27. Matías

27

MATíAS

E steban and I waited in the living room as Rita got ready. Her house was exactly as it was when I'd been here before. Nothing had changed. Except for us.

She was both stronger and softer than she used to be. More jaded.

I wasn't a slave to my father anymore. I was grabbing hold of what I wanted with both hands, consequences and fear be damned.

Then there was Esteban. This kid was more complex than I gave him credit for. I’d never pegged him as anything other than a pretty face, but he’d already punched two holes in her living room wall.

Rita came out and raised one brow as she held some make up brushes in her hand. “You done?” Was all she’d said.

“Hell fucking no, not until I get my hands on that cabrón ,” was all he’d said before he’d fallen on the couch.

He was someone I never saw coming, but somehow he fit. Where Rita and I were strained together, he made us stronger.

Glancing at my phone screen, I worked to relax my clenched jaw. "It's after nine."

Esteban made a noise like he wasn’t sure what to do with that. Fuck, I think I was just making conversation.

Regardless of the tension of the coming fight, there was a calm in the air. We'd discussed exactly what we needed to do. And how we needed to do it.

"Let's go." Rita stepped out of her bathroom, and I swallowed hard.

She wore one of her signature skintight dresses, hugging her from her tits down to her knees. But it was made from stretchy material so it could be pulled up to her waist if she needed to run or ride…Or be fucked.

She'd always raved about how versatile they were.

I opened the door, glanced out in the hallway to make sure there were no threats, then stepped back for her to precede me.

Leading had never been my dream. I wasn't sure it had even been Rita's, but as I walked behind her, next to Esteban, two things stuck out.

She oozed confidence in a way I never had. Rita knew exactly what she wanted and as soon as she made up her mind, she let no time rest before she went after it.

The second? Her ass was so damn fine, I could never complain about the view.

I snickered and Esteban glanced at me, but I ignored it.

From blocks away we heard music thumping and the distant roar of bikes. Of course there was a fucking party right now.

At the bottom of the stairs, several Dirty Dogs lounged in a group of chairs. There was a small speaker by the wall playing low music and a few of the gang's girls were there, draping themselves over the guys.

Joel and Ricco were among them.

When they noticed Rita, they both jumped up like they'd been waiting for her.

"Rita–" Joel marched toward us.

"It's been hours!" Ricco tried to push right into her space.

"Why do you want to lead Dirty Dogs?" Rita sidestepped Ricco, staring at Joel.

He pulled up short, then twisted around to look at the guys as if to say is she serious?

"Why do you want it? Because you think you were born into it?" He shot back. He wasn't much taller than Rita. With her heels on, they were the same height. Though he tried to pull himself up and lean into her as if he needed to feel like the bigger man.

She didn't cower. Instead, her fingers twitched and I had to bite back my smile. I knew mi corazón , and she was itching to grab him by the balls.

"Because I love this gang. It's my entire life, my legacy, and I care about every man inside it. Now tell me why you want to lead it." Her voice took on a deeper, husky quality. Not sexual by any means. I was highly acquainted with those sounds and this was like none of them.

It was downright cocky in the best way.

He sputtered. "You think I don't love this club? I've been with Javier since almost the beginning, little girl."

"That's great and all, but that's not a reason why you want to lead the Dirty Dogs," she answered drolly.

"Rita," Ricco said as he stepped forward, trying to diffuse what could be an explosive situation.

She turned her head toward him. "I'll deal with you in a minute. "

He snapped his mouth shut as his face mottled purple in anger. I stepped forward and pressed a hand into his chest. "No."

When his eyes lifted, there was so much fury, it was shocking on Ricco. But even still, his form of anger was nothing like my father’s. Or mine. "Let her do this. Your club depends on it."

"Let me ask you this?" Rita pressed up on her toes so she had the slightest advantage over Joel. Most of the men were starting to crowd us now. The ones who had the girls draped over their laps shrugged them off so they could get close too. "When Papá made the call to pull out of drugs and skins, did you like it?"

Joel cut his gaze to the side, likely categorizing who was here.

"What do you think?" he gritted out.

"I know what I think. I want to know what your answer is." She snapped her fingers out to the side. "Donnie, turn the speaker off."

The music stopped.

" Papá made the decision to take Dirty Dogs out of the skins and drugs game. What did you think, Joel? Did you support his decision?"

"No," he pushed out.

"No?" she repeated.

As she stared him down, Esteban and I cataloged the expression on every single face. Ricco's first. He was shocked as he whipped to face Joel.

"No. That's been our bread and butter since we built this club. Why would we cut ourselves off at the knees?"

