10. Esteban

10

ESTEBAN

T he roar of the bikers’ motorcycles faded into the background, leaving us surrounded only by the sounds of music from the jacked up speakers and the crackling of the fire still burning in the barrels.

I could barely see straight after what I just saw. And I wasn’t talking about this fucked up mess in front of me.

Some of the seriousness seemed to sink in as no one said a word.

Except for Leo. Fucking, idiot Leo.

He bounced on his heels. "We gotta hit them hard so they don't–"

I snatched him up by his T-Shirt and shook him, using every bit of strength I had to give him whiplash. " Do you know what you just did ?" I shouted in his face.

Leo blinked, his eyes glassy from a night of binging liquor. "They're trying to take our territory." He raised his chin with mutiny in his eyes. This pendejo didn't understand anything about club life. Damen never should have brought him in.

"Who gave you the authority to make a kill in the name of the gang?" I seethed. Even on the worst days, the Dirty Dogs did not kill without leadership's approval. Fights? Couldn't help it, but no outright murders.

"Who are you?" He spat to the side. "Just some mid-level Dog. Your word don't mean shit."

I wanted to squeeze his neck, to rip his head off, but I couldn't even fucking argue.

Shoving him away from me, I kept hold of his Dirty Dog vest, yanking it from his body.

"What the fuck!" He started to charge me.

The Dirty Dogs were crowded around us now. Ricco stepped up next to me and Damen pushed through and caught Leo’s arm.

"You're right. I'm mid-level. I earned my place by being smart. Thinking with my head instead of my ego." I held his jacket up. "You're the low-man. After what you just did, you shouldn't even be here."

Matías pushed through the crowd and I gritted my teeth as my entire body became one giant muscle spasm.

He wasn't even back ten minutes and Rita jumped on his dick. Grey and Andre were at his back. The rest of the brothers took their girl and baby home hours earlier.

I pointed at him with the hand that held Leo’s vest. "It was great to have you here to celebrate Javier with us, but I think it's time you go. This is Dirty Dog business." I glared at Matías.

I wanted him to know exactly how much I hated his ass.

His brow furrowed. "Rita–" Matías started to turn toward Rita standing across the circle, watching Leo and me with round eyes.

"Rita has not one goddamned thing to do with you. Call her tomorrow."

Damen whispered in Leo's ear but Leo didn't want to hear it. He kept trying to shake Damen off. Leo was going to make a scene and I wanted Matías gone.

"Javier would want him here," Ricco said next to me. Some of the men in the crowd chimed in.

The tops of my ears burned as I glanced from Rita to Matías. Had she even been aware that I'd stood in the door as they'd fucked on the dirty counter? That's how the Dirty Dogs treated their pussy, not their wives and daughters.

I couldn't look at Rita anymore so I focused all my attention on the asshole I wished I could fuck up. Andre and Grey pulled themselves up, gearing for a fight. I wouldn't give them one. Not the kind they were after.

"Would he want a man here that treated his daughter like a whore?" I raised my voice so every fucking one in the crowd would hear me.

The tension was already high. When my question fully penetrated, they erupted into chaos. Men knocked into Andre and Grey. Joel, the third in command, tried to dive for Matías but Grey punched his shoulder, forcing him back and away from Matías.

Ricco placed two fingers in his mouth and gave a sharp whistle as Rita ran for Matías.

Fuck that .

I stuck my arm out to stop her in her tracks. Rita hit my arm and cut her eyes at me.

"What the hell are you doing, Esteban?" She allowed me to stop her. Her chest pushed against my arm lightly. Enough that to anyone else, she'd appear to be trying to get by me. If she really wanted that, she would already be at Matías’ feet right now.

A smile threatened to break free. She had second thoughts, and I'd given her a chance to think about what she was doing .

Turning away from Matías, I caught her hips and pulled her toward me. "What are you doing?" I kept my voice low. The chaos reigning around us was enough to hide my words. "You fucked him on a sticky counter. He doesn't care about you. Not like you want him to."

Her eyes fluttered shut and the pain on her face hit me square in the chest. "I know."

Jesus Christ, that hurt.

"Get your hands off of her!" Matías had broken free of his brothers and the crowd. He grabbed my shoulder. I ducked half a second before his fist would have connected with my face.

For the first time tonight, pleasure shot through me. I couldn't wait to get my hands on this motherfucker.

Dropping the vest and letting go of Rita, I planted my shoulder in Matías’ stomach and tackled him to the ground. I got one punch to his face. The sound of my fist hitting flesh did wonders to replace the sounds echoing from that back room.

