“And now, he’s coming after Lo over a piece of shit like McKenzie,” Caz shakes his head, lighting a cigarette.
I jump up, grabbing it and stomping it out with my foot. “You’re smoking way too much. You’re going cold turkey.”
“Now, princess. You—”
I shut him up with a dark look. “You might not care about your lungs, but I do, and we’re not done discussing this.” He pins me with a moody pout, but underneath it, I think he secretly likes that I care. “So, when the new leadership realizes you’re taking control of their territory, you’ll do a deal to stop them from retaliating in exchange for the return of their turf, and the threat goes away,” I surmise.
Saint tweaks my nose. “Top marks, princess.”
I swat his hand away. “That’s a good plan. When do we execute?”
“Hopefully, next week. We want our ducks in a row first. Ensure we’ve covered all bases,” Saint says.
“Of course. That’s smart.” I tap my fingers off my chin.
“What?” Saint asks.
“There’s something we’re missing.” My gaze dances between him and Theo. “What if Sinner isn’t the only one to realize women can play a role?”
“You think Taylor is involved officially?” Theo asks.
“She’s got to be. She relayed the info to Corr, and that must have come from within the ranks. And if she was sniffing around The Arrows back in April, maybe, there was a reason for that too.”
“I think you’re right,” Saint says, looking at Theo. “Which is why we need that intel on Taylor ASAP.”
“You’ll have it,” Theo assures him.
“Your deal with Darrow,” Saint adds, gripping my chin. “Is there anything more to it?”
I shake my head. “I sold him on having a spy in the ranks to save my ass”—I purposely stare at Galen, and he averts his eyes—“and because it makes sense to feed him some intel. We can use this to our advantage. Get The Arrows to fuck with Sinner and distract him.”
“And the rat can take all the blame,” Theo adds.
“Exactly.” I bob my head.
“There is something else.”
I’ve debated this too, but I’ve got to put my trust in them. Galen is still on my shit list, but I believe the others are on my side. That they won’t hurt me, and I’ve got to include them. I remove my locket from under my shirt. “This is a tracking device and an audio recording device. I got the whole conversation with the board on tape.”
Saint narrows his eyes at me, and I poke him in the ribs. “Donotgive me that look.”
“That asshole gave you it, didn’t he?”
I nod. “Yes, and before you rip me a new one, I didn’t tell you because you would’ve destroyed it and I knew it would come in handy.”
“Who has that recording, Lo?” Theo asks, and his troubled expression alarms me.
“It saves to the chip, and a copy uploads to the cloud. Diesel has access.”
“Fuck!” Theo jumps up, pacing.
Saint sits up straighter, exchanging a look with Galen. “What don’t we know?”
Theo stares at me, and I realize he’d intended on speaking to me alone, but events have overtaken things. I’m momentarily speechless, because I can’t believe he would keep something from the guys, putting me above them. I don’t know what to make of it, and I’m not about to decipher it now. “You know who he is.” It’s the only explanation for his reaction.
Theo nods.
I stand, walking to him. I place my hand on his arm. “Tell me.”
