One
West
Texas’ voice ripped me from my trance. “So, what the fuck is our plan?”
Puck groaned. “Probably to stay cooped up here forever.”
Stone glared at him. “We aren’t going to stay here forever, asshat.”
“Well,” Diego said as he turned to face our fearless leader, “then what the hell are we going to do?”
Stone looked over at me. “You got any input that’s going to be of use?”
I shrugged. “I mean, they’re right. We can’t stay cooped up here. We’re growing in numbers every single day and this warehouse is starting to fill out a bit too much.”
Frost crossed his arms over his chest. “Not to mention, some of our women are filling out a bit too much.”
Stone growled. “You leave Hayley to me.”
I scoffed. “We’ve left this crew to you and look at where it’s got us.”
Yeah, I said it, and sure, maybe it was out of line. But I didn’t regret it. Even as everyone turned toward me and balked. Even as Stone tried to pierce my heart with the daggers shooting from behind his stoic eyes. I didn’t care, though.
The only thing I cared about was getting out of this bullshit alive.
“I know we can’t stay here forever,” Stone said flatly, “but it’s easier to keep everyone safe this way, especially our women and children. We’re all in one place, which means—”
“We’re sitting targets,” Frost murmured.
“Would you guys shut the hell up?” Stone hissed.
Texas snickered. “You either want our input or you want us to shut up. You don’t get to have it both ways.”
Shock rolled over the faces of everyone in church, including my own. Texas always had Stone’s back. That was how their relationship worked. But to listen to Texas position himself on the other side of the argument told me that things had gone to hell and back more than we all realized. For the first time since Stone’s reign over this club, he stood alone in his arguments and his position.
And as much as I wanted to stand with him, I couldn’t. “Frost is right. We’re all sitting ducks just waiting for someone to take us all out. We need a plan, and we need a future plan. Not a right-now plan.”
Stone shook his head. “Right now is all we’ve got.”
Frost walked up to my side. “Not if we continue being on the defense and don’t step up to play offense.”
I thumbed toward him. “What he said.”
Texas placed his hand on Stone’s shoulder. “They’re right. We have to take a stand and we have to create future plans to get out of here. We need something that puts us one step ahead instead of three steps behind. Otherwise, this is just the slow way the cartel wins.”
Stone shrugged off his best friend’s touch. “Fuck you.”
Texas sighed. “Maybe not today. Though, try me tomorrow?”
Stone’s face fell and the guys all looked around the room. We waited for Stone to lose his shit. To haul off and slug Texas right in the jawline. However, the second Texas busted out that cheeky little grin of his, Stone snickered.
“You’re a fucking asshole, you know that?” he asked.
Texas forced a smile. “I’m a fucking asshole that’s always on your side, even if you don’t see it. But our guys are right. We have to stop defending and we have to start attacking.”
Stone raked his hands through his hair. “I know that, as president, I shouldn’t be asking this question…but how the fuck are we going to take down an entire god damn cartel?”
Everyone fell silent at his question. We had been in the trenches for so long fighting for our right to exist while pushing out an influence in our territory that was destructive and dangerous that we couldn't see past the smoke we had kicked up with our deflective fucking bombs. It was a nightmare; every time we turned around, the cartel had a way to get to us. A way to hurt us.