Matías caught me under the chin and my head snapped back.

Shit. I let myself get distracted and he caught me off guard enough that he flipped me. It didn't last long before I got him on his back again. We were a tangled mess of arms, legs, punches, and jabs.

It felt just as good to take the hits as it did to deliver them.

Then I was lifted off of him, one Dirty Dog on each arm.

"Stay the fuck away from her," Matías growled, blood tricking from his nose and lips.

I licked the blood off my teeth and grinned. "Yeah? What are you going to do about it? Run off again? It will just make it that much easier for her to forget you ever existed. "

He nearly vibrated with rage and his face twisted up.

"Just leave." Rita stepped between us, keeping her back to me and facing him.

"Rita," he said quietly, almost beseeching.

"Don't. Just. Don't." She sucked in a deep breath. "Esteban is right. This is Dirty Dog business and you and your brothers, no matter how much I like them, don't belong here."

Matías opened his mouth but Andre slapped his shoulder and whispered in his ear.

"Fine." He straightened his torn shirt. That was his first rookie mistake. He should have known from years of coming around Javier and the club that you don't wear a suit to a Dirty Dogs event, not even a funeral.

We were bikers, for God’s sake.

Sometime while we were fighting, the crowd lost their bloodlust. As if an actual fight sobered them instead of hyping them up.

I watched the three of them leave, and once they were through the gate, I turned around.

It didn't matter that Matías had left. I was still jazzed. I wanted blood and I knew exactly where I'd get it.

"Ricco," I said without looking at him, leaving all my focus for Leo.

"Yeah, kid."

"We have a traitor on our hands."

"That's fucking bullshit!" Leo exploded.

Damen tried to calm him down. "Stop. You fucked up," he snapped at his friend.

" I fucked up? You're all a fucking bunch of pussies." Leo shoved Damen away.

You could hear a pin drop. That was how quiet it was after Leo insulted every single person here .

"What?" He raised his hands out to the side. "I made a stand. For the club. Those bitches are coming for our business and our territory. You want to sit with your thumbs up your asses? Fine. But I protect what's mine."

Rita started laughing. Ricco started to step forward, but she held a hand out, stopping him. Her raspy chuckle still filled the air as she took slow, methodical steps toward him. Her heels clacked against the pavement.

"What was your name again?"

I raised my brows. She knew his name. She knew everyone here.

"Like you don't know my name." Leo rolled his eyes as his face heated. He was trying to save face. Whether it was from her mild insult or how every single man and woman zeroed in on him and he was finally realizing exactly how much he fucked up.

"I know you're the last recruit in. I know you wear the vest, but you haven't earned it. And I know there's no place in the Dirty Dogs for your stupidity." Rita never raised her voice as she went toe to toe with him.

"Your opinion doesn't count," he spewed, but his eyes were wide as he flicked his gaze from one side to the other.

"Who told you that?" She tipped her head, curious.

"Everyone knows it. Even Damen–" He barely got his name out when Damen pushed the side of his head.

Leo popped over, stumbling several feet.

"Keep your fucking mouth shut," Damen growled.

“That's interesting. I didn't realize you didn't care about my opinion." Rita tipped her head to the side.

I stepped up behind her because no way in hell was I letting her be that close to Damen without me. His reaction to the few words Leo spoke said all I needed to know .

"What's interesting is that we've now got a gang war on our hands." Damen tried to change the topic.

Others shouted, but Rita raised a hand again. "I want to know. What's the big plot? You seemed happy enough when Papá was alive."

Damen pressed his lips together as he studied her. Then as if he figured it wasn't worth keeping anymore he shrugged.

"I was. But now he's not and we have to figure out who the next leader will be."

"We talked about this," Ricco said as he worked his way over to Damen.

"What the fuck, Ricco?" I asked. He was having conversations about leadership without the whole club?

Ricco glanced back. "You know we have to have a vote."

Rita laughed again, this time I winced. It was a nasty sound that scratched the back of my neck like brittle nails.

"Funny how Papá is fresh in the ground and you're all fighting like dogs over a bone." She dropped her head and rubbed her forehead. "Get lost. Get some sleep. Tomorrow, when we've sobered up, I'm calling a meeting. Twelve sharp in the compound."

She started to leave, but Leo finally righted himself.

Her steps slowed and she stared at him. "Except you. Until further notice, this is my fucking club and you don't have any place in it."

That's my girl.

Rita was Dirty Dogs. And she was going to clean shit up if they let her.

"I don't answer to bitches." Leo crossed his arms.

