“No, Hank,” Roxie said, her hand coming up to ward him off.

“Stel a’s right, you know,” Al y put in.

“Stel a’s right, you know,” Al y put in.

“Al y,” Lee said in a warning tone.

“You know she’s right,” Al y said back to Lee, quietly, softly, so un-Al y it was unreal.

Oh crap.

“I do and I don’t give a f**k,” Lee shot back at Al y, losing patience. “Indy and I are getting married in two weeks and Jules is pregnant –”

“She’s right,” Jules cut in, standing too. “Stel a’s right.”

“Oh f**k,” Luke muttered and looked at his boots.

“Quiet Jules,” Vance murmured.

Jules’s eyes turned to Vance. “I’l go somewhere.”

“No,” Vance replied.

“I’l go somewhere safe,” Jules went on.

Vance got close to Jules and put his hand on her bel y.

“You think I’m missin’ a minute of this, Princess, think again.”

I swal owed, hard.

“Then keep me safe,” Jules whispered.

I felt the tears hit my eyes.

Shit!

Shit, shit, shit!

I didn’t do crying.

I looked at Lee, he was looking at me, the muscle in cheek stil working. I got up and went to him. His arm went around my shoulders and he curled me into him. I wrapped mine around his waist.

I put my face into his neck and right at his ear, I whispered, “You know Stel a’s right.”

Lee’s body went solid.

Then he muttered, “Shit.”

“We can’t give up,” I went on.

Lee didn’t answer.

“We do this, he wins,” I told him.

Lee stil didn’t answer.

“This isn’t who we are, Lee,” I finished.

“Somethin’ happens to you –” Lee started.

I pul ed my head back and looked at him.

“Nothing’s gonna happen to me,” I promised.

He stared me in the eyes. His weren’t hard to read, he was angry but I could tel he was also relieved.

Like I said, Lee was not a man who gave up.

Then he bent his head and touched his lips to mine.

When he was done kissing me, he said, “Damn straight.” I felt something unknot in me. I hadn’t even noticed it was there but it had been tying me up al day.

Lee moved me to his side.

Al the Rock Chicks and their Hot Bunch Boys were in heated conversations.

“Do we need a vote?” Lee asked the group, cutting the conversations short.

Silence.

“I got things to do,” Lee reminded them.

“I’m in,” Hector said immediately, his eyes on Stel a.

“Me too,” Darius put in.

“In,” Ike added.

“God damn it,” Luke snapped.

“Luke?” Lee asked.

Luke looked at Lee then turned his head and tilted it down to look at Ava. She licked her lips and shrugged. He touched his forehead to hers, closed his eyes for a brief second then pul ed back.

“In,” he said.

“Vance?” Lee prompted.

Vance turned his eyes to Jules. She wrapped her arms around his waist from the side.

“Fuck,” Vance muttered. “Yeah.”

“Hank?”

Hank looked down at Roxie. “You’l go to Brownsburg?” he asked.

“If you want me to,” she replied.

Hank did a slow blink and an intake of breath.

“We’l talk about it later,” he murmured to Roxie and in a louder voice, he said, “In.”

“Eddie?” Lee asked.

“In,” Eddie said instantly and Jet smiled and leaned into him.

“Mace?” Lee asked.

“Out,” Mace replied.

The air in the room went stil and Stel a went rock-solid.

They were stil standing together but Stel a’s fingers were wrapped around Mace’s forearm and he was leaned over, his chin on her shoulder.

“Sorry?” Lee asked.

“Out,” Mace repeated.

“Out? ” Hector exploded, obviously not happy and everyone’s eyes turned to him in surprise. Then al eyes went back to Stel a and Mace like at a tennis match.

This was because Stel a whipped around, Mace jerked back his head but didn’t move his arm so it was wrapped around her shoulders and she was tight against his front.

She put her hands to his waist and her fingers curled into the material of his t-shirt.

“He kil ed Linnie,” she said, her head tilted back to look at him.

“Yeah, and he’s not gonna kil you,” Mace replied.

That was when Stel a lost it.

“He murdered my friend!” Stel a shouted.

“Yeah, and he shot you!” Mace shouted back, right in her face and the room went stil again at his raising his voice to Stel a, clearly angry, super angry, super-tal -muscled-hot-guy angry but Stel a didn’t even flinch. Furthermore, Juno didn’t move except to rol to her side and stretch out, oblivious to the tension in the room.

“So?” she fired back, completely unfazed by his anger.

“That’s not gonna happen again.”

“Okay, I’m happy not to get shot again. What I’m not happy about is letting Linnie’s murderer get off scot free.”

“The cops’l assign someone else and Sid’l f**k up somewhere along the line and someone wil take him down,” Mace told Stel a.

“You sure about that?” Stel a asked.

“Not as sure as I am about the fact that you’re not gonna be running through machine gunfire again.” Even though she was stil plastered front to front with Mace, Stel a turned her heard to look at Lee.

“Do I get a vote?” she asked.

“We know your vote, honey,” Lee said softly.

“Do I get special dispensation, being shot and al , to cast Mace’s vote for him?” Stel a asked Lee.

Mace’s jaw went tight, he closed his eyes and when he opened them, they were also on Lee and it didn’t take a mind reader to see he was looking for patience and fel ow Hot Guy understanding.

I very nearly laughed. Poor Mace.

And if you told me two days ago that I’d be thinking that I would have laughed in your face about that too.

Lee shook his head and answered, though I could tel he liked Stel a’s style, “Sorry, Stel a, it doesn’t work that way.”

“In,” Mace ground out but every single person in the room knew it cost him.

Stel a’s head whipped back around to look at him.