“I called it,” she said. “Because I wanted to know who thought they could send their dogs onto our turf.”
A low growl of appreciation rolled through the room.
“Tesauro Vincino answered.” She let the name hang. “Didn’t say hello. Didn’t ask who it was. Just said, ‘Took longer than usual. Is it done? Did you retrieve it?’”
Raven swore under her breath. Medusa’s fingers twitched like they were already around somebody’s throat.
“After I said his name, he hung up,” Liberty said. “That’s all we needed to hear.”
Cobra leaned forward, tattooed fingers drumming once on the table. “So, it’s official,” she said. “We got Philadelphia’s favorite snake sunning himself in our backyard?”
“Officially,” Liberty confirmed. “He’s using Roman’s docks to move shit in secret. And using Steel Serpents to do his dirty work. Poking at us like we’re some side road he forgot to put on his map.”
Rosé uncrossed her arms. “We’re not owed respect,” she said calmly. “But we’re not prey.”
“Exactly,” Liberty said. She looked around the room. “So, I call for war.”
You could feel it hit them again. Even the ones who’d been standing in her office hearing her say those exact words ten minutes before held their shoulders a little differently now that it was spoken in this room, and over this table.
“No half measures,” Liberty said. “The Vincinos, their Serpents, their cartel friends—anyone they send our way—they’re enemies. We don’t start shit with civilians, we don’t touch Roman’s people unless they touch us first, and we don’t bring cops into this unlesswe want our names on more lists. But if they come for us? We bite back hard enough that they remember why they shouldn’t have fucked around to begin with.”
“Any questions?” Rosé asked.
Hands didn’t go up. Voices did.
“Birdie?” Arizona asked. “Hospital?”
“Still on Miami,” Liberty said. “Mink’s watching chatter remotely. Any cop sneezes near Shoreline or the Aces’ compound, we’ll know. No one goes to that hospital alone. Ever.”
“They started this,” Medusa said. “Can we go cut a piece out of them before they reload?”
“That’s the temper I raised you with,” Liberty said. There was something almost fond under it. “But we’re not sprinting blind into Philly. Right now, the smartest thing we can do is hold our ground, shore up our alliances, and make sure when they come back, they don’t leave.”
Medusa looked at me. “Devil?” she said. “Your Prez?”
I cleared my throat.
“Blackjack sat down with Roman,” I said. “Told him about the ledger. This war book that started all of this that the Vincino’s were trying to move. About his docks, his Russian, his sons. Roman’s not happy about being treated like a side piece. He’s going to start pulling his own threads.”
“And the ledger?” California asked, eyes sharp.
I nodded. “Blackjack wants proofhe can put in Roman’s hands,” I said. “Not the whole book—it’s too dangerous—but enough pages to show him this isn’t us trying to stir shit between the biggest families on the east coast. Just enough to tie the Vincinos to the Bolivar Cartel, and Steel Serpents. Roman sees that while staring down at photos of a dead Serpent in that junkyard, he’s going to realize this war isn’t just hypothetical anymore.”
Valkyrie’s gaze brushed mine, then went back to Liberty. “The sooner we can get those photos to Blackjack, the sooner Roman can start cleaning his house thoroughly,” she said.
“Agreed,” Liberty replied. “Soon as we’re done here, you and Jersey Boy take a walk downstairs. Use your key. Open the safe. Pick some pages Blackjack can use. Take the shots. Then the ledger goes right back to bed. Understood?”
“Yes, Prez,” Valkyrie said.
I nodded. “Got it.”
Liberty looked around the table again.
“From this minute on,” she said, “no one walks this compound alone after dark. Patches stay on your backs at all times unless in a cage, guns stay close, and if you see a black SUV rolling slower than traffic, you call it out before you even blink. Cobra, adjust road rotations. Indigo, gate rules are tighter. We don’t open for anyone we don’t recognize unless they’re already bleeding. India, Diamondback, you’re on Med Ops should anyone get hurt. Arizona, camera stays on you. I want plates, faces, tattoos, shoes. If it can identify aman, shoot it with your lens before you shoot it with your gun.”
Arizona nodded, serious under the sarcastic look she usually wore.
“And one more thing,” Liberty said, voice flattening. “They hit us once. Strangled a man, sent Serpents, took a graze out of Diamondback. They lost, so they turned tail. They’ll come again. But not before they rally. Not before they rethink. That’s who they are. While they’re doing that, they might decide to hit the Devil’s next.”