Rita paused her walk, and I froze from bending down to pick up his vest. This idiot didn't have a lick of self preservation .

"I can't help you. You're a lost fucking cause," Damen muttered as he melted through the crowd.

"Now, you see. Papá didn't raise me to believe I was less than a man. Are you saying that I'm not powerful in my own right?"

Picking up the vest, I joined Rita.

"That's because he babied you. No other woman in the gang gets the same treatment."

"Hm. Ricco, do you shit talk your old lady?"

"Hell, no."

"Robby, who runs your house?" she called.

"You know Stasia does!" he yelled back.

"Seems you're the only one who thinks that way. That tracks, because you're a danger to the club. No one shares the same asinine opinions as you." She tapped her full, red lips. "Dirty Dogs. This man, this cabrón , could be the reason we lose some of our brothers. He took that decision away from you. He thought he knew best. He's no longer a Dirty Dog anymore." Leo stiffened and his face mottled with purple. "The question is, after this disrespect, do we let him run and chase him down, or kill him on the spot?"

Every bit of color blanched right out of him.

"Kill him," I tossed in.

"Let him run! I need a good chase!" Due, my best friend, shouted. I couldn't make out all the votes. Everyone had an opinion.

Rita listened, then out of nowhere, her hand snapped forward and she held Leo's balls in her hand. He whimpered as her nails dug in.

"I don't mind a little blood, and unfortunately, we're safer without you on the run. Who knows what kind of trouble you could cause us." She gave a twist and he cried out .

I winced.

"Dirty Dogs?" Rita projected her voice.

We answered back with a savage bark.

"Take care of him." She squeezed so hard, Leo's eyes bugged out and his mouth fell open on a silent scream. When she let go, he collapsed to the ground.

The crowd parted for her and then descended on him. Grunts competed with the thumps of punches and kicks they delivered. Leo never made a sound.

Following after Rita, I tossed his vest in one of the barrels. It hurt my heart to burn the leather, but it was tainted now.

"Rita, wait up!" I jogged to catch up with her. She was already halfway up the stairs.

"What?" She didn't have the same sass she had outside. It was as if the testosterone from the men had held her up and now she was just depleted. Dark circles started to ring her eyes, and her mouth was set into a severe frown.

Rita was devastated and even still, she was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.

"Sleep in my room."

She cast me a suspicious glance, but I held up my hands. "I'm not going to try and fuck you. I wouldn't." I wouldn't dishonor her or Javier that way and the way her expression changed, she recognized it for the dig it was. "But we don't know what kind of shitstorm this is going to turn into. I want to make sure you're safe."

Releasing a sigh, she nodded as she pushed some of her hair out of the way.

I passed her and led the way. Once we reached my door, I unlocked it and let her in. Cool air washed over us.

"This feels nice." She hummed.

"I installed an air unit. I'm not like those other fuckers. I need cool air to get my beauty sleep." I turned the bed down and waited for her to climb in.

She didn't take the invite. Shifting on her feet, she eyed the bathroom. "Can I take a shower?"

To wash Matías off, she meant. Or I hoped.

"Yeah." I nodded toward the bathroom. Not everyone in the compound had their own, but I'd built a whole-ass bike as a trade for this room.

Once she was out and dressed in one of my shirts, I was already down to my boxers. I took a breath to fully appreciate how good she looked in my clothes. Then I sighed and lifted the covers. She climbed in against the wall, then I slid in after her.

This wasn't the first time I'd shared a bed with her, but at least this time I was sober. I wanted to remember every second.

Her head rested on the pillow as she stared up at the ceiling. "I'm surprised your room is so clean."

I scoffed. "You mean because I don't treat the room like a bachelor pad and fuck my way through bitches in here?"

She giggled softly. "I'm just surprised."

Rita grew quiet and I closed my eyes. "Get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a shit storm."

There was a tension in the air like she had something to say, but when I turned toward her, she shook her head.

"What?"

"I don't know why it couldn't be you," she whispered as she covered her face with her palm.

"Ouch," I whispered back, rubbing my chest.

"Shit! I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

"No, don't apologize. But Rita, you've never given me a chance." I pulled her hand away so I could see her beautiful face .

"You want that? A chance?"

"More than any fucking thing."

She started to lean forward like she was going to kiss me but I placed a finger on her lips. "I can't. I saw you with him and I..." I groaned and flopped back on my back. "Try again tomorrow."

She was quiet, then there was a soft, “Okay.”

Somehow, I fell asleep quickly and the next thing I knew, someone was banging on my door.