Page 175 of Unruly

He felt like a child being scolded.

“I know that’s not the agreement we made.” Cross gave Dante a look as if to ask, better?

Just like a damn child.

Dante stayed still like a stone, and expressionless.

“Then, no,” Andino said, ignoring the exchange, “you don’t get to up and just decide you are done running our guns. Until you are entirely unable, Cross. That was the agreement. As far as I can see, your legs are just fine, and your hands, too. You can walk. You can hold something. You’re good. Get back to work.”

“Hear me out, An—”

“No, you heard me.”

“Andino,” Dante said quietly, “you should listen, unless you have no issue with your family coming under fire for your stupidity.”

Andino’s head snapped to the side. “I beg your fucking pardon?”

“Hear him out.”

Unlikely.

Especially when Andino turned to Cross with blazing eyes. “You run our guns. Only our guns. Until you couldn’t any longer. It was the agreement you made. Back out of that agreement, Cross, and you’re forfeiting your safety in this city. You very well may be married to my cousin, but that means shit to me in the grand scheme of things. You agreed—finish out your agreement.”

Cross had the strangest urge to dive across the table and bash Andino’s skull into the table. It took every ounce of willpower he had not to do it.

Somehow.

“I can’t run the guns,” Cross said. “I am fulfilling the agreement. I can no longer run guns safely. Consider it, Andino. An alias I use to run guns is hot. My face very well might have been caught at the border. Attention on gunrunning and smuggling is about to turn up big time because of this latest trip through to Canada. I cannot afford that kind of attention, and neither can you.”

“Yes, but—”

“There is no but,” Cross interjected fast, never backing down. “Your greed for money is one thing, but the freedom of me, you, and a great deal of other people inside this operation is far more important. One run could have me in jail on a twenty to life sentence, and all because you’re not willing to admit attention is too hot on me now. It’s dangerous. I am not playing with that kind of fire.”

Andino blew out a hard breath. “Fucking hell.”

“I’m willing to train whoever you handpick,” Cross added.

The fellow boss shot him a look, but stayed quiet. Cross took that as a good sign.

“Drop out of smuggling guns for a bit until attention turns down on all of this,” Cross said with a shrug. “Shit, stock up your warehouses so you’ll have lots to deal, sell, and move when the time comes. Go over your guys—smart, quick on their feet, attention to detail, and good listeners. Send them my way. I will train them like I was trained. They will be just as good as me. Only this time, you’ll have more than one you depend on.”

“That way, you’re not putting all your eggs in one basket, as the saying goes,” Dante said.

Andino still didn’t look pleased.

Cross didn’t blame him.

“I know this wasn’t what you wanted, Andino. It’s not really what I want, either. I like running guns. It’s what I wanted to do from the time I was twelve. Now, I’ve done it. The intelligent part of me knows it’s time to move on. And like anything in this business, shit has to come to an end sometime. We either evolve to fit the needs of the life, or we stay stuck in details and our own wants, and the business crashes down around us. You know this. You’re not stupid. It’s time to make different choices, and play it safe for a bit. When you’re ready to get back into the game with guns, I promise it’ll be better than it ever was.”

“I want the best gunrunners, Cross.”

Cross smirked. “As long as they’re trained by me, they will be.”

Andino shook his head.

Dante chuckled under his breath.

“Yes, we all know I’m arrogant,” Cross said with a wave of his hand. “Stop acting like this is a new thing. Do we have a deal, or not?”