Page 54 of Reckless Vengeance

Skeeter made a sound of agreement as I went to walk off, but I halted as a solid wall of muscle appeared in front of Slash’s grave, chills skating down my spine.

“Don’t mind me, boys. Just wanted to make sure the fucker was dead,” Rage said dryly, turning to face us and drawing my attention to the fact that there was a group of Kings close by. “Where’s the Donovan girl? I just want to chat.”

“Not here,” Skeeter growled, moving to stand beside me. “What are you doing here?”

“I just told you. Kind of you to invite me to my own baby brother’s funeral,” he scoffed, eyeing me with disgust. “Thought you’d have learned your lesson after the last gash you buried. Why bring another one into it? She won’t last long.”

“Leave Aurora out of this,” Skeeter snapped, only making him smirk.

“I heard you’ve fallen in love, how sweet. I can’t believe a girl is what got him killed. That’s more Diesel’s thing, isn’t it? Tell me, how much did Tristan Holloway fuck her up? Did he tear her in half? That man was a monster, you know?”

“That’s rich coming from Satan himself,” I deadpanned, trying really hard not to punch him.

If anything broke out right now, the Kings would open fire, we weren’t stupid.

They were just trying to bait us.

“Tell Rivera I’ll be seeing him and his boys soon,” he mused, his eyes on our unwanted audience on the hill.

“Tell him yourself,” Skeeter replied, glancing at me. “I’ve got this. Go tell them to leave, they’ve been here long enough and I’m not in the mood for their bullshit. Not today.”

The last thing I wanted to do was leave Skeeter with Rage, but I couldn't make him look weak by disrespecting his order, so I nodded and started walking towards Hunter and Marco. He had the guys close by if things went south anyway.

Marco was on alert but Hunter was lazily leaning back against a tree with his arms crossed, a taunting smile on his face.

“Aw, boss wants us to go?” he guessed, and I rolled my eyes as he continued. “It’s just getting interesting. What does the king of hell want?”

“To make sure his brother’s dead and to piss off Skeet about Rory,” I sighed, too tired to argue.

“Where is she, anyway?” he asked as he watched Rage and Skeeter’s tense stand-off.

“Do you really think it’s safe for her here? The guys want her dead.”

“So she just decided to play it safe? That doesn’t sound like her,” he chuckled, his face falling slightly when I replied.

“She didn’t decide shit. Skeet told her she was banned, not that it’s any of your business. I’m a little surprised she actually did as she was told for once.”

“Skeet wouldn’t let her come?”

“No. Look, man, the guys don’t hide their hatred for her. Some have warmed up to her, but some have only gotten worse over time. If she’d shown up today, someone would have snapped and killed her,” I replied, glancing over to make sure Skeeter was okay. “Rage was always a possibility too, and from what we’ve heard, he’s got her on his sick little radar. If hurting her feelings means keeping her alive to fight another day, Skeet will do it. I really need you guys to fuck off. Skeet’s dealing with enough bullshit today, and Rage is the cherry on the top of this shitshow ice cream. Whatever reason you have for being here⁠—”

“Just wanted to pay our respects without causing a scene. It’s why we’re back here and not down there,” he murmured, motioning to Marco. “We’ve overstayed our welcome, so let’s go.”

Marco eyed me with annoyance for a moment before tilting his head. “Tell Skeet I’ll call him.”

“Maybe you don’t do that today,” I suggested with a scoff, his lips tugging into a dark smile.

“He’ll answer. It’s why he blocked my number years ago. He knew if I called, he’d pick up, and he fucking hated that.”

“Eat shit, Ortega. He blocked you to make you vanish because you’re nothing more than the shit on the bottom of his shoe.”

“Keep telling yourself that. You might be his right-hand, but you’ll never be above me. Does that bother you?”

I chuckled, giving him an amused glance. “What bothers me is that you think I give a fuck. You might have been family to us, but you mean nothing now. It’s sad that you’re still clinging to that shit.”

“Watch. I’ll call him later and curiosity will⁠—”

“Let’s go,” Hunter snapped, cutting Marco off and giving me a small nod. “We’re sorry for your loss.”