I laughed thinking about it. We had been so dumb and had no understanding of what kinds of threats were out there for us. We were honest to God lucky nothing had happened to us.

Music thumped through the large speakers while men and women shook their asses and everything else they had on the dance floor below us. All of them were oblivious to what just occurred in the back of the bar, which was perfect, easier to clean up. It was also a sure sign life went on even in the midst of someone’s mistakes.

Scraper led us to the plush red velvet chairs with the white trim in our closed off room. We took a seat in the dimly lit space where glass mirrored walls lined the front, allowing a great view of the bar and dance floor.

The waitress with her tight red and white shirt and barely there black shorts approached hastily after we were seated. “What can I get ya, ladies?”

The perkiness of the woman’s voice made me want to wretch. I had been a lot of things in my life, but perky was not one of them, and I was seriously not in the mood for a bubbly cheerleader. I let it go, however, ignoring it.

“Shots!” Both Kiera and I said together then smiled, looking at each other knowingly. I loved how we could always read each other’s minds. Sometimes it was a bit scary when we could do it from across the room.

“Patrón, please. Just bring the bottle, glasses, and limes,” I said.

She nodded, rushing off down the stairs with Dune’s eyes latched on to her ass. Men.

Kiera leaned back in the chair, her eyes flickering around, surveying our surroundings. She had a radiant beauty about her. Her long, chestnut brown hair in a shade or two different than my own flowed down her back. She had brown eyes with golden specks flashing inside of them, so different than my bluish-green eyes. She drew in any man she wanted, but rarely did she take a guy up on his propositions. She was happy with herself just the way she was, and I loved her dearly.

With Scraper at the entrance of the VIP area, Dune and Case made themselves at home on the other side of the small space, leaning against the wall, mirroring each other with arms crossed over their chests.

We loved having our own area up here. It gave us the opportunity to dance when we wanted and then get away without anyone bothering us unless we wanted them to. It was no secret who we were—personally or professionally—but neither of us ever let that shit go to our heads.

“Antonio had the fucking balls to screw some chick while he was here with you?” Kiera broke the silence between us, obviously not done talking about what had happened. In truth, I wasn’t done, either. I needed to get shit out and calm the hell down.

I chuckled even though I didn’t find any part of it a bit funny; it was just what came out with an evil death twinge to it. “Stupid, huh? And he must have set it up ahead of time because he wanted to make it quick. There’s no way he just picked this chick up tonight. He was in there less than five minutes. I should feel bad for the woman, but I don’t. He never could keep it up long. Loser,” I growled with the laughter. He always had been fast to the punch, but it was one of those things I’d overlooked.

“I thought you said he was good in bed?” She raised her eyebrow in question, staring at me. I had never lied to Kiera and never would.

I shrugged. “Define good. He made me come. Was it mind-blowing? Fuck no, but he made me feel good, told me I was beautiful, blah, blah, blah. He acted like he wasn’t afraid of my dad or brothers beating the shit out of him, but who the hell knows?” I wondered if all of that was a lie, too. More than likely, yes.

“Dumbass. He should have worried about you,” Kiera said with another slight giggle.

She had seen my handiwork over the years. Some of it was a bit overdone, but I always had a purpose, like tonight. I wasn’t one of those women who were lovers and not fighters. While I wanted to be, I was more the opposite. I always blamed it on my brothers because I sure as shit didn’t want to blame myself.

“No shit there.” I laughed for real this time. Everyone, including my family, sometimes underestimated me. It worked out in my favor, though. I was a snake—lethal when you pissed me off and would strike when you least expected it. “What a fucking pussy. Did you see him?” I rolled my eyes, waving my hand, unable to help myself. “I didn’t realize how big of one he was until tonight.” Antonio didn’t come off to me like that for all the months I had known him. He had always been a standup guy, even to my father. It was like he did a one-eighty.

“Sorry, babe.” Her arm snaked around my shoulders, and she pulled me to her side, giving me a squeeze as I leaned into her comforting touch. The compassion she gave me filled my heart.

If anything, I knew I would always have her by my side. We might grow old and gray together because no man had the balls to step up to either of our fathers, but we would have each other.

The waitress flounced back into the room, setting glasses full of clear liquid, the bottle, and a bowl of limes onto the small table in front of us. Kiera released me, leaned over, and handed me a shot while taking one for herself. Then she held it high in the air, and I followed. She was clearly in a toasting mood tonight. Fine by me.

“To one day finding Mr. Right who loves to eat pussy and not be one!”

I laughed hard at her words, clinking my glass to hers and watching the clear liquid sway around the glass. We tossed back the shot in unison, and I felt the burn race down my throat then splash into my stomach. I sucked on a lime and squinted at the sourness on my tongue, already thinking it was time for another.

If anything, Kiera’s love life was worse than mine when it came to her family. With her dad—my Uncle Vino—being the head of the family, guys flocked to her, too, but their main goal was to be with the boss’s daughter, marry her, and then take over the business. At least with my dad as second in command, it wasn’t as bad.

Who was I fucking kidding? We were both doomed.

Several shots and some serious lime sucking later, our laughter billowed all around us. My body relaxed, and the tension from the asshole melted away.

I scanned the joint, seeing if there were any potential men in the crowd—hey, I was a free woman now—but none were calling to me. Maybe it was just me. Getting laid had never been the problem; it was all the other shit in my life that came into play. After the night I’d had, I wasn’t feeling it all that much.

There might not be potential men, but that was a moot point as my brother Val, his best friend Ace, and a man I had never seen before—but holy hell would like to see more of—entered the VIP section. I breathed out deeply and quickly turned away from the handsome man, my body fluttering by merely being in the same room as him.

What was wrong with me? Men didn’t do this to me. Ever. My eyes connected with my brother’s, whose tight brows, sky blue eyes glaring, and thin-lined mouth told me he was pissed as shit. Too damn bad. I was too drunk to care.

“What mess did you get yourself into this time?” Val asked in a clipped tone. Most people would probably fall at his feet and pray for mercy or cower in a corner at that tone. Me? Not so much.

Being my younger brother by two years, he thought it was his job to protect me. For some reason, he thought he was the older sibling and took the overprotective brother thing to another level. Too bad he was wrong.

Val and I were almost carbon copies of each other, with the same dark hair and golden-toned skin. The only difference was Val had blue eyes, while I had ones that were sometimes blue and sometimes green. It simply depended on the lighting. Even with his more rough and demanding features, no one would mistake that we were siblings.

I waved him off, flicking my hand in the air because nothing would tap down his anger. It was too raw in his eyes. Whenever something went badly that involved me, he had serious issues. God love him, but he needed to calm the hell down.