the loyal

[grahamxntgomery-blog]

brknhallelujah:

“Again, you sound like a cop and until you can turn that switch off, everyone is going to be looking at you sideways.” Kieran rolled his eyes before picking up his glass. “Don’t call him an asshole infront of August or Jacob for that matter. Yeah, baby brother is back in town too. No matter how you feel about someone, when you’re in front of one of them, you keep it professional.” Kieran knew he was one to talk but he had been apart of the Wolves a hell of a lot longer than Graham and he knew that anything he said to August was with concern for the Wolves at the front of his mind.

“Jesus...” As if one Devereaux and a deranged cousin wasn’t bad enough, the other brother had to stroll into town despite how little Jacob was like his older brother. “Okay, fuck it, fine. It’s going to take some getting used to and I’ll try not to shoot any of them death glares, but fine.” This was going to be a lot harder than it looked. “You know just because I picked a side, doesn’t mean I stopped being a detective. I’m just on August’s pay-grade.” At least, that’s how Graham hoped it would be. “Anything else I should know?”

[grahamxntgomery-blog]

brknhallelujah:

“Both.” Kieran’s face stayed serious as he watched Graham. “You wreak. You look like a cop. You act like a cop. You still talk like one. If Jamie wasn’t wearing a badge and a police vest, I wouldn’t know.” He shrugged his shoulders, “I don’t know what your intentions are but if you expect anyone around here to trust you, then you need to actually get on our level and not just pretend like you are.” He leaned forward, “That also means playing nice with Aspen Rabbit.”

“I’ve been a cop for years, it isn’t a switch I can turn on and off automatically.” Graham scoffed at the man’s words even though they were more than just true before a particular name popped up. Setting his glass down a little too roughly, he scowled. “Aspen Rabbit as in the asshole who started dropping bodies left and right without an ounce of guilt to spare? Are you fucking kidding me?” Graham released a sigh in the form of a hiss, willing himself to remain level headed. “No offense, but our boss is a fucking idiot.” The man shook his head. “I’m willing to do whatever it takes to show I’m in this for real, I don’t give a shit no matter what it is.”

[grahamxntgomery-blog]

brknhallelujah:

Kieran almost smirked, “So your boyfriend made a decision and now you want to make one too? Jamie blends in. You stick out like an ugly sore thumb.”

“He’s not my boyfriend.” It was an offhanded comment. “Fine, then what’s your advice to blending in if you’re the expert? Should I get a leather jacket that’s black instead of brown? Or do I need a kill on my belt to really be welcomed in?”

[grahamxntgomery-blog]

brknhallelujah:

“And to think I thought you were an idiot.” Kieran paused, “The usual.” He gave a pearly white smile to the bartender before looking back at Graham. “Yeah. I don’t trust you. I don’t trust the sudden side picking.”

“I can’t change your mind when that’s the opinion you have.” Graham leaned forward and downed the rest of his drink. “Jamie’s decision made me realize it doesn’t do shit staying neutral. I hate August, but I hate Dakota more and this whole deal...it offers me better.”

[grahamxntgomery-blog]

brknhallelujah:

“And to think I was hoping to find you sober when I decided to congratulate you on picking a side.” Kieran’s voice dripped of sarcasm as he looked the detective over. “Should probably seem a bit more excited. A lot of people would kill to be where you are.”

“What are you talking about? This is my celebratory drink.” Graham mumbled, taking another hearty drink of is bourbon. “No doubt people have killed to get where I am, can’t imagine August wouldn’t be picky to who signs.” He ordered another round. “I’m sensing skepticism from you, Kieran.”

[grahamxntgomery-blog]

Graham may end up regretting that night for the rest of his days, but nothing kept him from signing Devereaux’s contract and sealing his fate as well as the other man’s although that fact was completely unknown to the mobster. August assumed the visit was the result of losing Jamie to the Serpents and perhaps a father’s instinct to protect his child, one he genuinely wished to stay out of any danger that might ensue from the war. And Graham? He did have his daughter on his mind when he picked up that pen and signed his name along that dotted line. He wasn’t about to become Devereaux’s bitch, though. If Jamie wanted to pick a side, so would he and the only way for the betterment of East Violet including its citizens was to start tearing down the Wolves from the inside out. Ensnaring a well-known detective and having him on the payroll was hitting the jackpot for a gang, that he knew well. With that detail alone, it’s how anyone could find Graham seated at one of the stools in the bar, guzzling away his trouble. “I’m going to need another one over here in a minute.” The man raised his glass as an indication.

