She reached into her pocket and threw a piece of paper at me. I bent down to the ground, picked it up, and read it. I was no handwriting expert, but it was obviously the Bandits.
And, worse, they knew that Katie and I had spent time together. Had they seen us at the park? Had they seen us going into her place?
How they knew we were together didn’t really fucking matter, honestly. I wasn’t a forensic investigator. I just had to deal with the fucking facts given to me right now.
And the biggest fact of all, the one slapping me in the face, was that no matter how much I wanted to believe otherwise, Katie was a part of this whole bullshit now. I couldn’t just say “club business” and keep her the fuck out. She was in the know.
“If you have any sense,” I said. “You’ll sell this goddamn store and get the fuck out.”
I shook my head, crumpling the note in my hand.
“Damian has you in his cross-hairs, which means he’s not going to stop until I’m dead or your store is burned to the ground.”
“Thanks for getting me involved, dick.”
“I didn’t get you involved. The minute you decided to become friends with someone who was dating a Black Reaper, you became an enemy of the Bandits. It’s unfair, but that’s how they fucking operate. They target anyone and everyone who gets in their way.”
Katie put her hands on her head and walked away, taking in a few breaths. I used the chance to open the door all the way and step inside. Only now did I notice there wasn’t really anything to clean up. Katie must have spent however long it had been just…thinking. Reflecting. Decompressing.
Doing everything but going home, basically.
“So you’re saying that no matter what, I’m a part of this game now?” she said. “There’s no getting out of the fact that the Bandits are going to make my life hell?”
“Yes.”
“Then why don’t we use this store as a setup?”
“I—what?”
Of all the things I expected to hear, Katie saying that she wanted to use her own place in the war with the Bandits was the last fucking thing. It was dangerous. It was insane.
It was full of potential, depending on how things went. It was obviously a place they visited frequently, one that they would not think we would use as a trap We had never crossed paths here before, so it wasn’t like we had a history here like we did at Reapers or one of the Santa Maria locations.
But there was one major problem.
Her.
I was not letting Katie get fucking hurt.
I was not going to let her become the second Rachel.
“Did I stutter?” Katie said. “Why don’t…we use…this store…as a setup? Bring Damian in, let him think he’s getting away with some small-level crime, and then you guys come in and take him out?”
“And what happens when, the instant he knows he’s dead, he takes you with him?” I said, though Katie looked nonplussed as I spoke. “What happens if this so-called small-level crime winds up him being kidnapping you?”
“I’m not a damsel in distress, Connor. I have a gun. I know how to defend myself.”
“Against normal customers who like to talk a big game but fear the cameras, sure, I’ll give you that. But against the Bandits? You’re severely overestimating your chances for success against them.”
“I don’t care. I want that asshole gone.”
God, this girl was so stubborn. She was also stupidly brave. I couldn’t decide if that was a compliment or not.
She certainly had more guts than any other woman I knew.
“Look, just stay low as best as you can for right now, don’t inflame any tensions with the Bandits or Damian,” I said. “I need to bring this to Brock and the rest of the guys—”
“You do whatever the hell you want to do,” Katie said. “I am going to take care of this asshole how I need to. If you want to help, I would be glad to take it. But if left to my own devices, I will handle him on my own.”
