Page 142 of More Tricks

“I don’t get it. Why take out perfectly good operations? Then we’ll need to start all over,” one of Tommaso’s men questioned.

“It was like when you wanted to make a hit but didn’t want anyone to figure out it was pinpointed, so you took out a bunch of random others to mask your intended target,” Jaxson explained, shocking the others.

Leave it to the assassin to come up with an example that made perfect sense but was completely fucked up at the same time.

Harper just punched him in the arm with a glare. “What was that for? It’s a perfectly good explanation and totally works.”

“I know you kill people for a living, but can we try not to make it sound like you don’t give a shit about human life as you kill off those random people to cover up your work?” Harper muttered.

“Gorgeous,” Jaxon’s tone was kind but had a hint of a warning. “We’ve talked about this.”

She opened her mouth to argue, then noticed all of us watching and shut it. Crossing her arms, Harper grunted and leaned back in her chair, clearly not happy about being told to keep her thoughts to herself. The door opened, and Tommaso returned with Betta right behind him, neither of them looked happy, and it had taken far longer than it should have to get back down here.

“I’m here,” Betta announced as she flopped into a seat.

Magnus took a breath like he was going to start his explanation again, but I held up a hand to stop him. Pinning Betta with a look, I cocked my head, trying to figure out what exactly it was that pissed her the fuck off.

“Hey, you,” I snapped.

Her gaze flicked up to meet mine.

“You in or out?” I demanded. “If you’re in, then you better fucking act like it because this isn’t some game. People are going to die no matter how well we plan this, but a shitty attitude like that is gonna get even more people dead.”

I knew I was being an asshole, but she needed to understand the stakes. “You don’t want to be his right hand anymore, fine, get the fuck out. Just to be clear, when I say get out, I don’t mean this room. I mean, pack a bag, pick a location, and get the hell out of dodge because having you around is only going to fuck us over.”

Betta looked at me like I just punched her right in the tit by how shocked she was. I was betting no one had talked to her like that in a long time, but I wasn’t going to go soft on her. Women in this world needed to be tougher than the men, and right now, it was time to nut up or get out.

“How dare you sit there and speak to me like that,” she finally spat out through clenched teeth. “You have no idea what I’ve just been through.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, but I’m not going to compare beatdown stories with you because it doesn’t fucking matter. What’s your answer, Betta? You gonna brush off the wounded puppy act and get to work making these fuckers pay, or should I help you pack a bag? This won’t be the last time shit like this happens to you if you stay in this role,” I reminded her.

Betta just let out a scoff and looked at her brother. “You’re not going to tell her off?”

“No, because she’s right,” he answered. “Dad’s gone, and I’m not going to shelter you from the storm that's coming. I’ll help you get out if you want but speak up now, or it’s going to be too late later.”

I had to respect Tommaso for that. He understood what I was saying and knew it was crunch time. If we were going to pull this off, we needed everyone in or all the way out.

“So that’s it? Right here, right now, I have to commit to this?” Betta demanded from the room.

Sprocket frowned at her. “The fact that you are even asking that means you’ve never been behind this choice. You don’t step up to being a leader's right hand if you’re not willing to give your life for the job. If they can’t get to him, they’ll come for you. It's part of the job.”

“Then if I say I’m out, I have to leave right now and never come back?” Betta asked, looking hurt and confused.

I shot out of my chair and walked over to her, planting my hands on the armrest, boxing her in. She reared back from me, terror written on her face. “Suck it up, buttercup. You got the shit end of the sick last night, and it’s rough to deal with when the darkness you’ve been flirting with bites back. Here’s the thing, though, unless you bite right back even harder, you will be marked weak, vulnerable, and a victim for the rest of your goddamn life. Where the fuck is the woman who fought for her place among the four? That’s the bitch we need right now. She’d know how to get the job done and stop sniveling over a split lip and a black eye.”

Rage flashed in her eyes, the most emotion I’d seen all day from her. “That’s right, get mad, build that fire up inside you. Trust me when I say it will keep you warm and motivated far better than any drug or alcohol.” Pushing away from her chair, I took my own and looked at the rest of the table. “She’s good now. We can proceed.”

Tommaso looked at his sister, then back at me, not at all understanding what just happened, but that was fine. He didn’t need to. I’d been where she was, and more than anything, I wish I had someone who would have given me that talk. Wes was like her brother, though, but wasn’t going to push me the way I needed to be pushed.

“As I was saying before,” Magnus started after an awkward pause filled the room. “Our goal is to get Diego and his son at the same time even though they are in totally different locations. Adding in the hits to some of the other places before we go for the real targets will cause so much chaos they won’t notice till it’s too late. Doing this also ensures they will put both of them under house arrest, thinking it will keep them safe. This is the protocol most people have, knowing if they’re bold enough to go after their money, why not the boss?”

Cam picked up where Magnus finished. “We will have five teams hitting various locations as well as another team going after the house in the Hamptons. Diego is staying in the city because of the fight tomorrow night, so he knows he won’t be there. It just adds to the urgency of the attack if they have to send more men all the way out there to deal with it. That group we are sending isn’t going to really have to attack the place. More like throwing a few grenades or Molotov cocktails to make it a good show, draw out the neighbors and cops.”

“That’s what you guys call not really attacking a place?” Charles, one of Tommaso's men, commented. “What does really taking one down look like?”

“Simple,” Void answered. “There’s nothing left of it, no chance of it ever coming back, just rubble and blood.”

Charles whistled, nodding his head as if he was impressed by our tactics. Each of us took turns breaking down the plan making sure everyone knew what was going on. Once they understood the basics, we moved on to planning out how many men would be going where and what we had to work with as far as weapons went. Tommy boy certainly had a pretty tight operation for someone who had been keeping this all a secret from not one but two criminal organizations.