[grahamxntgomery-blog]

cntrljamie:

“If that’s what it takes then so be it. I’m not scared of death, Graham. If I was, I never would have been a soldier.” Jamie ran a hand down his face, “Do you think it’s going to make a difference? Cut a head off, another grows back. Someone will always be there to take their place and right now, Wolf is in there, and if he’s in then so am I. Take it or leave it.”

“Then I can’t help you.” In that moment, Graham erased the anger and hurt and any emotion threatening to betray how he truly felt from his expression and all that remained was the detective determined to protect the town even if it meant cutting out his heart. “No more freebies. You get in a bind they can’t fix, your brother ends up on the wrong side of the law or gunned down by August, there’s nothing I can do.” Graham took three slow steps closer, using the same robotic tone, “Turn in your badge, turn in your weapon. You’re done. We’re done.”

[grahamxntgomery-blog]

cntrljamie:

“No, you don’t understand shit, Graham. You don’t understand me and you don’t understand this. If you did, you would have walked away from Wolf but you keep pushing it like it’s going to change shit when it’s not.” Jamie shook his head, “I made my decision and you’re sitting here with a hard on for Winters as if his jail time wasn’t orchestrated by August Deveraux himself.”

“And why do you think that is, huh? Why do you think I have this raging hatred for Dakota Winters and keep constantly pushing it? I told you before and I’ll say it again, I’m going to get that call one of these times and be forced to watch your ass get wheeled away in a fucking body bag. “Those two men deserve to have freedom taken from them no matter who committed murder and if I had any say about it, they’d be locked in a prison for the rest of their lives.”

[grahamxntgomery-blog]

cntrljamie:

“You don’t understand and this is why this will be nothing more than what it is,” Jamie hissed back at Graham. “He’s my brother. You touch him again and you’re going to have a lot more to worry about than a shove. I can promise you that.”

“What, you think I don’t understand because my sibling isn’t running around with a notorious gang who may or may not have something to do with the death of an innocent girl? I understand what it means going the lengths to protect your family no matter what perfectly.” Graham pointed a finger in the man’s direction. “What are you going to do, Jamie? Beat me to a pulp? Shoot me and leave my remains by a fucking river like they did with her?”

[grahamxntgomery-blog]

cntrljamie:

“You lost it?” Jamie echoed as his stared at Graham, ignoring those that were standing from their desks in case things got physical. “I’m about to lose it on you.” When one of their colleagues touched him, he immediately flinched away. “I’m fine,” he growled before looking back at Graham. “There isn’t an excuse. He wasn’t doing anything. You didn’t have a reason to talk to him let alone breathe in his direction.”

“I let him get inside my head and I lost it, I don’t know what other way you want me to explain it to you.” Graham, the emotionally uncompromising Graham Montgomery, was spinning out of control and was half afraid that he could have done a lot worse to Wolf than just a mere shove and the fact that he was capable of stooping to a Serpent’s or god forbid Devereaux’s level, terrified him. “I have every reason to talk with him when his older brother is choosing the serpents over everyone else in here,” Graham hissed quietly, “Which is a bit of information you don’t even need to announce the way you’re barging in here and assaulting one of your own.”

[grahamxntgomery-blog]

cntrljamie:

Wolf didn’t need him to be that guy but this wasn’t completely about Wolf: this was about Graham. This was about Graham crossing a line as if getting in his brother’s face was going to make much of a difference instead of making him see red. Walking into the station, he moved past people that made it a point to say good morning or ask him how he was until he found Graham and practically shoved him backwards. “You stay the hell away from my brother, you got me? You stay the hell away from him.” @grahamxntgomery

Graham found a distraction burying himself ten feet deep with work, pouring over files and ultimately going back rereading the same lines over again while his mind drifted to problems he couldn’t fix. He had just tossed one stack of papers onto the table when the shove forced him to stumble backwards and rip him away from any thoughts he hid behind. “Hey, jesus, will you just relax?” Graham held up his hands and placed space between them both in case this escalated further. “Let me explain, alright, I know I fucked up with Wolf and I shouldn’t have touched him, but I lost it.”

[grahamxntgomery-blog]

dcltvn:

“You are a dick. Don’t know if I’d say huge.” Dakota eyed Graham, “Am I supposed to be surprised?” In reality, he wasn’t. Jamie was willing to do a lot for his brother. “Let me let you in on how August and I are different. August wouldn’t give a shit about how anyone else felt about that and would just let him in, and trust me, I would love to. Having someone like Jamie on our side would prove beneficial but I know Wolf.” He didn’t feel as if he had to say anything else about that. “We’ll see what he says about it.”

