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Monroe doesn’t want me to leave her. Resting her cheek against my chest while we sit on the spare unit’s couch, she looks worried. Despite her big brown eyes begging me to stay, she promises she’s fine.
“I’ll stay with Needy and Amity until you’re done,” she says and waves her phone before shoving it inside her pocket. “We’ll watch the security footage to make sure my cousins don’t leave their fancy jail cell.”
Standing up, I try to find a way to explain how I have to shut myself off right now. “I need to prepare to speak with Bronco and Lowell.”
Of course, Monroe understands. She might get annoyed when I come off cold, but she also wants me to succeed. Clinging to her and sharing my worries with my uncle and her father will never fly.
Monroe takes my hand and walks with me to the lobby, where we find Lowell and Bronco outside the front doors. My uncle looks relatively calm while his VP is all clenched muscles and hateful scowls. When Lowell spots us inside, he throws open the door and glares at Monroe.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
I expect Monroe to explain our plans or defend herself or maybe even tease him for his pissed papa behavior. Instead, she realizes what her father needs most and hugs him.
“She’ll wait upstairs with Needy and Amity,” I say while Lowell holds Monroe snugly against him and works through his rage at what happened earlier.
Bronco gets how his friend feels. He also knows we need to figure out the Clive issue. Leaving Lowell to smother Monroe, my uncle heads to the rec room. I force myself to follow him.
“Why ping pong?” Bronco asks as he looks over the room.
“No clue,” I mutter, glancing out the door to where Lowell refuses to release a surprisingly passive Monroe. “The bunnies really love it, though. If we weren’t locked down right now, girls would be playing in here.”
I can tell from Bronco’s expression how he’s considering buying a ping-pong table for his daughters. His mind is always on them, even when he’s discussing whether to end lives.
When I glance out of the room again, Lowell and Monroe are gone. I frown at the thought of him forcing her to leave. No way would Monroe have gone quietly. More likely, he’s handing her off to Needy.
“I remember when you were Carina’s age,” Bronco says, studying something out of the window. “Wheels always had you on his shoulders, wanting you to see the world from up high. I used to worry you’d fall. Wheels claimed the world was scarier on the ground, and he wanted his boy to feel above all that shit.”
I don’t know how to respond. Is Bronco poking at me, looking for weaknesses? All my fucking life, I’ve worried about seeming soft. Nothing was worse in my parents’ eyes. I could be stupid or even evil. Just never weak.
“I never thought Wheels would be a good husband or father. I told Barbie to find someone else,” Bronco says and chuckles. “I told her that, just like she said the same to me with Lana. Neither of us really understood life. But when you find that one person you need, you’ll chase them even if they’re not good for you. And Wheels wasn’t good for Barbie. But she loved him, and he loved her. Neither of them was the best parent, but you turned out good, Conor.”
Trying not to sound defensive, I ask, “Why are you telling me this?”
“I don’t know,” he says, and I believe him. “Seeing Lowell get so frustrated about protecting Monroe made me realize I wasn’t worried at all. She has you. That’s why I’m not stressed about those two fucks in the apartment or Monroe’s uncle. I figure you have a plan. I probably spent too long thinking of you as a kid or another Wheels. I don’t feel that way anymore. I’m letting you lead this shit with the North Dakota assholes.”
I glance out the door to find the lobby still empty. Looking back at Bronco, I know showing weakness is a mistake. But I feel as if he’s opening the door to a new relationship between us, and I have to be strong enough to look soft.
“When my parents struggled, your home was my sanctuary. I will always do right by you and your family.”
“I know.”
“I know you know, but I still had to say it.”
Bronco offers a loving smile that disappears when Lowell storms into the room.
“I want them dead. Then, we kill their fucking dad.”
“I get that,” I say as he paces around the ping-pong table. “More than anyone, I get that, but killing them is a mistake.”
“Bullshit. Don’t do that calm crap where you work out all the angles until nothing seems like a big deal. What happened today was a big fucking deal.”
Bronco watches Lowell seethe, choosing to remain silent. I’m calling the shots here, and I need to make my future VP stand down and listen.
