Chapter Five
I STRODE INTO the room, slung my phone into the faraday cage, and plopped down next to Valley. He’d gotten the same unexpected call to this meeting. Leather shot me his usual icy glare, but at least Player wasn’t joining in today. Part of me hoped Leather would just throw a punch and get it over with; a good brawl might clear the air.
“You figure this is about a run?” Valley asked, tipping his chair back, eyes narrowed in curiosity. Invites like this usually meant something big; we weren’t senior members, so something was up.
“Couldn’t be anything else,” I said, as Patch shuffled in, looking like he’d wrestled a bear. The mess with Katherine and Caden had really done a number on him.
“Let’s dive in,” Patch announced, resting his arms on the table and fixing his gaze on Scotch. “Any heat from our tangle with the Fire Dragons?”
“Clean,” Scotch reported, a smirk playing on his lips. “Cops chalked it up to rival club drama. No leads, no interest and cased closed on their end.”
“So, Papa Bears out for the count? No more trouble from the Fire Dragons?” Player chimed in, leaning forward.
Patch exhaled sharply. “Wish that were true, but Sarah’s saying Papa Bear’s grandson, Drago, is stirring up his own trouble with the Dragon Fire MC down in Georgia. Kid was on the outs with his grandaddy, started his own club and looking to expand. He’d made up with Papa Bear not long before everything went down.”
“That’s our blowback, then. He’s eyeing South Carolina and Florida,” Harker cut in. “He’ll be out for revenge. Try to take our territory.”
“Already warned Devil and Panther. But that’s not why we’re here.” Patch flicked open a folder. “We got a high-stakes job. It’s risky.”
Leather perked up, leaning forward, his interest piqued. “Oh, yeah, risky how?”
Patch’s gaze swept the room. “Samuel’s paying big to disrupt his wedding this weekend. He’s marrying off to honor a contract with Vittorio Amato’s granddaughter—a mafia tie he wants to cut without starting a war.”
“What’s the play?” Player asked, suddenly all ears.
“I’ll be on the inside as a guest. I’ll help the bride—who is on board with the plan—escape through some tunnels during a distraction. You guys will handle the fireworks outside to make that happen. Player, you’re on extraction at the designated location.” Patch laid out the plan, his voice steady, unworried. But this was more than just risky, it was outright dangerous.
Jonesy shook his head, saying what I was thinking. “Messing with the Mafia, man. That’s no joke.”
“We go in clean. No colors, no faces, ditch the wheels after,” Patch insisted, his gaze once again sweeping the room. “He’s throwing two million our way, plus another mill to keep the woman hidden while he sorts things out. All heat goes to another mafia family.”
Hillbilly whistled. “Hell of a payday.”
Patch smirked. “She’s under our roof till it cools down.” His gaze flicked to me and Valley. “You two got babysitting duty. Just pretend she’s your new flavor of the week or something. You two can figure it out.”
I stifled a groan. Babysitting a likely spoiled mafia princess was the last thing I needed. “Understood,” I grunted, not daring to argue.
“Word of this doesn’t leave this room,” Patch’s voice hardened. “Not even to our own brothers.”
Vain, looking better since getting back with Lana, raised an eyebrow. “Seriously?”
“Vittorio will make it worth someone’s while to find her. Can’t risk it,” Patch stated flatly, then stood. “I’ll set another meeting for Friday. Gotta get moving; Katherine and I are off to see Caden.”
“He doing good? Getting bigger?” Jonesy asked, a slight smile breaking his usual stern expression.
“Better every day. Should be home soon,” Patch replied, a rare warmth in his tone.
As everyone filtered out of the room, I looked at Valley, who grumbled, “She’s probably going to be a bitch. That’s why we got stuck with her, and now we gotta pretend to be into her.”
“Agreed. Why else would Samuel want to ditch her, but when given an order...”
“Yeah, I know,” Valley agreed, “But that doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
I nodded as we made our way back out into the common room. This is something I just didn’t need right now. My mind was too far gone with visions of a redheaded ghost.
Valley nudged me, pulling me back to reality. “C’mon, let’s grab a beer. We might as well enjoy the calm before the storm.”
As we walked over to the bar, I couldn’t shake the feeling that this job was going to change everything.