“I give you what I got on Outlaw Souls,” I said. “You let me go, and I’ll go find more for you. Pin wasn’t the only biker I got along with.”
Wreck snorted. I cringed on the inside at the way he assessed me. Let him think I was a slut who would sleep with anything to get what I wanted. He needed to think that.
“And how will I know you won’t go running to your PI friends or even back to Pin?” he asked.
“You don’t,” I said. “But I can give you enough dirt on Outlaw Souls here and now that the risk is worth it. Trust me.”
My mind was scrambling to come up with something juicy. I wish I knew more about the rivalry between the two clubs so I could at least think up an enticing lie.
Moves, I thought. Moves had to be one of their biggest enemies. I could tell them where he lived. A fake address since I didn’t have the real one. It was pretty messed up, but worth a try. Or I could tell them something about the accounting. I had never even glimpsed at Pin’s books, but I could make something up, surely.
“It’s an interesting proposition,” Wreck said. “But I think I have a better idea.”
I frowned. I got the sense that I didn’t want to know what “better” meant to Wreck.
“I’m just thinking how much I might enjoy spending time with you, Claire,” Wreck said. “You really are a delight.”
He touched my bare knee with the back of his finger, and it took everything in me not to shudder. So that’s how he wanted to play this? He wanted to think I would at least consider the possibility of hopping in bed with him. It made sense that Wreck needed his ego to be stroked.
“And I’m sure it would drive Pin absolutely crazy,” he said. “To see you hanging all over me.”
He was wrong there. Pin would probably think I had found my match. He would think me and Wreck were bottom-feeders who were meant for each other.
“It might.” I glanced up at Wreck from beneath my lashes and gave him a coy smile.
God, I hated this. But if it was my way out, so be it. I just hoped all I had to do was flirt. If Wreck tried to take it any further… I blocked that thought process.
Just survive the next hour. Just survive.
“Alright, sweetheart, tell me,” Wreck said. “What deep dark secret do you have on the Outlaw Souls.”
“You know Moves, right?” I asked. “He wants in on the dealing.”
The words just spilled out. That was good though, it made them sound natural. And I could tell from Wreck’s reaction that I had his attention.
“He’s straight,” one of his buddies grunted from the corner. “As straight as they come.”
“I don’t know him that well, it’s true,” I said with a little shrug. “But I imagine all that time he’s spent chasing your dealers out of Souls territory has made him hungry for a little piece of the pie.”
I hoped Moves would forgive me for maligning him with this hogwash. I could tell I had hit a note with Las Balas. It was because that was how they would think. They were greedy assholes who wanted whatever they could get, and it didn’t matter how they got it.
“I overheard him on the phone at an Outlaw Souls barbecue,” I said. “He was around the corner, but I heard him telling someone it was almost time to move product. Move it into Las Balas turf.”
They were scared of Moves, I could tell. Pin had told me what a threat Moves could be, and he was the last person Las Balas wanted as competition.
“The way I see it, you need to either eradicate him,” I said. “Or get him to join you. He could be your greatest asset or your biggest threat.”
Until that moment, I truly did not know I had the ability to spiel off such nonsense under duress. If I hadn’t been so terrified, I would have been impressed with myself.
Wreck wasn’t convinced, but he was considering it. He gave me a hard look. This time he wasn’t assessing my body in a lecherous way or teasing me. He was trying to gauge my motives. I pressed my lips together and held eye contact. “It’s awfully convenient that you just happened to overhear this information about Moves.”
Wreck was smarter than he looked. That was what made him so dangerous.
“Feel free to ignore it,” I said. “Don’t blame me when Moves takes over your whole track.”
With a snarl, Wreck surged forward until his face was inches from mine. He gripped my chin in his hand, and terror coursed through me. “I don’t like your bitchy tone, sweetheart.”
Then there was shouting from outside. Footsteps pounded on the other side of the door. The bikers in the room were instantly on high alert. I saw one slide a knife from his belt.
