Liar (Madison Kate #2)(89)

"Like I said," Archer told his uncle and brother, "this isn't the time or the place. Steele will sort us out a meeting room where we can discuss this further, seeing as I doubt either of you will leave until you say what you came to say."

Kody cleared his throat. "I'll also remind you both that Hades's rules still apply, no matter how recently this property was acquired."

Ferryman and Zane both glared at Kody, but didn't argue with him. Whoever the fuck this Hades was, he must be someone damn scary to demand that kind of obedience from literal gang leaders.

Steele reappeared near the door, giving the boys a head jerk to indicate he had a private space, and Archer gave me a nudge to walk with them. Except Cass—Zane's tattoo-covered second—put a hand out to stop me.

"Don't bring the girl," he told Archer. His voice was firm but not demanding. It was more like sage advice from a friend than an order. "You know how Charon reacts when he doesn't get his way."

The tension rolled off Archer in waves that I could feel, and his jaw clenched so hard I could hear his teeth grinding together.

"I'll stay with her," Kody said quickly. "You go and deal with this shit. We don't need them breaking the truce here, of all places."

A quick series of silent communications later, the group of scary-ass gangsters—plus Archer and Steele—disappeared into the venue to discuss some vague "business" together in private.

Kody blew out a long breath, wrapping his arms around me and holding me tight enough to bruise my ribs.

"I should be angry as hell about being excluded from whatever is going on right now," I muttered in his ear as he buried his face in my hair. "But for once I'm kind of glad not to be included. I get the feeling tonight might end in bloodshed."

Kody's chest vibrated against mine as he growled a frustrated noise. "Fuck, I hope not," he replied, releasing me and weaving our fingers together to lead me inside. "We didn't bring anywhere near enough ammo for a fucking gang war tonight."

I raised my brows at him as we made our way over to the bar. "But you brought some? Who's armed?" My money was on Steele.

Kody wrinkled his nose at me, a bemused smile on his lips. "Seriously? All of us. Damn, babe, you need to start feeling us up a bit more when we're in public if you didn't know we basically never leave the house unarmed." He waved a bartender over and ordered us both non-alcoholic drinks, which told me everything I needed to know about how worried he was.

"Kody," I said, frowning. "You should go and keep an eye on things."

He shot me a quick look, then shook his head. "Nah, they'll be fine. Steele is worth about six dudes, and it looked like Zane only brought Cass with him. Charon probably has his second, Skate, lurking in the shadows somewhere too. But I don't think they came here with the intent to spill blood."

That only made me more concerned. "You don't think? Well, I don't think either Zane or Ferryman thought their rival gang would be here, either. But they are, and I can't help feeling like we just tossed a bucket of liquid nitroglycerine into a room and are now crossing our fingers that it won't explode."

Kody grimaced, and I knew he agreed.

"Look," I continued, "I get that Cass thinks it's a bad idea to bring me in, and I'm inclined to agree. Archer needs you guys one hundred percent focused on keeping him alive, and I'd only be a distraction. But you're never going to forgive yourself if something happens because you were too busy babysitting me to watch his back." Not to mention the fact that I'd never forgive myself. The three of them had a bond unlike anything I'd experienced, and I couldn't be the weak link.

He wavered for a second, his gaze shifting in the direction of the back room where the boys had gone, and I knew he was tempted. "No," he replied, shaking his head. "I'm not leaving you alone out here. Did you forget that people are trying to kill you?"

I snorted. "Like I ever could. But also, what if Ferryman is behind all of that?" It wasn't something I'd considered before, but nothing was beyond the realm of possibility.

"Babe," Kody groaned. "Please don't make this harder than it needs to be. Arch and Steele trust me to keep you safe, so that's what I'm going to do. End of discussion."

I rolled my eyes, but the stubborn set to his jaw told me he wasn't going to be easily persuaded otherwise. We took our drinks and wandered a bit until we spotted Bree and Dallas, who'd very much made up from their fight.

"Geez guys," I teased as Kody and I joined them at a low table where Bree was straddling Dallas and trying to eat his face off, "get a room or something."

They both startled, Bree almost falling off Dallas's lap, but she quickly recovered to smooth her silky brown hair back and tug her short skirt back down to cover her panties.

"Oh, hey," she replied, acting like she hadn't been grinding all over Dallas a second ago. She casually slid into her own seat and sipped her drink. "Did, uh, are things all okay?" Her nervous gaze darted between Kody and me as we pulled up chairs of our own.

Dallas cleared his throat, leaning forward with a concerned frown. "Kody, man, I didn't know Ferryman was going to—"

"Forget it," Kody snapped, cutting him off. "It wouldn't have actually been so bad if Zane weren't here, too."