Page 361 of Romeo

Behind him, Gator groaned. “Perfect. Now the two biggest motherfuckers in the room wanna measure dicks.”

My fist tightened automatically.

Gator pointed between us. “And don’t break the good whiskey. I mean it.”

Thore didn’t look away from me, and neither did I. He was younger, strong, and big as a fucking refrigerator.

He had no idea how many fucking men I had put down because somebody pointed and told me they were a problem.

“Son,” I said quietly, “you really don’t want to do this.”

His jaw clenched. “Try me.”

Gator stepped sideways enough to see around him. “Angel, listen to me before you get stupid. Your girl is safe. She’s with Romeo.”

That stopped me for half a second.

Gator caught it.

“Yeah,” he continued, the joking gone from his voice. “You know that boy. Know him better than most people down here do. Whatever else you wanna be pissed about, you know damn well Romeo ain’t lettin’ anythin’ happen to her.” Gator held my stare for a second before adding, quieter, “He fuckin’ loves her, Angel. Ain’t talkin’ about some new-old-lady bullshit either. That man changed the moment he got his first look at her.”

His words made me pause. Seven years riding with Romeo had taught me exactly what lived beneath that easy grin when someone he cared about was threatened. If Gator was telling me Romeo loved Fiona, I knew exactly what Romeo would become if anyone tried to hurt her.

That didn’t mean I was leaving.

“I want to see her.”

“And she don’t wanna see you yet.”

“You keep saying that like it’s gonna change something.”

“It damn well oughta.” Gator folded his arms across his chest. “You really want the first thing you ever do as that girl’s daddy to be ignorin’ the first thing she asks of you?”

My fist loosened before I could stop it.

The bastard saw that too.

Then anger closed around it again.

“You don’t get to tell me how to be her father.”

“Nope.” Gator shrugged. “But somebody’s gotta tell you when you’re actin’ like an asshole, and apparently today that somebody is me.”

“Fuck you.”

His grin flashed. “See? Now we’re talkin’ like old friends.”

I took another step.

Thore moved with me.

This time, there was nothing playful about the way he planted himself between us. His chest hit mine hard enough to push me back half a step, and the old instinct that had kept me alive for fifty fucking years took over before thought caught up. My weight shifted. My right hand tightened. I watched his shoulders, already calculating where the first opening would be.

Power wasn’t how you dropped a man Thore’s size.

Experience was.

Gator’s voice came from behind him. “You two seriously gonna make me explain to Devlyn why there’s blood all over her bar?”