“Already sent the information to Leandro.”
Marcus huffs. “Can we really trust him?”
Hollis looks up from what he’s doing, and I hold my breath, hoping I’m not about to witness him getting murdered. “Yes. He is many things, a pain in the ass mostly, but he doesn’t lie.”
“No, he just conveniently leaves things out!” Marcus snaps.
Hollis shrugs. “He was in the wrong. I can’t—won’t—defend his actions, but he would never hurt what he considers his. Roman and Lio? They’re his. And if what he says is true, then Antonio is too, whether he likes it or not.”
Marcus snarls, but before he can say anything, Tennant clamps a hand on his shoulder. “Be very careful, War,” he tells him. “Leandro makes poor decisions because he can only see things in black and white. In his eyes, the benefits outweighed the risks. You don’t have to like it, but if you touch a hair on his head…well, I suggest you think about whatyou’ddo should anyone threaten your son.”
“Are you able to get a layout of where they’re keeping Antonio?” I ask Hollis, hoping to change the subject.
“Yes. The aerial views show not much in the way of cover.” He moves his laptop across, so I don’t have to lean over on my wound in order to see the screen. He zooms out and shows me what he means. “Our men would have to use one of these buildings as their cover, and there’s nothing to say that Cecily’s team aren’t already there to prevent that from happening. They’d know the area better, and would have chosen this location specifically because it’s so hard to sneak around.”
I hum in contemplation. “So we’d have to go in guns blazing.”
“There’s too many variables with that plan,” Marcus says. “We run the risk of losing too many people.” He gets up and moves around the back of the couch, so he can see what we do on Hollis’s screen. “We’d be risking a lot, because there’s nowhere to hide. What’s the closest staging ground that probably isn’t under enemy control?”
Hollis zooms his map out further. “Here.”
I grimace. It leaves a lot of open ground, where the enemy can hide and pick us off one by one as we try to get close to our target. Unless… “We need a distraction,” I muse.
“What are you thinking, Chaos?”
Ten’s question is almost innocent, but it has the right edge of curiosity and mayhem in the tone to further fan the flames of destruction in me, and has a smile tugging at the corners of my mouth. “Someone, or someones—a small team of two, maybe three—go in and set a few of these buildings,” I gesture to the ones that may or may not be held by the enemy, “to go boom. It’ll let them know we’re there, yes, but should be a big enough distraction that the teams we have on standby can swoop in and storm them.”
“That could lead to pandemonium,” Marcus cautions. “They’ll be on guard from the explosions, and keyed up to shoot first, ask questions never.”
“Are you disagreeing with me?”
He’s silent for a long moment, weighing the options, while looking at the problem from as many angles as possible. “No,” he finally sighs. “The people going in to set the distractions will need to be fast and accurate, there will be no second chances. If they get caught…”
He doesn’t need to finish. Death wouldn’t just come for those caught with the explosives, but to Antonio, Roman, and Lio as well, if they’re all on-site.
“I’m not against it,” Tennant says. “And I’d be one of the ones on the ground setting up said distractions.”
“The fuck you will be,” Hollis snaps. “Did you forget you were shot mere days ago?”
Tennant rolls his eyes. “The bullet didn’t damage anything. Jayden said I have good movement, and Dr. Ranlen did a good job of patching me up. I’m fine.”
“I should kill you myself, since you seem to have a fucking death wish.”
“I won’t sit this one out, Hol. Ican’t.” The stress in Tennant’s voice is obvious, and I’m surprised he’s letting Marcus and I hear his vulnerability.
Tension snaps between the two of them, before Hollis sighs. “If you die, I swear to fuck, I will never forgive you.”
Tennant smiles indulgently. “I wouldn’t expect anything less.”
Keegan walks back into the room at that moment. “Do I want to know how it’s going?”
“We have the start of a plan,” Marcus answers carefully, watching his Dom. “How’s Carter?”
“Doc gave him some meds because he’s in pain. All the standing and tension from the meeting aggravated his wounds. He’ll be fine, though.”
Keegan moves to stand next to Marcus, and I can’t see them unless I want to aggravate my own wound, but I imagine Keegan pulls Marcus close in comfort. “What’s this plan then?”
We tell him, and I suddenly don’t want him at my back any longer when he takes a while to respond. Every nerve-ending itches with the need to do something, and I hate the limitations placed on me while I'm in recovery.
