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Cyrus turned away.
“I didn’t ask for this,” Nelle said. “My father took off and told me to take my sisters and run. So that’s what I did. It took me years of hiding before getting everything settled. I figured Dimitri knew his son had messed up. And since nothing came of it, then oh well… right?” Nelle laughed. “I decided to move us around a little bit more. I should have gone far. Really far. But how could we? What did we have? You know?”
“So you’re telling me that your father had three beautiful daughters and this was his offering?” Priest asked. He put his hands flat to the table. “You and your sisters… might be the three most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”
“Beauty doesn’t mean shit in real life,” Nelle said.
“It does to me,” Slade said. “And heart. And everything else.”
What the fuck did I just blurt that out for?Slade asked himself.
“I was thinking of a way out of it all,” Nelle said. “Thalia worked at the pizza place. I didn’t want Calista too far from her just in case. Like I said, poor Thalia wouldn’t hurt a fly. And Calista… she just went wild. All the time. She loved her drugs, that was for sure. Even when she was way too young. Those mafia guys loved Calista too. She was never afraid to…” Nelle shook her head. “Doesn’t matter.”
“So, one sister is slinging pizzas,” Linc said. “The other is sucking rock star dick. No offense.”
“It’s the truth,” Nelle said.
“What about you?” Linc asked.
“I hid in an antique shop, as weird as it sounds. This old man named Bucky let me…” Nelle stood up. “Bucky. They’re going to kill him, aren’t they? That’s why I came back here. They followed me to the antique store. Something happened that night I was there. It just felt so scary. Weird. Wrong. Then I came back here…”
“I’ll send someone out there right now,” Cyrus said. “Priest, go tell Dolph to take Drix and Warren for a ride.”
“Oh shit,” Priest said. He hurried out of the room.
“Why are you doing this for me?” Nelle asked. “Who am I to you all? I’ve caused nothing but problems.”
“You’re inked,” Cyrus said. “Now, I can call a vote right now if you’d like. Let everyone at the table decide what to do with you. We could vote to have your ink blacked out and you tossed out to the streets.”
“Fuck that,” Slade growled. He jumped up. “You think of that for a second and I’ll—”
“It’s obvious you mean something to Slade,” Cyrus said.
“You have purpose here,” Linc said. “You’re tough. Smart. You have some medical knowledge. I take it that’s from all the shit you saw?”
Nelle nodded. “Couldn’t exactly go to the hospital and tell them my gambling addict of a father needed help.”
“Plus, we need you around here… almost as bait,” Cyrus said. “No offense for using that term. But Damien will not get the upper hand around here. You don’t come into our town and just start shooting. Whether it’s justified or not. Last thing he’s going to get is his way.”
Cyrus walked toward the door. Linc nodded at Slade.
“Come on, sweetheart, stand up,” Slade said. “We’re done in here.”
Nelle stood up and grabbed for the whiskey bottle. Her eyes told Slade she needed it. She needed it really bad. Slade didn’t say a word. He had a thought or two burning in his mind. As he and Nelle stepped from prayer, he whispered to her to go to his room and wait.
Slade needed one more word or two with Cyrus.
As soon as Cyrus looked at Slade, he looked away.
“Go to your girl, Slade. That’s a fucking order.”
“No offense, but fuck your order,” Slade said.
“Don’t make me shoot you, Slade. I need you.”
“What you need to do is tell me what’s really going on here. With Damien. With Nelle. You’re too accepting.”
Cyrus stood up and went nose to nose with Slade.
