I shrugged my shoulders, letting them know it was fine. You win some, you lose some. That's just the way of the world.
Chapter 11
Thiswomanwasagoddamn menace. First, she busted her way into our private meeting, inserted herself into our business, and then entranced my brothers so well I swear she was using her siren powers. All of them were sneaking glances or blatantly watching her eat at our breakfast table like she belonged there.
Sure, there has always been an empty seat, never completing our table, but that was how it always was, and we were just fine with it being that way.
My chosen brothers and I have never really been the type to keep a woman for long, let alone let her step foot into our sanctuary, but here one was. I could still smell Gears’ shampoo in her hair, and traces of Duce's cologne clung to her. With the way Bricks was watching her eat that sausage, you would think he was a starved damn man. Rabid was the only one of us with his head on straight, yet the effort with which he was trying to not look at her was making me suspicious.
I'm not blind or an idiot. I knew this woman was fucking gorgeous. Like, if you rated her out of ten, she would be an eleven. Her perfect, short, blonde hair had so much dimension that when the light hit it, you could see the streaks of platinum as well as the deeper blonde scattered throughout. She had these ocean blue eyes that caught my wolf's attention immediately, calling to him, and he hadn't let up since she came into this house. She was definitely out of our league, a group of defective and broken wolves, but seeing her here, enjoying our food and fitting in with everyone, was starting to piss me off.
I shoved another piece of sausage into my mouth, and I ensured that the pleasure-filled noise I wanted to make never saw the light of day. Usually, Duce had so much going on in that kitchen, he burned the sausage, and I just dealt with it. However, this was perfectly browned, melt-in-your-mouth juicy. It made me hate her even more.
I looked at her again, laughing at something Duce said while both Gears and Bricks smiled at them. I clenched my fork, stabbing the fluffy goodness covered in syrup, and shoved it into my mouth. It was hard for me to connect this woman to what I knew of The Songbird.
Not only was I the treasurer of the Moon Raiders, making sure that we kept on a budget, making sure every minute detail was taken care of, but I was also a source of information for this club. I had connections with several different avenues in the criminal world due to what my family did for the Mexican cartel. At least until the day I had to run across the border for my life in blood-soaked clothes. I shook my head, not wanting to dwell on the memories. That didn't do anyone any good.
For this reason, I knew how the organized criminal world worked. How it was funneled, and knew most of the major players. I had to until they forgot my name, and I was just Dino, the sharp wit money man for the Moon Raiders.
From what I remembered being whispered around the block, The Songbird was an elite assassin. The one politicians and rich men used when they wanted a job done without any ties to anyone. It was said they killed their target with just the right finesse that it was as beautiful as a song. I looked back at her, biting into her bacon like she had been waiting for it for longer than twelve hours. I shoved more pancakes into my mouth as I glared at her. Now that I knew she was a siren with magical water and hypnosis powers, adding on the good looks and the apparent acting skills, it made sense.
I couldn’t wait until this was over and she was out of here.
My wolf started to growl at me in my head. I could feel him pawing at my chest, trying to tell me something, but I shoved him back down. I knew what I was doing. He was just entranced with her like all the others, but I wasn't so easily fooled. Life had taught me that if something looked too good to be true, it was.
The beautiful poison set down her fork and folded her hands into her lap. “Rabid, tell me what the next steps are. Do we talk about a plan between the six of us, or do we take this to the group and devise a plan all together?”
Rabid looked stunned for a second, like he didn't expect her to talk to him. He swallowed the mouthful he had before facing her seriously. “The first course of action would be for me to call Killian and tell him that we will be taking this first job, but on probation, and that we want to meet the money man beforehand. I don't want him to think we are settling with him too easily, or else he will think something is up. Which also means that I can't call him until tonight. I want to get right up to the deadline to make him sweat a little. Once that conversation is done and a date is set, we will hold church, let the men know, and get volunteers for the job.”
“Volunteers?” Her question wasn't clouded in judgment, more like curiosity.
“Yes, volunteers. I like to have a set of men on the job and a set of men that are going to defend the stead while we are gone. Volunteers make it so it's an easy split.” His face grew stony as he added, “Some of the men here have families, and I am not in the business of tearing them apart just because we are trying to make some moves for the greater good. It's why most of the dangerous work is done by the men in this room.” Rabid looked around at us with pride in his eyes. He needed to give the opportunity to everyone, even though we all knew that it was going to be us in this room that really went.
She nodded easily. “Got it.” She looked over at Duce. “In that case, after breakfast, can you take me to see your sister?”
We all stiffened, waiting for Duce to tell her no, that he didn't trust an assassin with his sister, but instead, he smiled and nodded. “Yep. We can get you something more comfortable. Emma is good at that kind of style. Then I can take you around the compound and give you a tour.” What the fuck just happened? Did hell freeze over? Why was he not suspicious of a stranger getting to see his sister? He was more protective of her than his own dick.
“I would like that, thank you,” she replied sweetly, and Duce puffed out his chest like he had won something amazing.
In all our lives, we had never had a serious relationship. We all talked about it one drunken night and agreed that our lives were too dangerous and that too many people's lives counted on us. It wouldn't be fair to anyone we would individually date.
Sure, we have had hookups, hell, even a couple of us had doubled up with a hookup, but again, it was nothing in the least bit serious—more like getting our rocks off and then leaving right after or the next morning. No breakfast, no cuddling, no seeing each other for a second time, except I now had a sinking feeling that this wouldn't be that way with Celine. That someone was going to get hurt, and my job was to make sure it wasn't any of my brothers.
I tried to think of a way to expose her, to show that she wasn't just some sexy, flirty piece of ass they could have fun with. I needed them to understand she was dangerous, deadly, and that they should stay away from her like a poisonous snake. Then I had an idea.
“Are you going to take her to the pits today?” Everyone looked at me like I just threw salt in their eyes, but I didn't care. I saw the interest in her eyes, and I knew I had her on the hook.
She turned to face me. “Oooohh, what’re the pits? I already like the sound.”
I smiled wide, excited that she was falling for my trap. “Well, you're in luck, Saturdays are when all the guys practice. It's just like what it sounds. It's pit fighting, only less to the death and more training.”
She turned to Duce, whose lips were pressed thin and arms folded. I was guessing that he wanted to take her around to more of the nicer parts on the compound, but I wasn't having any of that. If she wanted to be here, she got to see the down-and-dirty parts as well.
“Can we go see that after we visit your sister?”
Duce's lips pinched as he looked at her, and she immediately brought her hands together and pleaded with him, “Please. Please. Please?” She batted her lashes at him, pretending to be cute and innocent, and I could see that Duce was eating it up like a fucking chocolatey sundae.
Bricks looked this close to lunging over the table and strangling Duce until he gave her what she wanted. I didn't expect to get any help from Gears, who always played the sideline role until shit really went down. I looked at Rabid, who was trying his hardest to focus on his phone in front of him, but I knew his attention was on her.
