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Face the Music

Chapter Thirty-Five: Face the Music

"Monroe, get out of this building. Right now."

A grimace crossed over Vincent's face as he faced down a mother hen with ruffled feathers.

"Dante, shut up," I said, glaring at him as I snagged Vincent's hand.

His brown eyes snapped to mine, narrowing before he placed his hands on his hips. "Are you serious right now?"

"Yes."

"Jules, have you looked in a mirror?"

"Yes, which is why I need a few days off."

"A few days?" Dante sputtered, blinking at me like I had lost my head. Which maybe I had. If you had told me a few months ago that I would be standing in front of my boss, hand in hand with a gang leader, asking for time off so I didn't get killed . . .

Well, I probably would've thought you were crazy.

"That is going to take weeks to heal."

"Then I need a few weeks off."

Dante held up a hand, rubbing the other across his forehead. My guess was he was about five minutes away from an aneurysm. And not about to take the next bit very well.

"And you'll need to keep an eye on Devyn too."

If looks could kill, my new home would've been at the bottom of the ocean. Dante looked like he wanted to wring my neck himself, and probably would have if I would've been in better condition. His eyes travelled to the woman in question, and she just waved her fried pickle at him before refocusing on her phone.

"How did you get caught up in this?" Dante asked her, speaking through his teeth.

"Flirted with the wrong guy."

My eyes widened and I bit my lip to keep from laughing.

There was a vein in Dante's forehead that suddenly became very pronounced. His head turned slowly to stare at Vincent. Before my eyes, I watched Dante harden into a version of himself I was sure I had never seen. And somehow, I knew that I wasn't looking at just my boss anymore. The man in front of us was the gang member who had thrown in the towel more than twenty years ago. His jaw worked a few times before he spoke.

"You've now put two women that I deeply care about in the line of fire. Do you realize that?"

"Yes," Vincent replied, squeezing my hand. "I'm taking every precaution to make sure nothing else happens to them."

"Else," Dante hissed, his eyes narrowing to slits. "If either of them had any sense, they never would have been involved with you in the first place."

"Hey!" Devyn and I chorused, identical expressions of outrage on our faces.

"Be quiet."

Devyn flipped him off, and I crossed my arms over my chest. "Dante, I love you, but we're going to be fine."

"Oh, that I don't doubt. Because I'm going to be coming out of retirement."

I felt more than saw Vincent's reaction. His entire body went rigid, and I twisted to glance at him. There was a look of controlled awe on his face as Dante extended a hand to him.

"Are you sure?" Vincent asked, his voice frigid as he met Dante's glare. "It's going to be hard taking orders when you're used to being the leader."