“It’s different,” I said. “I meant it when I said it. I know she’s my mate. She’s mine.”
Juliet smiled, but it was sad. “Well, sometimes you have to reach out and take what’s yours before it slips away.”
She left me with that, and I watched Parker for a long minute, studying the way she moved, the way she fit into the chaos of my life. It didn’t matter what had happened before, or what was coming next. She belonged here. Always had.
I left her working with the ladies while I gathered with the guys in the conference room.
As always, Bronc sat at the head, blue eyes sharp enough to slice, his elbows planted wide and steady. Arsenal was already there, the first as always, his knuckles white against the wood and the whites of his eyes catching every movement. Pearl hovered in the doorway, mostly for the excuse to eavesdrop, though everyone knew her word carried farther than most of ours. Gunner, Doc, and Papa all sat in their usual places around the table.
I took the seat Bronc motioned me toward. My hands were steady on the tabletop. I’d practiced the speech a dozen times in my head.
“Update,” Bronc said.
I started with the facts. “Parker made the drop. All cams and mics planted, Trojan installed. We’re getting continuous feeds except from Silas’s war room. He keeps the door locked, rotates his muscle for every meeting.”
“Any heat?” Arsenal asked, his voice flat but his foot bouncing under the table.
I hesitated for a second, then told them everything: “Silas grabbed her by the throat. Didn’t just threaten. He wantedto prove he owned the leash.” I left the details raw—how Parker’s voice had gone hoarse, how the bruises looked worse each morning.
Arsenal’s reaction was immediate. His hand closed on his coffee cup so hard the styrofoam caved. “Motherfucker.”
Pearl gave a low, dangerous hum.
Bronc didn’t move. “Was she able to keep her cover?”
“She sold it,” I said. “He thinks the funds are already in motion. He wants her to trigger phase two tomorrow morning. We’re ready to push the false ledger anytime.”
“Damage on our end?” Gunner asked from his side of the table.
“None,” I said. “Our accounts are dead-end mirrors. If anything, we’re about to learn who else he’s working with, and who he plans to cut out of the next buy.”
Arsenal hadn’t looked up. His jaw was set, his eyes like gun barrels. “You want me to take care of Silas?”
I shook my head. “Not yet. He needs to keep that sense of invulnerability. Parker’s the only thing that keeps him off guard.”
“She’s not bait,” Arsenal said, not to me, but to himself. “She’s family. That’s how we treat our own.”
The shift was subtle but seismic. Three days ago, Arsenal would have gutted Parker for the offense of breathing too loud in the same room as club business. Now he was ready to burn down the world for her.
Bronc gave him a look—a nod, slight and approving. “We’ll get one shot at this. Doc, you got your end handled?”
Our resident doctor grinned. “Greenbriar’s got eyes in a lot of places, but they can’t see past their own egos. We’ll keep our perimeters covered. One of our cleaning service people was approached. They came to me. We know they want in. We just need to let them get to what they think is the bottom of our accounts, and then we’ll strike. Maybe reverse accounts. Drain them. That’swhat they seem to care so much about these days. The money gives them prestige.”
Bronc turned to me. “What’s your confidence level, Eli?”
“I’m sure. About the accounting end. But are they going to make a big move? And if so, what? when?”
Pearl, still at the door, cleared her throat. “She’s still welcome at the house, Eli. Maddie’s got a room made up if she needs it. No questions asked.”
I nodded. “She’ll be there for the toy run. After that, we see what happens.”
The meeting broke up, men filing out with the quiet efficiency of old soldiers. I waited until the room emptied. Arsenal lingered behind, as I knew he would.
He approached me with a look I hadn’t seen before: respect, maybe even apology. “I was wrong about her,” he said. “I know what it’s like, getting used by someone stronger. If he touches her again, I’ll take care of him myself.”
“I’ll handle it,” I said. But I let him have the last word.
“He won’t leave the room alive.”
