Page 19 of Revenge & Truth

Durant chuckled. “Oh, you and Von are cut from the same cloth, although I’ll warn you, she’s a little rougher around the edges. That being said, if you want to take the fight to their doorstep, which is what I think you’re building up to asking us, she will make sure it’s one hell of a fight.”

“Do you think there’s a chance to come out the other side if I do that?” I ventured.

“Are you asking if we think you could be the one to take down two of the three strongest founding families besides the Raffas? Change the way things have been done in our criminal world of ours for over a century?” Prospero challenged, pinning me with his gaze.

I took a second to sit up straighter and square my shoulders. “Yes, that’s exactly what I’m asking.”

Prospero didn’t speak right away. He just kept holding my gaze until I wanted to drop it, feeling uncomfortable. Then I got irritated at myself for even thinking that and thrust my chin out in a sort of challenge toward the old man.

A smirk tugged at his lips before he dropped his gaze first, then stood up, the others following his lead. “Lady Astin, if there were ever a person who could pull off that task, it would be you. We proudly stand beside you in this choice and want to offer our help and connections in any way they might be needed.”

My jaw dropped at this display of loyalty. Each of them had given me their oath and now bare proof of it on their palm, but those were just words—this was action.

“I am honored to know you have such faith in me,” I shared, setting my coffee aside so I stood with them. “The founding families have stolen enough from me and many others. I plan to make them pay for it with blood and pain to the point they beg for mercy, but none will be given from me.”

The men cheered in solidarity, excitedly thumping each other on the back. Near the door, I caught Liu’s gaze lingering on me, a look of admiration in his eyes as he gave me an assuring nod. He agreed with my choice of action, which was a relief because I didn’t know how the others would take the news. Liu then subtly tapped his wrist, reminding me we needed to head out.

“Thank you, gentlemen. I’m sure we will be having many more such meetings in the near future. However, at this moment, I need to deal with a problematic situation,” I announced, shaking each man’s hand before heading out.

Boykov fell in step beside me, handing over my gun. “I didn’t know if you wanted a thigh holster or lower back, so I brought both.”

I beamed up at the man. “You’re the best, Ralph. By the way, did you bring your wading boots? I have a feeling this meeting is going to be a messy one.”

“Of that, I have no doubt,” my bodyguard muttered.

eight

The two-hour drive was one major strategy session on how we planned to deal with this situation. Did we remove the owner and put someone else in his place? Was it better to simply burn the whole place down and wash our hands of it?

“Hold on,” I cut in, waving my hands like a referee calling a play. “Do we think there’s any way we can use this situation to our advantage with Harvey?”

That question seemed to stump all the guys.

“There had to be a reason that Harvey chose to use this club to get what he wanted. If he’s stealing our drugs and women from R&B, there has to be a why,” I pointed out. “Add regarding the fact he hasn’t used it against us also tells me there’s something we’re missing.”

Ryker raked a hand through his hair. “It would be fucking nice to have Luca around right now. He knows where everything that gets imported ends up and how much they were given.”

“Surely he has that information tracked somewhere,” I reasoned.

“Yeah, in a code only he knows,” Jace muttered. “I told him it was a bad idea if something happened like him getting locked up, for instance.”

“Jace, there is no way Luca would be the only one to know how to crack the code. My father would never have allowed important information like that to be lost,” I countered, turning to Liu. “Do you know if there’s someplace my father would have kept that sort of thing?”

Liu shook his head. “I’m sorry, I don’t. However, you might want to check whatever it was that he gave you after he passed. You mentioned there was an overwhelming number of files filled with things that had to do with the inner workings of the Family.”

“That’s a rather brilliant suggestion,” I said, resting a hand on his thigh. “Thank you.”

He didn’t say anything as he dropped his gaze and hummed in acknowledgment.

“I don’t mean to point out the negative in this situation. However, coming up with a plan extensive enough to harm Mr. O’Hagan in the next hour isn’t going to be enough time,” Atticus commented.

“True, but if we know that’s what we want to do, then it would be better for us to save the club. We go in with the plan to remove the current owner, put someone else in place for now, then when we’ve had more time to think about it, we can set the plan in motion,” I explained.

Atticus shook his head as he nervously fidgeted with the pen in his hands. “Astin, I really don’t see that working. These men were more than willing to kill us to ensure their problem went away. Plus, it would spread everywhere you personally went and made an example out of them. Mr. O’Hagan would consider the location a loss, knowing you are now aware of it. What benefited him was the fact you didn’t have any idea it existed.”

“He makes a good point,” Hound agreed. “We either need to stomp the club into the ground for disrespecting you, or we turn around and come up with a plan on how we can use them. Bottom line, we can’t do both, Luna.”

Letting out a growl of irritation, I looked out the window at the trees whizzing by. “I know, but the question had to be asked.”