Jim leads Michael from my bedroom and into the living room where he sits down on the coffee table and points at the couch. Michael walks in front of me and Duke with a relaxed gait that I don’t expect. Duke and I flank Pop’s sides and remain standing. I know Michael and Jim have gotten closer and have almost come to an understanding in the last few weeks as far as his captivity is concerned. As it stands, we’re still at odds as for how to handle Michael. I don’t even know what we’re going to do with Scavo now, too.
“You trust this guy?” Jim says with his gaze firmly on Michael. His brows are drawn together, and he’s doing his best to keep a blank look on his face, but it’s not really working. As Michael takes a moment before he responds, Ryan is in the other room bitching at Grady for something or other. Probably for not shooting Scavo on sight. Trigger’s always had a temper, but his willingness to cap dudes is getting to historic levels. I don’t approve simply because a dead motherfucker is a silent motherfucker, and we need some goddamn answers already.
“Yeah, I do. He’s good people.” Michael leans forward a little bit and clasps his hands together in front of him. “You know you can trust me.”
I sit and wait for Jim to agree. Months ago there’s no way in fucking hell I’d say Jim and Michael would be getting along. Not because Michael hurt his twin sister. No, for Jim it’s because Michael hurt what belongs to him. The way Jim sees it is that if Alex belongs to Ryan, then she belongs to the club. Aside from the fact that she’s supposed to be under our protection, she’s one of us now because of my brother.
I’m still not at a place where I’m cool with calling her my sister, even if that’s who she is. It’s hard to go down that road with her being Trigger’s woman. Sometimes I think I can’t let myself accept her for who she is because of him and not because of our history. Regardless, she’s Forsaken, and that means she belongs to us. That much I’ve come to accept.
Michael’s eyes slide over to mine, and he holds them there for a long minute. The kid has already been given the lowdown on his family history. I can’t remember when Jim told him since I found out after the fact, but ever since then, Michael looks at me differently. His eyes fall on my scar, and he turns away quickly but not enough for me to avoid seeing the difficult pity in his eyes. I fucking hate pity. It doesn’t do me any good. We’re all fucked up and scarred—it’s just that mine are visible to the entire fucking world thanks to Carlo Mancuso. I wonder what it’s like to know your father is such an epic cocksucker. Can’t say I can empathize with him since I don’t even know who my father is. My dad, though, that’s Jim. He couldn’t be more my dad if he were my own blood.
“Listen, we just got to make sure this guy is gold before we listen to a fucking thing he has to say,” I say. I redirect my eyes from Michael to Jim to avoid having to face the younger brother I still don’t really know. Michael and Alex just bring me back to a place I’d rather not be. At least I see some of Ruby in Alex. The only thing I see of Ma in Michael is his eyes. Otherwise, he looks exactly like the bastard he was named after.
“I fucked up and hurt our sister. I won’t let that happen again,” Michael says and stops there. He’s not much for trying to convince me of anything anymore, but this is different. He’s bringing up shit he never has before, and damn if it doesn’t make my veins run ice cold.
Our sister.
“You’re not exactly someone I put much faith in.” I can feel Pop’s eyes carefully roaming my face to see if Michael’s statement is going to set me off. Part of me wishes it would so I can beat the shit out of the stupid fuck and act like I couldn’t help myself. Ma would be pissed if I pulled something like that, though. She’s got enough on her plate, and the last thing she needs is infighting between us.
“Your call, son.” Pop leans back, letting me take my time deciding.
We don’t have much of a choice but to give Scavo a chance to save his own life. He might have intel the club could use, and with the way shit keeps going sideways, we need all the intel we can get. There’s so much up in the air right now, especially with Rig’s fucking betrayal and subsequent disappearance. I’d have suggested we give priority to finding the pathetic fuck, but he’s too much of a pussy to stay around here. He’s got to be long gone by now.
I slide my eyes to Duke, who’s been silent so far. He gives a curt nod, solidifying my decision.
“Five minutes. If Scavo has anything useful, then you have a new roommate. Otherwise, I’m going to enjoy ending him myself.”
Michael nods his head in acceptance and looks down at his lap as he takes a deep breath and waits. I walk away from the impromptu pow-wow and fight the urge to knock Trigger’s teeth out when he starts bitching the moment he sees me. Days like today I have no clue how I’ve put up with this asshole for as long as I have without shooting him. Ma won’t like me beating the crap out of Michael, and even though she’d be more understanding of me shooting Trigger—I think—I know better than to push that theory, even if I’d only shoot him a little. Flesh wound, if that.