19. Rita

19

RITA

D irty Dogs started pouring out of the compound. Ricco and Joel coming right behind Esteban.

Esteban was on a mission. He couldn’t be stopped as he stormed straight for Matías.

Except Ricco somehow got in front of him and knocked him back. Grinning so wide, Ricco’s face was going to split. Joel on the other hand looked like he'd sucked on a lemon.

"Matías! It's about damn time!" Ricco pulled him into a tight hug. Matías seemed mildly uncomfortable as he waited a beat before he patted Ricco on the back.

Shooting a quick glance at me, Esteban seemed to think better of starting another fight and came to stand slightly in front of me, crossing his arms. His T-shirt stretched over his muscles and sweat glistened on the back of his neck.

He was so worked up, the muscles in his arms were spasming. "Don't trust it,” he growled.

Joel glanced at Esteban, then at me. I'd been standing there mesmerized but his attention jump started my brain.

"What do you mean you want to be a Dirty Dog?" My voice was shrill at the end, all of my shock and outrage slamming into me like a semi-truck.

He'd had years to make this decision. I couldn't get over the fact that he'd let so much time pass and now he wanted to change everything?

"Why shouldn't we trust him?" Joel asked loudly.

Several of the men patted Matías on the back, trying to engage him in some wasted-ass, small talk. Absolutely none of them cared about what Joel had to say.

Joel was well liked and popular in the club, so that was telling enough that it set my teeth on edge.

"He either wants Rita back, or he wants to take the club. I don't trust him." Esteban spit toward Matías.

It didn't reach him but the sentiment was still the same.

The guys closest to Matías made booing sounds like they were egging on the fight while stepping back to avoid any backlash if one did start.

"Doesn't matter what you think." Ricco was too jolly. "It matters that he's made his intentions known. That's the first step." He raised his voice so the crowd of Dirty Dogs would all hear. "Matías wants to be a Dirty Dog!"

Everyone except Joel, Esteban, about three others, and me, whooped their excitement.

"You know the drill! He has thirty days to prove his worth. Then we vote!" Ricco wound his arm up before pointing at the sky.

So fucking dramatic.

My hands shook from the revelation. Matías was pushing hard. Everything was changing and I didn't have a choice but to keep up. I headed toward the compound, leaving the men in their circle.

"The meeting starts in three minutes. You're not there, you don't get a say in the next steps!" I called over my shoulder.

Esteban and Due fell in line on either side of me. The noise behind us calmed down, and once I took my seat at the table, I realized just how close Matías had been. He was already seated in the closest chair, his gaze soaking me up.

I shifted uncomfortably.

"Do you want him gone?" Esteban whispered in my ear.

"No, it's fine." I held Matías' gaze in challenge. He wanted to fuck with me? I'd fuck right back. I only had to figure out how to do that without sacrificing who I was and what I wanted. Been there before. Done that. Didn’t want to do it again. The gang was more important.

We had three quarters of our men here. That was a pretty good amount. Usually meetings were run on half the gang. There were just too many businesses and errands the guys were involved in for everyone to be here.

"Due," I rushed out when Joel opened his mouth. "Time's up. What did you find?"

Joel raised a brow but he didn't say anything.

In the middle of the chairs, Due stood up. He was my age and his dad had been a founding member in the club until he died from a job about a decade ago. He was also Esteban's best friend.

His gaze flicked to Esteban standing behind me.

"Wait." Matías raised a hand and stood up. "Before the meeting gets too far, I have an issue to raise."

"You can't raise an issue without being an official member," Esteban fired at Matías, derision dripping from his voice.

Matías pulled his shoulders back. "You'll want to hear this issue. "

"Doubt it." Esteban rested his hands on either side of me at the table, making his claim clear.

Fuck. I should tell him to back up. Just because we were involved didn't mean I wanted my laundry aired out for the club, but I didn't want to either. I enjoyed the claim as much as I didn't want to rub Matías' face in it.

It seemed I'd gotten out most of my spite the night before.

"You'll want to hear this one, and when you do, you'll feel a fool for giving into your obvious dislike of me."

"Who said I disliked you?" Esteban asked lightly. Matías started to respond but Esteban chuckled. "I fucking hate you. Years I watched you lead Rita on. Treat her like a backroom whore and roll over for your father because you were too weak to do anything else. It took you a year before you surfaced again. So you're either here to take over, or to get Rita back. From where I stand, you don't deserve either."

The room fell so silent, you could hear a mouse breathe. If we had mice. We didn't because that shit was nasty.

Matías' eyes darkened and his expression seemed to stretch taut. Not even Ricco or Joel had anything to say to that.

He didn't rise to the bait. Matías turned to the room. "Regardless of what you think of me, I'm here because I want to be here. Sure, because of Rita, but also because the Dirty Dogs is the only home I've ever really known. But I'm still going to raise this issue." His gaze flicked to me. "This morning, there was an attempt made at Rita's house by the new club."

"Rita!" Esteban snapped at the same time Ricco and Joel yelled.

Shit, I should have alerted someone. I almost did, but Matías had me off-kilter. "Matías was there and within minutes, I left to come straight here."

