“No way to find who she’s been talking to?”
Aria shakes my head. “If I had to guess, it’d be on the other two of Simmons’ group. The consequences of Arlo setting New York on fire manifested earlier than expected,” she sighs. “Flint went into hiding after all of his banks got burned to the ground. It’s because of us, but also all of the wealthy men who had their money in the bank. Woods has hired too many security guards, andalthough it wouldn’t be too difficult to get to him, it would give us more attention than we can afford now. So, I do think Amy’s in contact with both of them, trying to figure out how to escape.”
“She won’t be able to.’’ I look outside, watching as the snow coats the window. “I have plans for her, too.”
“Do I want to know?”
I chuckle. “All in due time, Aria. But, you’re handling all of this extremely well.”
“Am I?” Her shoulders slump. “It feels like I’m doing everything so wrong recently.”
“You’re doing well.” I place a hand on her shoulder, smiling softly. “I’m proud of you, Aria.”
“Thank you.”
I give her a small squeeze, then pull my hand back. “You’re taking Arson back to Niko’s?”
She nods. “Yeah, I’ve grown attached to the little shit. Just yesterday, she was staring right at me while pushing one of my perfumes off the counter.”
A laugh bursts through me, and I shake my head. “Yeah, that sounds like Arson, alright.”
“She’s a menace,” Aria huffs. “But I do like her.”
“She likes you, too; otherwise you’d be filled with scratch marks.”
Aria grins, then slowly stands up. “Well, I should go.”
“Where are you going?”
“Raven and Cove finished the transfer.”
A frown tugs on my lips. “What transfer?”
Aria bites the inside of her cheek. “This base has been compromised by having the mole. So, I’m taking it elsewhere. All of the important things have been transported. Though, telling Freya that she needs to plant a new botanic garden will be a task I don’t want to do.”
The thought makes a grimace pull on my face. I don’t evenwant to be nearby when Freya gets told to pack up, and I’m assuming the screaming match will be severe.
“Yikes, good luck with that.”
“Yeah, I’ll definitely need—”
The words die in her throat when a loud bang echoes from somewhere within the base. We exchange worried looks before both of us dart out of the room. The blanket falls down, and I reach for the gun while passing by it on the table.
The main room is in chaos. Men that aren’t our own are entering, one by one, firing shots at whoever they can reach. A few of ours fall down, dead. Quickly, I lift the gun and manage to get one, watching as his limp body hits the floor.
“Aria!” I yell over the noise, and she briefly glances at me. “Where the fuck is Raven?”
“I don’t know,” she yells back, just as she uses a baseball bat to hit the back of one man’s head. “I called for the rest!”
It doesn’t matter. We’re outnumbered, and it seems as though this is a lost battle.
Fuckedy fuck.
TWENTY-EIGHT
“What the actual fuck—”
The duffle bag drops from my hand as soon as Cove and I enter the base. There are some unknown cars outside, but given that we’ve been switching the place up, I thought Aria bought new cars for our men.
