had kicked Luke out of the club and things hadn’t been the same since. Luke had been taken back in, but their formerly-close relationship was in shambles.
The waitress brought their orders, but Saks pushed his away. What was supposed to be an easy discussion had turned into a shit-storm that left his eggs looking less appetizing by the second. “Luke, we should go.”
“No. Not until I get an answer from Okie.”
“You want it? I can’t give you what you want. These people caused us trouble even before I got out of prison. Hell, it’s probably because of me that Pez has been all over us. The guy who’s the boss of all of them promised to make my life hell, and it seems like he has.”
“What?” Luke said. “I thought you and Little Ricky were buddies.”
“There’s no such thing as friends in the joint, Luke. Just people who will or won’t shiv ya. And Little Ricky isn’t the latter. Not with anyone. No, you can be sure that he sent Pez to harass the Spawn. Looking to use us as a shield for their activities. That would be the way he thinks. Give the police someone else to investigate.” He gave Luke a pointed glance. “You have Rob Gibson, FBI, working in your shop as if he isn’t collecting a government paycheck, and Pepper, ex-DEA, holding onto his membership in the Spawn. And why do you think that is? Eh? Because he loves us so much? No. Both of them are waiting for one of the four powder kegs we’re sitting on to explode.”
Okie reached for the jelly caddy and pulled out four packets and lined them up. He pointed to the first one.
“We got here your uncle, Luke. Don’t think for a minute he’s given up on you taking over his criminal enterprise. Family counts big with him. And you’re all he has left.”
Saks watched Luke stare glumly at that jelly packet. Luke had hoped for years his uncle would leave him alone, but considering the man’s money and the stakes for his drug-running business, it wasn’t a sure bet.
“Consider the Roccos. They’ve adopted Luke into their little family because of you, Saks. And the Roccos keep a low profile, which they need to keep raking in their profits. But they’re freaked out as hell that Rob Gibson is working in your shop, Luke. What would they give to put Gibson off the scent, eh? Maybe they don’t mind Saks getting roughed up.”
“Hey,” Saks protested. “My family doesn’t play that way,”
“What do you know, Parks, eh? You turn a blind eye to their business.”
“Then there’s the Serafini. They want to take the whole pie for themselves. If they can knock the Roccos down, they’ll do it. How to do it without getting the big bosses in New York upset is another matter. So perhaps they don’t mind hiring a couple goons to rough you up to force the Roccos’ hand. But the Roccos don’t have much muscle these days. They’re mostly a bunch of old men, and what are they going to do? The Serafini keep recruitment going to bring in young blood. So, who do you think will win in a turf war?”
Saks shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Okie’s analysis of the situation was spot-on, minus his implied conclusion. “If you’re saying someone wants the Serafini to take over all the operations in this state, that doesn’t make sense.”
“Why do you say that, Saks?” Okie asked.
“There’s no advantage to the big bosses to change the balance of power in the state.”
“That may be true or not.”
He pointed to the last packet. “And there’s the Rojos, associates of the street gang The Hombres, the people who took out Gibs. They love nothing better than harassing us, probably because Gibs’ arrest shone a spotlight on the Hombres they wanted to avoid. So, it might be them who hired those two goons, or they were acting as an intermediary.”
“But we need answers to that, Okie,” Luke admonished.
“You want my answer? I won’t stop ya. But enough of us have been in harm's way lately, so I won’t require it. These people are murderers, a line none of us has crossed, so I’m not calling the Spawn to arms.”
