“Sorry, ‘Vil,” C says in a low voice. “Zoe, let’s go. You can see Rachel later. After you and I settle up for this.”
Zoe spins around, sparks flashing in her dark brown eyes. “I’ll come. But first I’m talking to Rachel alone. Go outside with him, Anvil.”
“Girl, you’re digging yourself deeper and deeper,” C warns.
“I know I am,” she says, raising her chin defiantly. Then she takes a breath and shakes her head. When she speaks again, she’s got her fiery temper under control. “I need to talk to my friend alone. C, please? Go outside.”
“Five minutes,” C says before he walks out.
I step outside, too. Zoe’s volatile, but Rachel’s not the type to be wound up by other people. I’m pretty sure it’ll be all right. Or at least no worse than it was.
“How’d the night go?” C asks, glancing at the door. He doesn’t say it, but I know he doesn’t want to get caught in the middle if Zoe and I end up getting into it.
“We slept all right,” I say.
C’s eyes cut to me. “Frank’s losing his shit. Alberto Leone made it into town this morning with a dozen guys.”
“You want me to change locations?”
“No.”
“Might be better.”
“There are trucks parked at the end of the drive. Unless we wage war on the next-door neighbor’s lawn, you’re going nowhere.”
“Sorry I brought it here.”
“Where else would you bring it? This is the C Crue compound, built with C Crue brains, sweat, and blood. It’s yours and Trick’s as much as mine. And if you’re under siege, we’re all under siege.” He draws in a breath and blows it out. “You know what Trick said?”
“Do I wanna know?”
C smirks. “He said, ‘It’s about time. What’s the point of a building a multimillion-dollar stronghold if your enemies never surround you?’ Then he sent a text to Frank, challenging him to a game of online chess and sent UberEats to the cars out front with an order of catfish, hollandaise sauce, blood sausage, and cole slaw. For breakfast.”
“What the fuck,” I mutter as C barks out a laugh and keeps laughing. When he subsides, I say, “Trick is off.”
“He does have a tendency to throw gasoline on bonfires and then to step back and watch things burn. Right now, he’s playing video games,” C says. “But first he loaded the guns, including the ones on the roof.”
I nod. “I shouldn’t be back here playing house. What do you need me to do, C?”
“Nothing yet. Operations outside the compound are rolling. We’ve got supplies here. We’ll wait. I say play house until Frank or Leone make a move on us. We’ll call the rest of the crue back if we need to.”
The door opens, and Zoe emerges with her wildly curly hair twisted into a tight bun.
“Speaking of playing,” C says. “Here’s a little girl who likes to play games. When you get to the bedroom, Z, put the black toy box on the end of the bed. After you strip, bend over the end of the bed and wait for me. Your naked upturned ass should be the first thing I see when I walk in that room.”
Her flush is a deep crimson as she hurries down the steps. C is crazy about Zoe and he lets her get away with a lot of sass, but she never gets a pass if she outright disobeys him. She must have been really worried about Rachel to come over the way she did.
“Come to the house around noon. We’ll bunker in the basement to run our plans.”
I nod.
