“It was an ambush,” he says.“Clean entry, wearing masks, no leads to follow.”
“So this was a message?”
“Absolutely.”
Inside, the air smells like antiseptic and blood.Cherry’s on a gurney, pale, eyes half-lidded but conscious.A medic presses gauze to her side, his jaw tight.
She looks at me when I step closer.“Hey, boss,” she murmurs with a weak smile.
Rage spikes so hard my vision flickers.“You’re not allowed to joke,” I tell her.
She smiles a little more brightly.“I didn’t.”
“How did they get you?”
“I went on a store run,” she says.“They knew my name.”
That lands deep.That means they are getting information from inside my club and that doesn’t sit well with me.
“Did they say anything?”I ask.
She nods faintly.“They told me to remind you ...you don’t own the whole board.”
The medic shoots me a look.“We need to move her.She needs to get into surgery.”
I step back.
Steel’s fists clench at his sides.“They wanted her alive.”
“Yes,” I agree.“They want us angry.”
“And distracted,” he adds.
“And divided,” I finish.
We leave her in capable hands and move outside.I don’t breathe until the doors close.
“This is on me,” I say flatly.“I should have brought everyone in when we decided to go to war.”
Steel doesn’t argue because it’s the truth.“This is escalation,” he says instead.
“They’re trying to make me look weak,” I continue.“They’re going for our morale and trying to weaken us without touching us.”
Steel nods.“They’re going after the women.What’s next?Someone’s kid?”
I turn sharply.“Say it again,” I growl.
“They’re choosing targets we’ll react to,” he clarifies.“Not the ones that advance territory.”
I close my eyes for half a second.Raven.
I pull my phone out before Steel can say her name.She answers on the first ring.
“Say it,” she says.
“Cherry was hit,” I reply.“She’s hurt but alive.”
“Where are you?”she asks.
