“I might have missed you, but I won’t hesitate to shoot you if you don’t let her go,” Leo threatens with a grin.
Mateo steps back from the hug, raising his hands, and making Les laugh.
We all get settled around the table again, everyone looking at Les. “Alright. Next on the list is Club Catch.” That’s one of Viktor’s biggest money-makers. “My guys and I will make some noise over there.” She looks at Micah. “I want you, Mateo, and Evander to go to Whispers in Russian.” Micah’s gritting his teeth so hard at getting sent out with Evander; I’m surprised they aren’t dust yet. But the look on Les’ face is telling him not to argue.
I grin. “You guys do look hungry.”
“That restaurant is his pride in joy,” Alexey grins back. “You want to piss him off? That might be the way.”
“Go ahead and head out. Keep your phones on,” Les says. “I won’t risk any of you guys, so if you start getting too much heat, back off. We’ll meet back here later.”
Everyone else heads out, Micah reluctantly leaving Les with her guys. “Did you send Micah with Evander on purpose, Pretty girl?”
Her lips twitch, but she tries to control the smile I can see forming. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“He’s going to be pissed,” Leo laughs.
Les shrugs. “Call it payback for the way he acted toward Zane.”
“You just put Evander in a tough situation, though,” Ryder points out with a chuckle.
“I have a feeling Evander can handle himself,” Les answers.
Zane looks between us. “Am I missing something?”
“Oh!” I sit up, animated. “We’re sure Micah and Evander want to fuck or have fucked, and it didn’t end well, apparently.”
“Fuck’s sake, Gage,” Dex says, shaking his head. “We don’t know what happened.”
Les laughs. “You know you feel the tension rolling off them in waves.” She points a finger at him. “You saw the same thing I did in the kitchenthat day.”
“Fair point,” Dex shrugs.
“We ready to head out?” Les asks, standing from her chair. Ryder reaches out to stop her before she does.
“I wanted to talk to you guys about something first,” Ryder says.
“About?” Les asks slowly, lowering herself back into her chair.
“Ghost and Squid.”
Les frowns. “Is something wrong?”
“Not at all,” Ryder says, squeezing her hand. “I think we should pull them up through the ranks.”
I know the shock shows all over our faces. I don’t think I’ve ever heard Ryder say he wanted to promote someone, especially someone from the street crews.
“What do you mean?” Les asks with a tilt of her head.
“They both proved themselves by looking for you. They’ve done what we ask without hesitation, and they were able to bring their gangs together. Something Xander never could fucking do.”
“What about the Vipers and Disciples?” Les asks, and I can tell she’s considering it. “Pull someone else in to lead?”
Ryder shrugs. “They could run them for now until someone else shows the initiative to lead.”
Les nods. “Have them go to Hoover Enterprises with Alexey and Dmitri. See how they handle that.” She looks around the table. “Any objections or comments?” We all shake our heads because Ryder’s right; they deserve to move up. They busted their asses helping us, all for Les.
“One more thing,” Ryder says, turning to Zane. “You need to know when you go out with us today, you’re outing yourself as one of hers. You ready for that?”
