***
The house was full of people by the time I pulled up in the driveway. My brothers had set up a table in the front room to play domino's, and Maria was alone in the kitchen working on lunch for everyone.
"Johnny. Come on, man. We'll make room for one more."
"Just a minute." I lifted my hand and walked into the kitchen. "You need to get those bastards up and helping you."
"It's okay. I like it in here by myself. Let's me think about momma doing this for all those years." She smiled over at me, her pudgy cheeks not detracting at all from her beauty.
I moved up behind her and wrapped my arm around her shoulders before leaning down and kissing her cheek. "You need to talk Sicily into moving back from Maine."
"No way." She worked to chop up lettuce and tomatoes. "She loves it there and she has her bakery."
"So, we can open her one here." I gave Maria another squeeze before releasing her and walking to the stove. "You need me to grill these burgers?"
"Neiman was going to, but I think he got caught up in playing with the guys." She shrugged and handed me a slice of tomato like momma used to do every time she cut them.
"Thanks." I grabbed it and tossed it in my mouth before working to gather everything we needed to grill the burgers. "Have you talked to Sis lately? How is she doing? That fucker she's dating behaving at all?"
Maria laughed. "They're getting married. Stop acting like he's just a fling."
"I wish he was." I grabbed the burgers and headed out of the kitchen. "How we let her end up with a Mafia warlord is beyond me."
"Someone call my name?" My brother, Paulo glanced up and gave a goofy grin.
"Yeah. I said Maria needs a few bitches in the kitchen." I winked. "That would mean all of you."
They slung insults as I walked out in the chilly late spring afternoon to the grill. We lived on the shitty side of town, or I did at least. Mom and Dad hadn't built or bought another house my entire childhood, and I didn't plan on giving up the one we grew up in anytime soon. It was functional and held a lot of memories, and it was safe.
I could relax and simply be myself there. There was no reason to toughen up or present a front to my family. They knew me in all my many personas, and they loved me.
For that, I was blessed.
The sound of hogs on the road down the street got my attention and pulled me from my thoughts. I finished putting the burgers on the grill and walked around the house to find the guys pulling up.
"Well damn," I mumbled and walked toward Axel as he parked his bike and pulled his helmet off. "What the fuck are you guys doing here? Sundays are for family."
Hyde laughed and got off his bike. "We are your family, bitch."
"True." I extended my hand and pulled him into a quick hug before doing that to the rest of them. "I don't have enough food for you big bitches. You should have told someone-"
Maria cut me off as she walked down the stairs behind me with another tray of hamburgers. "I knew they were coming. Caleb called to make sure it was okay."
I glanced over at Caleb, the responsible one and rolled my eyes. "Pansy."
"At your service." He winked and walked past me toward the house. "I hear bones being thrown."
"I'm in." Derek followed him and Hyde half-danced up the stairs.
"You guys are fucking weird." I turned back to Axel, his face a mask of worry. He waited until the door was shut behind me to speak.
"What were you doing with Candace King last night, Johnny? What the fuck is the matter with you, man? You could have any woman in the whole damn city, and yet you're shaking up with our greatest enemy's little sister? You trying to start something?"
"No," I barked and gave him a warning look before turning back to the grill. I was the president of our MC, but it wasn't traditional at all. It was a brotherhood that had banded together more than the gang it had originally been.
"Then what were you doing?"
"Busting a nut, Axel." I glanced his way and pursed my lips as we stood in silence for a second. "It's none of your goddamn business, and you know it."
"No. It is my goddamn business. Tanner King hates your ass for leaving them and dropping his sister in a puddle of grief."
"She used me," I spit out through clenched teeth. "We've been through this a million times. The bitch used me to get what they wanted and fucked up my life forever. You think rotting in jail for five years was fun while they enjoyed the spoils of my adventures? She didn't miss me then. She's a fucking viper."
"Okay. I'm aware of this." He dropped down on a broken cooler on the ground next to the grill. "Why would you sleep with her?"
"I didn't sleep with her. I fucked her like a whore and kicked her out." I shrugged and turned to flip the burgers.
Axel let out a long, exhausted sigh. "But why?"
"Because I still love her." I turned to him and glared down at him. "Shut the fuck up about it, or I'll treat you like a whore too."
He held up his hands and nodded. "Alright. I know when to back off. Just know that when Tanner comes after your stupid ass that I'll be there for you. We all will."
I bit my tongue and kept after the burgers, hoping that he'd go inside and leave things be. I was a grown ass man. I didn't need anyone screening my bedmates. Least of all Axel.
He fought more demons from his past than all of us put together. Being a part of the Cooper clan from the west coast left him no choice but to fight. He had mafia in his blood. He was lucky those bastards hadn't come to collect him - yet.
"Johnny." Axel's tone had changed.
I glanced back to see the concern on his face. "What?"
"Jason's high again." He turned to walk to the front yard.
"Fuck." I turned down the heat on the grill and followed Axel to the front yard. My nephew, Jason was getting out of his car, giggling like a school girl and falling all over himself.
"Hey!" I walked up to him and gripped the front of his shirt. The kid was the spitting image of my brother Roberto. His grave was right next to my mom and dad's in the cemetery down the street. "What are you hyped up on now?"
"Uncle J." He laughed and reached up to grab my forearms as he slumped against me. He smelled like sex and burnt hair. "Good to see you, man. Men. Mans?" He laughed again as his eyes rolled back in his head.
"Stupid little shit." I gripped the front of his shirt and half-dragged him in the house. He stumbled behind me, singing something in a high-pitched voice.
"Oh no." Maria stepped out from the kitchen as I walked back with the idiot in tow. Her eyes filled with tears as she pressed her fingers to her lips. "Jon. Don't-"
"Don't tell me what to do," I barked angrily and pulled the kid to his bedroom in the back. I jerked him inside and chucked him across the room. "I told you to stay the fuck away from drugs."
"Sorry, Uncle J. Drugs and me... we'z friends." He smiled and chuckled as he dropped down on his bed and curled up on his side. "Don't be mad at me. I'm just like my daddy. You know. The one you let die."
"Bastard." I came across the room and jerked him up.
"Hit me. Hit me hard and knock me out of my misery, Uncle J. Let loose on me. Fuck me up good." His eyes filled with tears.
"Don't leave this fucking house again until I say you can. Got it?" I dropped him on the bed and turned, slamming the door behind me. My brother's only son was mine now, and I was doing about as good of a job with him as I had with Roberto when our parents died.
Jason would end up in jail, someone's bitch or dead.
And once again... it would be my fault.