“Fuck.”She swiped a hand over her face before responding to the text.“Yes, Honey.I’m fine.We’re talking.”She muttered her response.She lay the phone back on the night stand before settling back into my embrace.
"What happens now?"she asked.
"I help Vittorio finish what we started with the Copperheads."I covered her hand with mine."And when it's over, if you want, we figure out if there's anything left between us worth salvaging."
"And if I decide there isn't?"
"Then I'll respect your decision," I said, though the possibility felt like a knife between my ribs.
"I still don't know if I trust you," she said quietly."But I believe you about those girls.If there's anything I can do to help—"
"You can stay here and do what Ghost and Jack tell you.That helps me more than anything else because I know the men here can and will keep you safe."
“You’ll keep yourself safe too.”The demand in her voice was unmistakable.
“I will, baby.It’s not over yet, but Vittorio has plans in place and we will finish this.It’s a once a year thing so, even knowing I’m working for the Luca’s, Acid can’t stop this from happening or when it happens.Not at this late date.Tori’s been fighting the Copperheads for years so having him infiltrate their club will mess with Acid enough he won’t be thinking beyond the fact I lived there under his nose for eight solid months.It’s not guaranteed they won’t be ready for us, but Vittorio is thorough.He won’t go in light.”
“OK, then.If you promise to be careful and to come back uninjured, I’ll give you a second chance.If you get hurt, all bets are off.”
I chuckled.“Then I’ve got a very good reason to not get a scratch.”
Chapter Fifteen
Rocky
Istretched,shiftingslightlythebed beside Wren, watching her sleep.She lay cuddled in my arms, her head on my shoulder like she slept with me every fucking night.She'd been through hell because of me, yet somehow she was willing to give me another chance.I didn't deserve it, but I'd spend every day making sure she never regretted that decision.
The digital clock on her nightstand read three-forty-seven in the morning.In just over twenty hours, the Copperheads would receive their shipment of girls.Twenty hours for Vittorio to finalize the plan and shut down this trafficking lane for good.
I carefully extricated myself Wren, sliding out of bed as silently as possible.She murmured something unintelligible and pulled my pillow to her and let out a contented sigh, but didn't wake.I bent to kiss her forehead gently before I pulled on my jeans.Before leaving, I left her a note, letting her know I would not leave without saying good-bye.Then I stepped into the hallway, closing the bedroom door behind me with a soft click.
My phone buzzed with an incoming text.Vittorio.
Meeting.Jack’s office.30 minutes.
I quickly replied with a thumbs-up emoji and headed to the meeting.
Now, I stood at the edge of the table Jack had set up in his office for us to spread shit out for planning.I traced the perimeter of the old copper mill on a satellite image.My muscles ached from tension, not just from the stress or the coming battle and need for the violence to be tempered to keep from scaring the shit out of the young women and girls we needed to safe, but from standing in this fucking room filled with men desperately wanted to put a bullet in my skull if Vittorio hadn't vouched for me.Ghost paced behind me, his footsteps a constant reminder that I’d been fucking his daughter, and that in his eyes, I ranked somewhere below dog shit on his boot.
"Guard rotation happens here," I pointed to the east entrance of the compound."Every two hours, with a fifteen-minute overlap during shift change.This gives us a window."
Vittorio tapped his highlighter against the map, his calm presence a counterbalance to the tension radiating off Ghost.Mostly, Vittorio simply refused to acknowledge theremightbe a problem because he said therewasn’ta problem.And because, to his way of thinking, his word was law."How many guards on the perimeter of this warehouse?”
"At least seven at any given time.Two at the main gate, one on each corner of the building, and a rover who circuits the property every thirty minutes."I glanced up to find Ghost glaring at me, his silver-streaked hair catching the light from the flickering fluorescent light overhead.
Bloody Jack sat across from me, methodically sharpening a wicked hunting knife against a whetstone.The rhythmic scraping sound filled each pause in conversation, the implied threat not lost on me.Jack never looked up from his work, but I felt his attention on every word I spoke.
"The girls," Vittorio prompted, pulling me back to the task at hand."How many confirmed?"
"Twelve, minimum."I reached for a stack of grainy surveillance photos, spreading them on the table."These came in last week from my guy in Nevada.According to Acid’s logs, the youngest is thirteen.They were brought to a place outside of Vegas."I tapped one photo showing a terrified girl with dark hair and hollow eyes."They keep them sedated during transport, locked in a converted storage room at the back of the warehouse.My guy thinks they came from a South American country and were smuggled, then trafficked to pay their debt."
Ghost stopped pacing long enough to look at the photos, his jaw clenching so tight I could hear his teeth grind."And you've been watching this happen for months without doing a goddamn thing?"His voice cut through the room like a blade.
"He's been gathering intelligence," Vittorio answered before I could, his tone leaving no room for argument."Without which we'd have nothing to work with now.Also, these girls are coming fromNevada.Rocky’s not in Nevada, nor has he been to Nevada.He’s doing his part to rescue these girls after he found the underground network in the first Goddamned place.”He said all this without looking at Ghost or raising his voice.“Remember why we're here, Ghost."
"Hard to forget when the man who fucked my daughter stands in my clubhouse pretending to be some kind of Goddamned hero."Ghost's eyes burned into mine, daring me to respond.
I kept my face neutral despite the fire building in my chest.If this were anyone other than Wren’s father, I’d have beat him to a pulp.But Wren meant more to me than my ego, so I kept my tone civil."This operation matters more than your opinion of me, Ghost.Those girls have less than forty-eight hours before they disappear into a dark abyss of pain and suffering for the rest of their natural lives.However short that might be."
