With Poppy still under observation at the hospital, Angel, Bishop, and Coco gathered at Angel's chop shop for their meeting with Marcus Alvarez. Angel and Coco were in the dark, they had no idea what any of it was about and Bishop wouldn't speak on it. They got an idea of exactly what they were dealing with when Marcus rolled in on his Harley, proudly wearing his kutte.
"Oh shit," Coco murmured to Angel. "Look at el jefe."
"His club actually calls him El Padrino," Bishop told them. "Don't be assholes, we need this."
Coco and Angel shared a look but agreed, albeit silently, and waited for Marcus to make his way. He had two men with him, both wearing Mayans kuttes, who Bishop clearly knew well.
They all hugged, shamelessly ignoring Angel and Coco until the greetings were done. Marcus then looked at the young men and nodded.
"I'm Marcus Alvarez," he said, oddly somber. "Bishop says you got a problem."
Angel nodded. "Uh yeah, we do."
"I have the solution," he told them. "Mi primo trusts you, thinks you're good guys, that means a lot, especially when we have a cartel problem."
"It's uh, more cartel adjacent," Coco said.
Laughing, Marcus nodded at Bishop and gestured to Coco, "I like him. Where can we talk?"
"Wait," Angel shook his head, pulling a face. "What is this even about?"
"You ever heard of a one percent motorcycle club?" Bishop asked them.
Pausing a second, Angel nodded. "Yeah." He looked to Coco. "You?"
"Yeah, I seen em'," he said casually.
"That's what this is about, mano," Marcus told them. "That's who we are and it's who you could be."
Angel laughed. "Me? Nah," he shook his head.
"If you don't have protection and someone backing you, if you kill this man they will want something for their losses and that could be blood or it could be a successor," Marcus explained.
Angel looked at Bishop with uncertainty. It seemed like a huge commitment for one murder but in some ways a murder itself was a commitment, a lifetime commitment. Once Angel did this he could be killed or spend the rest of his life in prison...for Poppy.
"I don't want this shit going sideways," Angel said staunchly. "But this motherfucker is gonna die," he looked at Coco who shrugged.
"I'm doing it," Bishop announced. "This, for me, has nothing to do with Poppy. I want to help her but I got shit prospects anyway," he explained. "Do what you want here, but no matter where you land, I'm throwing in here with the Mayans."
That made Angel and Coco pause.
"They don't have to decide now," Marcus said sagely. "Let's see how they handle this problem and we'll decide if they're worthy of wearing the kutte.
--
Even if Angel had not asked his little brother to sit in with Poppy while he was busy with Coco and Bishop, he still would have been there. He arrived with a bouquet of white lilies, his late wife's favorite flower, and sapphire roses, wearing a sunny smile on his face despite the sick feeling in his stomach.
"Hey," he poked his head in. "Care for some company?
Poppy beamed and nodded, waving enthusiastically for him to join her in the room. "EZ," she felt her cheeks flush as he presented her with the flowers. "You shouldn't have, really."
"I wanted to," he said, kissing her cheek. "How are you feeling?"
"A little hungry," she sighed, "And a lot freaked out."
EZ nodded, sounded pretty typical for what she'd been through. "I can see if you're allowed to eat," he offered, "If so I can run out and bring you some dinner. As for the freaked out part, nothing and no one is gonna touch you not while I'm here."
"You're sweet," she giggled. "I appreciate it, EZ."
He nodded and waved his hand, dismissing her compliment. "Did they figure anything out yet? What it was?"
"Nope," she said, sounding unsettled by the lack of information. "I hate it."
"I don't blame you," he commiserated. "I'm sure it's driving your doctor insane too, they'll figure it out."
"I just don't want it to happen again," she frowned.
"Hey," he reached over and gently took her hand in his. "What did I say? No one's gonna hurt you. I swear."
Poppy shook her head. "You don't know Luca."
"He doesn't know me," EZ growled. "I'm not going to let another innocent woman get hurt by some selfish asshole, I don't care what we have to do."
Poppy smiled at him and EZ felt his heart flutter in his chest. She looked too much like Nina, he knew that was why, but suddenly he felt the need to do anything and everything possible to make her smile as often as possible.
"Let me go talk to your nurse, see if I can't get you some real food," he laughed, winking at her.
Kissing her cheek again, EZ left the room and sighed, catching his reflection in the window.
"She's Angel's girl," he told himself. "Don't get it twisted."