Graham ignored the comment, he wasn’t really in the mood to make comments about endowment size when there were more significant matters to discuss. “Wolf already knows what his brother’s planning to do and I don’t think he’s too peachy on the idea either. I mean, I’m sure August has a few of my guys on his payroll, so why not follow fucking suit?” He pointed out sarcastically, though, it wouldn’t be a shock. “Wouldn’t be surprised if you let him in just to piss me off.”

[grahamxntgomery-blog]

dcltvn:

Dakota knew what he was doing when it came to Graham and he didn’t flinch when the man decided to approach him. “You should be careful, detective. As far as anyone is concerned, I’m an innocent man, and someone might consider all of this as harassment.” He cocked his head to the side, “Jamie is Wolf’s brother. He’s going to do what he wants to do to protect him and even if the day comes where he decides to come to this side, I will welcome him with open arms. He’s a grown ass man. He can make his own decisions.”

“You didn’t get out by being a good little boy, Winters, you got out on a fucking minor technicality.” Graham rolled his eyes, remembering that any behavior he displayed can look bad for the East Violet police department. “Just for the fact that you are completely unaware tells me he hasn’t come to talk to you yet, but I’ll spoil the surprise anyway because I can be a huge dick like that. Jamie already made his decision.”

[grahamxntgomery-blog]

fckwvlf:

wolf looked down at his chest as graham shoved him, shaking his head and rolling his eyes as he stared up the bike. “if you were smart, you’d stay the hell away from me, but here you are,” he glanced graham up and down and let out a small, unamused laugh, “what you’re doing is going to place you smack bang in the middle of all of this and your daughter is going to grow up not knowing who the fuck you are if you do. it’s a fucking war zone, you idiot, everybody knows it, you do to and if you think for one moment that jamie’s going to listen to you, or me, or anybody when he sets his mind on something, then you really don’t know him as well as  you like to think you do. now get out of my fucking way and stay out of it.”

“Believe me, I don’t want to stay in your presence longer than I need to so you’ll be fucking doing flips to know this is the last time you’re going to see my face.” He knew how close Jamie and Wolf were, knew enough that Graham wouldn’t hear the last of this encounter. “As a matter of fucking fact, I’m already in the middle of it carrying around this badge or maybe it just slipped your mind doing what I do is as dangerous as it gets within this town.” Graham backed up further, eager to place space between them, “I bear witness to his stubbornness every single day, but I’m still going to try for him. You worry about your ass and I’ll worry about mine, okay?”

[grahamxntgomery-blog]

dcltvn:

“Right,” Dakota replied with a nod of his head. “Only August and I are different. I’m not getting people to sign contracts and dumping their bodies in a river when they break that contract.” He almost smirked, “Although I thought you’d be a lot nicer considering Jamie has always had one foot in the door on this side all things considered.”

“Just because you and August have your own way of doing shit, doesn’t make you any less shady.” Graham’s entire demeanor changed the minute the man mentioned Jamie, feeling a boiling anger seep to the surface that he would have enough intelligence to hide. When it came to those he cared for, though, it’d become Graham’s ultimate downfall. “Nothing Jamie decides will change how much I’m dying to see you and anyone stupid enough to follow your lead either behind bars or with a needle in their arm.” He took a step forward, his voice lowering, “And if I ever hear his name spill from your lips again, getting your ass thrown in the slammer will be the least of your problems.”

[grahamxntgomery-blog]

jckoff:

“Says the guy who is having a melt down in my tattoo parlor about what to do,” Jack responded. “Either way, you have to let Jamie go. You don’t have any other option with that.”

“I’m already far in too deep with him to completely erase the guy from my mind, that is the point I am trying to make.” The man balled his hands into fists and looked away. “It’s like a game where either team I lose. I’ve accepted at least that during my career.”

[grahamxntgomery-blog]

jckoff:

“They’re not going to hurt or kill a child, Graham. Come on. Listen to yourself.” Jack shook her head, “Dakota is practically Jesus compared to August, everyone knows that and even August has a sense of no child will be harmed. Are you really going to put Sophie on the chopping block for Jamie?”

“And I can’t put my faith in a bunch of criminals for them not to. I have never once underestimated a wolf or a serpent and I’m not doing it now.” Graham released a huff of frustration, “See, you’re twisting my words and turning this around where I’d actually put my own daughter’s life on the line. That’s what I’m trying to avoid, Jack! I don’t want to ever be in a situation where I’ll have to choose between them and Jamie knows I’d pick her either way. Losing them both is my worst nightmare.”