“Mason.”

“Shane.”

We eyed each other like two dogs in an alley. Shane had never messed with me or mine, but he was a Raiser, and his brothers certainly had.

Plus, he was the most unpredictable fucker I’d met in my life.

His green eyes were cold as he ran a knife under his nails.

“Cain’s late.”

“He’ll be here.”

Shane’s eyes snapped up to mine. He was like a rattlesnake. Quick and mean.

And then he smiled.

A fucking chill went down my spine. That smile was scarier than any of the stories I heard about him. The rumor was that he was a cold, hard killer.

Or at least a maimer. If you crossed him, even the tiniest bit, he’d hurt you bad. I’d heard that the last guy who called him pretty boy had his arm snapped like a toothpick.

Shane was proficient in martial arts and had extensive military training before he joined the Raisers. Special ops, if the rumors were true. He was intense, off kilter, and very, very strong.

So killing wasn’t that big of a stretch.

But if he tried to hurt anyone I cared about, he’d be the one begging for mercy.

I smiled back, showing my teeth. The threat was implicit. He should have been pissed or scared, maybe both.

Instead, he laughed.

“I knew there was a reason I liked you.”

His eyes flickered over my shoulder. Cain had arrived. It was bizarre, sitting here with two club presidents. But since I had nearly been the head of the Untouchables a few years back, maybe it made a sort of backwards sense. Plus, with my bar in the middle of two territories, I was almost like the one who ran the border.

“Cain.”

“Shane. Mason.”

He slid into the booth, his eyes constantly scanning the room. Cain was equally scary, but more in control than Shane. I knew if he wanted to kill me, I’d damn well know.

Shane was still smiling. There was something unnerving about that smile. It reminded me of Dante.

That motherfucker had been the worst of the lot.

“You have information.”

Shane bobbed his head.

“Yeah, sure. Dante wasn’t the killer.”

Cain rubbed his face and gave me a look.

“Yeah, we got that. Where does that leave us?”

Shane leaned back in his seat and stretched his arms out across the back of the booth.

“Don’t get me wrong, Dante definitely signed off on whatever was going down.”

Cain’s gravelly voice was incredulous.

“And you didn’t.”

Shane grinned crazily.

“That’s right.”

“What the fuck are you smiling at? If you have unapproved kills happening behind your back then you have no control over your men.”

Shane’s smile dropped and he leaned forward, stabbing a knife into the table inches from Cain’s hands. Cain didn’t flinch. Neither did I.

“Oh, I have control. There’s some twisted fuck who is challenging me. I’m going to find him.”

The smile was back, even crazier than ever.

“And I’m going to tear his skin off.”

He looked at me, his eyes shining.

“What do you think, Mason? Should I deep fry it? Make him eat it?”

I raised my brows, considering. Shane was serious. And this was some serious Game Of Thrones shit.

“Sounds like something Ramsey would do.”

For a split second I saw real humor in his eyes. Humor, surprise and maybe even a touch of sanity. Then it was gone.

“You are fucking funny, you know that?”

I ignored the question.

“Any idea who it is?”

“Oh, I got ideas. The question is why do you want to know, Saint James?”

“You know why.”

“Maybe it’s that pretty lady you got staying at your house? Or her kid? Or Sapphire. She’s got a little one and another on the way, don’t she?”

Dante used to call Cassie ‘Sapphire’ on account of her bright blue eyes. I didn’t hesitate. I leaned forward, a hard glint in my eyes.

“You listen to me, motherfucker, if anyone even looks at my family, you are fucking dead.”

He laughed, throwing his head back. Deep and way too loud. I glanced at Cain and he gave me a look of sympathy. Shane was off his damn rocker.

“You got nothing to worry about from me. I don’t hurt women or kids.”

It might seem crazy but I believed him. His next words erased all that relief in a heartbeat though.

“But this fucker, he does.”

“We’ve had a couple of club girls carved up real good. Not dead, but wishing they were. They won’t be talking anytime soon. He broke their fingers and cut out their tongues.”

And just like that, I knew real terror.

“You know something. Tell us. We can handle it.”

Shane’s hand came down on the table hard.

“My house. My mess.”

He flipped a switch and the crazy smile was back.

“Nice seeing you, boys. Tell me if something comes up. And tell that Connor to back off.” Shane leaned forward and whispered. “He’s starting to get on my nerves.”

Then he stood up and slowly walked out.