“You’ve got an idea,” Ember said.
Lillith nodded slowly. “Yeah, I do.”
“Let’s hear it,” Ember said. Tank didn’t look happy, but that was too bad. At least someone was willing to listen to her.
“I call them,” Lillith said.
“No—” Tank said.
“Tank,” she snapped, turning on him. “You said they don’t leave loose ends, right?”
His jaw clenched. “Yeah.”
“Then I’m already one,” she said. “Which means they’ll talk to me.”
“That’s not how—” Tank started.
“They already came for me once,” she said, cutting him off.
“They don’t negotiate,” Tank said, but there was less certainty in his voice now.
“Everyone negotiates when the cost gets too high,” Lillith said.
Ember’s lips curved slightly. “She’s not wrong.”
Tank dragged a hand down his face. “This is a bad idea.”
“Probably,” Lillith admitted. She stepped closer to him and wrapped her arms around him. “But so is everything else we’ve done so far.”
“Let me try,” she whispered. Tank exhaled slowly, and she could tell that she had gotten through to him.
“Fine,” he muttered.
Lillith blinked. “Wait—really?”
“Yeah,” he said, his eyes locking onto hers. “But you don’t do it alone.”
“Deal,” she quickly agreed. She couldn’t wait to put her plan into action because the sooner she did, the sooner she could figure out what to do about her feelings for Tank. She just hoped that she wasn’t alone in the whole love department.
It didn’t take long to get their attention. They called the next day on a burner phone, from an unknown number, right on schedule. Lillith stared at the screen for half a second before answering.
“Hello?” she said. Silence filled the other end of the line, and she worried that whoever was calling had changed his mind.
“You’ve got something that belongs to us,” a man said. The voice was calm and controlled. He sounded cold and uncaring, just as she expected him to. Lillith felt Tank move closer beside her. She didn’t look at him because seeing the fear in his eyes might break her.
“Actually,” she said, keeping her voice steady, “I think you’ve got that backwards.” There was a pause followed by a low chuckle.
“Bold,” the man praised.
“Truthful,” she corrected. “Because this isn’t going how you thought it would.”
“How about you explain how it’s going to go then?” he asked. Good—she had his attention, and he was at least listening to her.
“You came into the Royal Harlot’s clubhouse hot,” she said. “You lost people, and you didn’t get what you came for.” Silence filled the other end of the call again, and she wondered if she had pushed him too far, too fast. “You keep pushing,” she continued, “and you’ll lose more men.”
“And you think that scares us?” he asked.
“No,” she said honestly. “But I think it makes coming after us not worth it.” Tank’s hand brushed her back. He wasn’t trying to stop her, just offering her his support.