"We don't need those businesses. We still smuggle. We now run the chop shop, which is making almost as much as a week's profit of drugs with one car. Because the price tags are big. So why is that cutting ourselves off?"

"Because now we're fucking pussies."

"Hmm. Right." She walked around Joel, making her rounds in front of the small group of men. "Who here feels the same way?"

Only two men raised their hands. Promising.

I caught Esteban’s eye. He nodded. We both knew exactly who they were and who they hung out with.

"Ricco?" She spun to a stop and faced Ricco. "Did you support these changes?"

"Yeah," he grunted, his gaze darting between Rita and Joel. "You know I did."

"Actually, I didn't. Javier made the decision and I didn't think anything else of it. Partly, because I was the one who raised the ideas to him. Partly, because I'd been oblivious to the people I called family." She laughed. "I had no fucking idea that so many men I knew and loved were scum."

Joel and the other two guys stiffened.

"Let me tell you how this is going to go." Rita resumed her walking, eyeing down each man. The girls had started to edge back toward the wall, as if they could sense the rising tension. "The Dirty Dogs will not ever run those businesses again. Am I clear?"

"Like fuck we will. There's going to be a vote–" Joel pivoted so he could keep her in his line of sight.

She raised her hand and wiggled her finger back and forth in a tutting motion. "That's where you're wrong. There is not going to be a vote. I'm calling it. After all the shit and espionage leading to several of the deaths in this club, I'm taking over."

Joel bellowed, raising his hands as if he was going to choke Rita .

I jumped forward, pulling my gun, but before either Esteban or I could get a shot off, Rita kicked out her heel, stabbing Joel right above the knee.

He cursed as she yanked her shoe out of his leg. She bent down and adjusted the shoe over her heel. Glancing at Esteban, she said, "Make a note to get straps added to my special heels. We'll get them made for the girls."

I grinned and Esteban laughed. Such a random thing to say in the middle of this .

Joel was bent over with blood gushing through his fingers. She placed the ball of her shoe on his shoulder and pushed him back. He rolled onto his ass as he cursed.

Smiling, she faced the men.

"Like I said, there's not going to be a vote. We will not be going back to the old ways. We've progressed. Now, there are plenty of things we could vote on, but not who's going to lead, and not about picking businesses back up that hurt women and children." Her smile dropped and her expression was chilling. "Clear?"

No one answered.

"Is that clear?" Esteban boomed.

A couple men chorused agreement but most men remained quiet with their jaws open.

"Now, here's your one out. You don’t like where we're at? You get a one time pass to leave. You don't have to stay in the Dirty Dogs, but you can't stay here . You want out? Fine. Leave. But you better leave this country. Because if I find out you've restarted businesses, I won't be the only one on your asses."

Rita pointed out the two men who had raised their hands. "Are you staying or going?"

"Staying."

"Good. Glad to have you still be Dirty Dogs." She walked over to Ricco, touching his shoulder as if in consolation of the harsh way she'd snapped at him. "I know you're on my side, as much as you can be while thinking there's a better leader for the gang. Fine. You don't have to like me at the top to respect me. Because I will do what's right for all of us. But I need you to do something for me."

"What's that?" he asked gruffly. He seemed so confused.

"Lock up Joel and those two men. Joel, because he's been conspiring against the Dirty Dogs, and we need to make sure those two aren't involved before they're allowed to be let go."

"What the fuck?" One of the men started running as Joel started yelling expletives, but his voice was a rasp.

She reached her hand back and I placed the picture in her hand. Without missing a beat she slapped it against Joel’s chest. “Here’s your proof. This piece of shit tried to execute me in my own house. Maybe he would have if Matías hadn’t been there.”

There was a moment of silence as Joel’s eyes widened. The photo fluttered to the ground and landed face up.

As soon as it settled, chaos reigned as shouts went up and several men raced forward and started punching and kicking Joel. He didn’t even try to defend himself.

Shaking his head, Ricco moved forward, lifting a bloody Joel off the ground. Ricco grunted but Joel didn't seem to be putting up a fight.

The runner was caught as the other man held his hands up.

"I'm going to go easily because I have nothing to hide." He made sure to make eye contact with all three of us. "I may have liked the way we were, but that does not mean I wanted any of my brothers to die."

"Fair enough." Rita motioned for them to be taken away .

Once the three men were gone, the remaining Dirty Dogs came up and spoke to Rita, letting her know they had her support but expected a full detailed report once she knew exactly what had been going on.

"I'll deliver it. There will be no secrets like this in the Dirty Dogs anymore. But I have a job for the rest of you. If you're up for it."

They didn't even need to think about it. Every single one was in.

Rita glanced over at us with a smile painted on those gorgeous lips.

"Make the calls, boys."