"Why was he there?" It was spoken so quietly, I could almost pretend I didn't hear Esteban.

"This all feeds into what Due found. Due." I motioned for him to continue his report. He twisted his lips to the side before nodding and standing back up.

"There's nothing to report. None of the neighborhood surveillance caught anything on camera. None of the locals we spoke to saw anyone. As far as everyone was concerned there was no one out of the usual riding through."

I released a long breath. This was exactly what I feared.

"Then we need to go speak with the new guys." I leaned back in the chair, the back of my head brushing against Esteban's chest. His stare drilled holes in the top of my head, but I couldn't acknowledge that right then.

"We need to hit them hard and fast." Joel argued and a few men murmured their agreement. "If they don't exist anymore, then they can't cause us problems."

"No," I returned. "They want us to strike back, I'm pretty sure that's the case. Just like I'm sure it's likely they're the ones fucking with us, but we can't act without knowing for sure."

Ricco sat back and smoothed his fingers down his jaw thoughtfully. "I agree, you should go. Take Esteban with you since he's attached to your hip right now. But you'll take Matías too."

"Fuck no." Joel twisted to glare at Ricco. "I'll go."

"Why, because you want to be president?" Ricco leaned toward him.

"I am going to–" Joel bit off the rest of his words.

"We'll hold the vote later, but Rita called dibs on this job and you'll just work to undercut her or talk over her. That's not going to do us any good with these assholes. Let Matías go. We at least know that both he and Esteban will keep her safe." Then Ricco squinted at me. "And you officially have a detail. You may also need to move into the compound."

"Fuck that," I spat. "I won't run from my home."

"Now who's being an idiot?" Esteban murmured under his breath. Without glancing down, I stomped my foot backward and caught his toes through his boots. They were too thick for my heels to cause any damage, but I got a grunt out of him.

"Then you'll have to have at least a couple Dirty Dogs with you at all times." Ricco's gaze slid to Matías.

"Absolutely not." I pushed up out of my chair. Then I pointed at Matías. "You want to tag along, fine, but this is my job and I call the shots. But–" I moved my glare around the room, ending on Ricco–"I choose who guards me. Not you."

"I am only here to protect you. I'll follow your lead. Always." Matías was so fucking serious. It was written in the way his eyebrows pulled low over his eyes and how his chin was tucked toward his chest.

How could I actually trust him?

"Regardless of if you're voted in or not, you're still the Dirty Dogs Princess. A blow to you is a blow to the gang. We've already been too lax given recent circumstances." Ricco shook his head.

My eyes watered but I blinked to clear those bastard tears up.

"You need a guard, Rita," Joel chimed in. "I'll arrange a patrol. You live close to our apartments anyway. You can decide who stays in your house."

"Fine. Five volunteers to ride with us?" Several men raised their hands and I picked the most competent and badass looking men. "Anything else? "

Joel gave a slow shake of his head. How he studied me sent chills down my arms. He didn't seem to like that I was going to speak to the club. But he couldn't object either. Or at least he must have felt like he couldn't.

The meeting ended and Matías walked up to the table. The men I'd selected to accompany us hung at the entrance to the club.

"I'll be ready to leave in a few minutes," I yelled, and they nodded. Then they turned to each other and started cutting up.

Due walked over with a file. "Here's the location of their headquarters. A brief on the men I could find and anything else I could find on such short notice." He flipped the file open. "They're using a Chinese restaurant as a front. I'd recommend going through the front. That would give you time to chat with them on neutral grounds. It does operate as a legit restaurant."

"Got it." I flipped through, reading as I went.

"We can ride in my car," Matías said as he read with me over my shoulder.

"You can ride behind us."

"Esteban," I sighed. "We can't go and not be united."

"What's your problem? Are you pissed I didn't lose my cool last night?" Matías casually tossed out.

"No, I'm pissed you enjoyed it." Esteban pressed his chest to my arm as he leaned toward Matías.

"Noted. Also not important."

Esteban's body tensed and I shoved him back before he could start another fight with Matías. One was brewing and I’d do whatever I could to stop it. "Not here." Actually, "Not ever."

His cold gaze dropped to me. "Why was he at your house this morning? "

"What? Afraid that she really was just using you?" Matías taunted.

I shoved Matías away too. "Shut the hell up." Then I pulled in a breath and placed a hand on Esteban's chest. "I didn't invite him over. He was on his way up the sidewalk when it all happened."

Some of the tension leaked out of his body. "Fine."

Then he walked away leaving me with Matías.

"He doesn't believe you."

"What is wrong with you?" I whirled toward him.

Matías adopted a mutinous expression. "He's my problem. He thinks he knows everything just because he fucked you."

"He doesn't!"

"I know that!"

We were left staring at each other. One of the guys across the room who was waiting on me, snorted a laugh at something his buddy said and broke the moment.

"I'm driving." Then I walked away too.

I should be kicking Matías to the curb. Esteban was the steady ride or die. I'd learned my lesson the hard way and got burned for my efforts.

Yet, I couldn't send Matías away, and the more I got to know Esteban, I couldn't leave him either. A deranged part of my head said what if I kept them both?