“Killing them is easy. Going to war with their dad is more difficult. I believe it’s better to have new allies than far-off enemies. If we piss off people up north, we don’t have eyes on them. We won’t know who he might send here.”
“We’ve fought plenty of assholes.”
“Yes, because you had to. Because they wanted Elko, and the club and the Woodlands can’t survive unless we hold this town. But Clive McNamee doesn’t want our territory. He doesn’t even want Monroe and Needy. Clive’s a big man in a little town, and he demands respect. Monroe running off bruised his ego. Then, we took Needy, and he looked like a chump.”
“I don’t fucking care,” Lowell growls.
“Monroe doesn’t want us to go to war with her uncle and cousins.”
“Well, I don’t fucking care about that, either. She doesn’t see them as threats, but they attacked her today. One of them punched her in the head. How are you okay with them living?”
Despite Lowell baiting me, I remain calm. “The Executioners shouldn’t be dragged into a possible war to make us feel better. Isn’t that why the club didn’t help me grab Needy? Because personal business isn’t club business.”
“I want them dead.”
“Because you’re thinking like Monroe’s dad.”
Lowell’s expression shifts and he looks like he needs a hug. He might be thinking back to when Summer was shot by a rival club, and Bronco was forced to choose a retaliation that didn’t lead the Executioners into an ambush. Now, Lowell needs to put his personal feelings aside for the community’s benefit.
“The window will be fixed by late tomorrow,” I tell Bronco while Lowell adjusts to how he can’t walk down the hallway and put bullets in Clive McNamee’s meathead sons. “They might end up being here two nights. I’d suggest we get on a call with their father tomorrow before they leave. Monroe mentioned to him how my uncle was the big shit, and her dad was the second-place winner.”
“Shut up,” Lowell growls at my wording while Bronco smirks.
“Point is he knows she’s my woman, but also that I’m not the one calling the shots for the club. It’ll cement our position if he hears from you two.”
“We’ll hash things out,” Bronco says and nudges Lowell. “We’ll turn this into a positive, so Monroe and her mom won’t need to worry anymore. They can focus on life in Elko.”
Sounding tired, Lowell mumbles, “I still want to punch them in the head.”
“I mean, this is Monroe we’re talking about here,” I say, patting his shoulder. “You know she nailed them in the balls, right?”
Allowing a grudging smile, Lowell sighs. “Yeah, but she shouldn’t have needed to.”
“True, but I do have good news for your rage boner. I asked Brian Clive how he knew to grab Monroe and Needy from Bambi’s. I assumed they didn’t just get lucky. Turns out we have a local boy willing to sell info to outsiders.”
Lowell and Bronco share a look that reminds me of when I was a kid and trouble was brewing for the club. My dad and the club guys wore that specific expression. I didn’t know what it meant specifically, but I understood how the community was getting locked down for safety. Now, I know they were gearing up for violence.
“We’ll give the guy a visit later,” I say, and Bronco gets on his phone to send the other men a coded message about the rat.
Lowell sighs and asks me, “Is she really okay?”
“A few scrapes and bruises. Nothing worse than when she wrestles with Dunning.”
“She’s going to destroy that boy’s ball sack.”
“Monroe’s okay, Lowell,” I say, noticing how he’s grinding his teeth. “I understand how you don’t know her well yet, but I do. The violence didn’t scare her half as much as thinking she might lose Elko.”
“That’s the thing. I don’t know her. Now, assholes are trying to steal her away before I even know what her favorite color is.”
“Brown.”
His dark eyes flash with irritation, thinking I’m lying. “You’re fucking kidding, right?”
“Nope,” I say, patting his shoulder a little too hard. “How about once things settle down, you and Monroe can take an overnight trip. You’ll learn a lot in a short time. By Christmas, you two will be as tight as Bronco is with Desi.”
Lowell recalls how his friend bonded with Lana’s then-nine-year-old daughter. These days, they act as if they’ve always known each other. One day, Lowell will feel the same way with Monroe.
Soon, Bronco decides to take off. He’ll meet us after dark to grab the rat and make an example of him. Lowell lingers at the Overlook, though. When I suggest he stay over in one of the spare apartments if he’s worried, he immediately agrees. Lowell Sinema won’t relax until the McNamee boys are out of the state.
