“Fine with me,” Rebel said, getting back to business. “So here’s the plan. Damon and Noah will reach out to Project X. They will tell X that they’ve decided to join them in their war against us. They’ll ask to meet up. When they do, the rest of us will be there.”
“And if Project X anticipates such a move?” I asked. I was more than willing to play my part, although I wasn’t sure Garrett and his followers would fall for that.
Rebel seemed annoyed, not with me, but with the entire situation. With an exasperated sigh, he shoved his hands into his jacket pockets. “Then we track them down and ambush them. Total annihilation. Whatever it takes.”
“I’m pretty sure I can convince them,” Damon spoke up. “Leave it to me. When do you want it to happen?”
“As soon as possible. Get them to meet in a private location. Somewhere without witnesses.” With that, Rebel dismissed the rest of us.
We all headed back inside, eager to get out of the cold. I held onto Dom as long as possible before we were forced apart. I still had another class to get through. One I would now be late for.
Never in my wildest dreams had I imagined we would join the Kings in any way. This was a necessary partnership. A way for me to prove that I was done with conflicts of the past. My focus was on the future now. And that future was Dom.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
DOM
Just as he promised, Damon put everything into motion. After classes let out for the day he reached out to Garrett, telling him that after so many years of bad blood with the Kings, he would never join us. He wanted to align himself with Project X against us. They had no reason not to believe him.
Damon told Garrett that he would use Noah to lure me and the rest of the Kings out to the graveyard where Project X would take care of us. Put an end to all this and take over the city. Project X believed they would be lying in wait for us. In actuality, we would be there first waiting for them.
We arrived more than an hour early. Keeping our cars out of sight by travelling together in one vehicle and parking it at the end of a farmer’s driveway down the road. Noah and Damon would be arriving with Project X.
Seeing the church in ashes was infuriating. The fire department had put out the fire, but it had been too late to save anything. The structure was a goner. Once the weather got better, they would likely have the rubble cleared out. Although we could still do business at the graveyard, we no longer had the church to get us out of the elements.
“Motherfuckers.” Rebel kicked a lump of snow, breaking it apart with his boot. “Garrett is a fucking dead man. It’s the only way.”
The rest of us nodded our agreement. The only way to truly settle this was to take him out. One of his followers may take over as leader of the group, but he would likely never step foot in our city again. An example had to be set.
“Jesus Christ, it’s so cold. That asshole needs to die simply for destroying our shelter and my space heater.” Auryn briskly rubbed his hands together before jumping up and down in an effort to stay warm. “I hate to say it, guys. We may have to huddle together to warm up.”
“We haven’t been out here that long. And it’s not nearly as cold as it could be for this time of year. Stop being such a wimp.” Stray gave him a shove, laughing when Auryn almost fell on his ass in the snow.
“Screw you, Stray.” Jerking out of reach, Auryn shot Stray a nasty glare.
“Stop dicking around,” Rebel snapped. “They’ll be here soon. We need to retreat into the trees.”
As we ventured through the graveyard toward the forest that surrounded it, the snow grew deeper. We trudged through, having no choice other than to lose ourselves within the trees. We needed the element of surprise.
The cold drove us close together. Standing in a group, we waited. As the clock ticked closer to go time, I began to worry. What if this didn’t go according to plan? Even though I didn’t want to let myself think it, part of me wondered if Noah might actually sell me out after all.
As if reading my thoughts, Auryn suddenly asked, “How much do you trust Noah, Dom? I know you’re into him, and the two of you are a thing now, but is there any chance at all he might screw us over?”
Casper smacked him in the arm before signing, “Don’t say shit like that.”
No wonder Casper was one of my best friends. Even though I knew he was thinking the same thing, he would never say as much.
The rest of the guys wore guilty expressions. They were all thinking it too. I hated that I had been as well.
“Honestly, I don’t know. This is all new. We spent so much time beating the shit out of each other. I don’t know what comes next. I don’t know if I can trust Noah. I guess we find out tonight.” I checked the time on my phone. They should be here any minute.
“Let’s say Damon and Noah prove themselves,” Rebel said, shuffling back and forth to keep warm. “What then? Do we make them part of the Kings?”
The thought of Noah becoming one of us made me feel both exhilarated and nervous. What if things didn’t work out between us? We would be forced to work together. However, there were benefits to having our numbers grow. More manpower was always a good thing.
Stray shook his head. “I’m not sure about that. We can’t forget everything they’ve done.”
“Growth is a good thing in a business like ours,” Auryn pointed out. “Especially if people decide to keep coming for what’s ours. We need a powerful front. As much as I hate to admit it, those two may prove to be a valuable addition.”
