Rocky Ace de Luna POVMichael Cortez and Simon Portes. Those two delinquents had made a mistake. A serious mistake. As I dragged them down the dark alley, I wondered if they’d gotten that message left.About two months ago, they mugged some old lady three blocks away. They’d been lucky I wasn’t anywhere near that spot. If I were, I would have beaten the shit out of them. Then this would never have happened tonight. Aryana would have locked the place up and gone home, without worrying about a couple of assholes trying to earn their stripes.Cortez and Portes had been desperate to get into the Gregorio family. They thought they deserved to be part of a crew because they thought they were so big and bad. Yeah, right. I’m pretty damn sure I proved otherwise to them tonight. Hell, Aryana had been on the path to proving otherwise. I never thought I’d see the pretty barmaid with a shotgun in her hands, but she looked like she knew how to use it.If nothing else, she’d scared those two asshole
Rocky Ace POV I grunted, nodding. None of us knew her well, but we had eyes. She’d be hard not to notice. “She actually pulled a shotgun on them.”“Seriously?” Craig grinned. “I’d have liked to see that.”Yeah, it’d been quite the sight. “I took care of them for her.”“Ouch.” Craig cringed. “That had to hurt. Them, I mean.”“It did,” I confirmed with a nod. “If I ever see them again anywhere near the Tambayan Rolling Barrel Bar & Restaurant again, they’re dead. You tell me if you see them, okay?”“Will do,” Craig nodded in agreement, Montero joining in a few seconds late. He all but fell into the corner booth we chose. With another groan, he leaned his elbows on the sticky table and palmed his face.“Damn…” he croaked. “That hangover’s killing me. Craig, you tell him the plan.”“Ace’s right,” Craig uttered in an annoyed voice, tossing a sideways glare at him. “I should have stopped you before you got drunk out of your fucking mind.”“Ah, shit…” Montero muttered, his eyes shut as his
Craig Gomez POV Shaking off glass shards, I nodded. My hands were bleeding, but I could grip the steering wheel. The side mirror was missing, but I pulled out into the street, tearing recklessly through the intersection. “You guys okay?” I called out, my ears still ringing.“Yeah,” Montero spat. He’d been closer to the blast than us, but he’d had more room to duck behind the protection of the back seat. “What about Rocky Ace?”My heart sank as I looked over at the passenger seat. My friend had been thrown forward, his face resting on top of the dashboard. Shards of glass were lying around his head. A larger chunk had been lodged into the side of his neck. Blood was spilled out, disappearing under the collar of his white shirt.“Ace!” I shoved his shoulder, panic filled me.His groan was barely audible, but at least it reassured me that he was alive.Montero leaned forward, cussing as shards of glass cut his hands. “Rocky Ace, can you hear me?”There was another groan.“Fuck!” Montero
Aryana Joy Santini's POVHe was the tallest of the three, at least 6’ 3” with brown hair and a short, well-trimmed beard… His upper body seemed to be suffocating in that tight, blue shirt. It was tight around the arms and across the chest. Perhaps Craig should have considered a bigger size when he bought that one, but it wasn’t like I was going to complain about the view. Nor about those dark green eyes that sometimes seemed to look right through you.My throat went dry as I stared up at him. He was so damn handsome and so damn close. I didn’t know him, but his concern about his friend touched me.But then my friend appeared. Pilar paused in the doorway, pulling off rubber gloves and leaning close to Craig to throw them away. “Your friend is going to be just fine,” she announced, bringing a broad smile to Craig’s face.“Thanks, Pilar.” He offered her a warm glance, his smile widening. “Can I go see him?”“You can, but I gave him a strong painkiller. He’s on the couch and likely to be
Montero Villar POVWhat a fucking crazy night.We drove back to the city slowly, Craig’s wreck of a car limping along. The first chance we got, we’d ditch it. Craig was surly about that. Ace was surly in general. I couldn’t remember the last time when we spent hours together and talked so little.Nobody was willing to speak. We all knew what a close call that had been.I wanted to blame shock for this weird silence, and yet, I couldn’t. We’d all come close to getting killed, more than once. In our line of work, we’d been shot at and stabbed, but this sort of gloom was a complete first. After a gunfight, we’d all mention this or that about our enemies and brush it off. Bullets and guns were part of the life. We got to suck this up, long before that goddamn van blew up right behind Craig’s car.XXXThe next morning, I woke up feeling better. The night was behind us. We’d survived. Rocky Ace was too thick-headed to be laid out by an injury like that. It was over.At least until the text
Aryana Santini POV If anyone told me this would happen, I would have laughed in their faces. I didn’t date my customers. Period. It was not only good business sense, but stating my rule firmly and clearly usually got the man in question to back down. Usually. But again, Ace, Craig, and Montero weren’t the ones who’d pressed the issue. Hell, they’d never even brought it up.And did those three even count as customers anymore? Rocky had beaten the crap out of two assholes who’d tried to rob me. I’d helped dress Craig’s wounds. And Montero… well, I hadn’t had much direct contact with him, but he’d been there on that crazy night out in Northern Horizon.I sat down on my loveseat and pulled my knees up to my chest. The small couch reminded me of how ridiculously large Rocky Ace had looked on the sofa at Zeny’s place.It had scared the hell out of me when I saw that shard of glass in his neck. Partly because I was a bit squeamish, but also because I didn’t want him to be hurt. He seemed un
Aryana Santini POVThe big man blinked as he raised an eyebrow.“And some ate plants. And a pterodactyl isn’t really a dinosaur at all.”Rocky Ace’s face broke into a crooked grin. “I should’ve known he’d like you.”“I think he did,” I said honestly. “He told me twice that my hair was pretty.”“That’s because it is.” Rocky reached out, but this time, he stilled his hand before it touched my hair. “You’re even shorter in your bare feet.”He was too close. Too close, and just too big, powerful, and masculine.“Yeah, um, that’s how it works.”He broke the intense eye contact. “Want something to drink?”I pulled myself together and gave him a small smile. “Isn’t that supposed to be my line?”“Not tonight. Have a seat, I’ll bring it out.”Settling back onto the sofa, I tried to figure out what was wrong with me. Eighty percent of my customers at the Tambayan Rolling Barrel were guys. Why did I keep reacting so strongly to him and his men?Rocky’s intense looks and his touch didn’t mean any
Rocky Ace De Luna POV“Time for a boys’ night out,” Montero had said.Just what I needed. One night, we almost got blown up. Another night, Aryana blew my fucking mind. She was so damn responsive to my touch. The way she’d moaned. The way she’d gasped and writhed on the sofa. It was all I could think about. So what the fuck was I doing in a strip club?But we hit this place a few times a month. It was what guys like us did. One incredible evening with a beautiful barmaid didn’t change that, which was probably a good thing. A sweet girl like her didn’t belong in my world. She belonged with someone else. In a nice place in the suburbs, with a caring husband, a bunch of kids, and a dog. She deserved a man who could make her his number-one priority.I couldn’t do that. Not for Aryana. Not for anyone else. Nobody forbade me to date. It was perfectly fine for guys like me, Montero, and Craig to go out with women. But I had no illusions. As soon as someone decided to take me out, anyone I ca