Risk (Gentry Boys #2)(74)

It was the same setup as last time. Another posh building that had been emptied out. Another clever password uttered a half dozen times in order to get inside.

Declan stayed close to us. I was suddenly grateful to Saylor for seeking him out. If the worst happened tonight then Cord and Chase would need him badly.

The elevator ride to the roof was silent. When the doors opened, Cord and Deck exited. I started to follow but noticed Chase was hanging back. He leaned against the back of the elevator and looked at me with sorrow.

“I hate this,” he said.

I put my arm around his shoulder. “I know, Chasyn.”

Gabe was standing there waiting. He grinned. I remembered what Declan had said about where Gabe’s bets were tonight and I wanted to remove every one of his f*cking teeth.

“We’ve got the whole family here,” Gabe said and laughed. He held his hand out to my cousin. “I never knew you were a Gentry, Deck.”

Declan stared at the outstretched hand and promptly spat in it.

“Now you know,” he smiled.

A passing waiter handed Gabe a napkin and he wiped his hand clean. He wasn’t going to show any anger but his eyes were cold.

“Have a seat, gentlemen. Enjoy the refreshments. The action will begin shortly.”

“I hate that *,” Declan said.

Cord was confused. “How do you know him?”

“You forget, Cordero? I know everyone.”

Chase let out a low whistle. “Shit,” he whispered, looking around at the glitz and the beautiful bodies. “It’s like some kind of sick f*cking dystopian country club.”

“What’s dystopian?” asked Declan.

Cord leaned over and jerked his head. “That’s him, ain’t it?”

I saw where Cord was looking. They were all there, the same nasty looking sons of bitches who had stood by Jester last time. They all had their shirts off to display the symbols on their chests, in case there was any confusion over what they were about. Declan let out an involuntary hiss and Chase cursed softly. There, at the center, was Jester. He stood still and silent as his friends jostled around him. These brawls didn’t always end in someone’s death but Jester had every intention of making sure this one did. There was nothing in his eyes but stone cold destruction.

Declan led us over to the opposite corner. I heard shrill laughter erupting from some of the suits and socialites who milled about. Some gazed at us with detached interest. Others sized us up coolly. I could tell those men were the ones who had real money on the line tonight.

“Hey Chase,” I called.

My brother was at my side in an instant. “Yeah, Big C?”

I looked up at the sky. In the city the stars weren’t as visible as they were out in the desert. Still, some of them managed to outshine the artificial lights. I suddenly wanted to know the names of them all. I asked my brother to tell me.

“Follow where I point,” he said. “That right there, is Ursa Minor. You’ll recognize the piece commonly called The Little Dipper. Over there is her big sister, Ursa Major.” Chase went on and on. He was always such a sarcastic clown. Sometimes I forgot how much else there was to him. Chase knew the stars like he knew so many things. He’d had a bottomless thirst for knowledge his whole life. He should have been born to a family who would have nurtured that brilliance.

Cord crossed his arms and I looked at the ink decorating his skin. Cordero, our rock, was finally in a good place. He was making his way using his natural talent and had managed to leave the pain of his past behind. He would be a husband. He would be a father. The name Gentry was going to mean something far different in the family he was building.

“You show them,” I said suddenly.

Chase stopped talking.

Cord stared at me curiously. “Who?”

“All of ‘em.” I grabbed my boys around their necks and pulled them to me, hugging them so hard it hurt.

In the background the bell was sounding. The announcer began gleefully howling about blood battles and rage. Then I heard him say the same thing he’d said the night Emilio died.

“Rules don’t live in this house.”

I couldn’t manage to let my brothers go yet. “I love you guys,” I whispered. It was something always known, but never spoken.

“I love you too,” they answered at the same time. I let them go.

Deck seized me. “Remember,” he growled. “Whatever means f*cking necessary. You gotta break some shit on your own body to get there then so be it. But get there, Creedence.”

Jester was already in the ring. Every face was excitedly turned in our direction. I pulled my shirt off and touched the tattoo on my chest. Yield to no one. I needed those words tonight. Before I stepped into the ring I turned to Cord and Chase one last time.

“One more thing. Tell her she was it for me. I should have told her that myself.”

Chase couldn’t answer but Cord nodded. “I will.”

Jester was waiting for me. There was something worse than rage in his face. He was planning on enjoying this.

Everything I’d ever learned I brought with me into that ring. I brought the best ways to blunt Benton’s wrath and the strength I’d grown into. I brought the things Cordero had taught me about being the best fighter I could, the best man I could. I brought Declan’s blunt honesty and Chase’s grudging devotion. I even brought Saylor, the girl who’d somehow grown to love me like a sister. I brought the child I badly wanted to meet.