Chapter 10
ATLAS
Two weeks went by without much of anything happening.
I flicked through the screens on my phone out of habit more than anything. The monitors were barely ten feet away with the same details but there was something soothing about having access at my finger tips.
Beasty was in a meeting with the girls, Kim was on her heels, and Joaquin was handling some issue in the Gold Room.
The only one in the office with me was Lake.
Luckily, this time around, he didn't feel the need to lose himself in a spiral of caffeine and conspiracy theories.
He was much more level headed as he spouted nonsense.
"Okay. I think I have a foolproof plan."
I flicked my gaze to him for a second before watching Beasty again. Her ass was absolutely delicious in those dove gray slacks Kim bought her. "Oh?"
"Are you listening to me or just fucking around on your phone?" he griped as he spun to face me.
I sighed. I could go with Beasty to these meetings, but then I'd have to engage with the workers and it would take my attention away from her. On my phone, I could watch her completely and no one could interfere.
"Atlas!"
Except Lake.
I sat up straight and gave him my attention. "What did you say?" I asked, just to be an asshole.
His face turned beet red as he glared at me. Then he shook his head. "Fuck it," he mumbled, then louder, "I have a plan. For tomorrow night."
"The museum." My tone was flat. I had zero interest in going back to that place. I knew Kim and Joaquin felt the same way. But Beasty seemed to be interested in going, probably to ensure Parker and his people continued to help us in the unending rat chase.
"Yes. Parker is having one of their guys drive us. Said he’s impossible to blackmail the way our old driver was. His family resides close to Parker, and he assures me that if any outside blackmail happens, it would mean death to his family."
I didn't hate that, but after seeing Parker with his wife, I doubted they'd go through with it. He wasn’t wrong in saying he’d lost some of his street cred. "You actually think they'd kill his family?"
Lake pressed his lips together. "No. I think what he's saying is, they're protecting the only people important to this guy, so there isn't any leverage someone can use against him."
That was a thought. Not only to know the leverage, but to hold it so no one else could swoop in and undermine you.
"Okay. What else?"
"Guy is going to be inside the museum with a contingent of our men. He's gotten hired for some security outsourcing the museum put out."
Lucky for us.
"He also has a contingent of men on the outside and we will have men in a five block perimeter parked and ready to intervene in case anyone is able to kidnap any of us for any reason. They won't get far." Lake twisted his lips to the side as he glanced down at the map he had on his table.
"How will they know where we are? Are we going to wear trackers?" I wasn't crazy about that idea.
"I'm not sure." Lake lifted his gaze to mine, and a divot appeared between his brows.
It only showed up when he was unsure of what to do next.
"I don't hate the idea of wearing trackers if we're the only ones with access.
But I don't want to give that information to anyone else.
There are too many opportunities for leaks. "
"So what you're saying is, we'll have a nice perimeter set up, but we could still make it through if no one has any idea what vehicle we're in and if we've even passed by or not." I pulled a face. Great plan.
"Fuck you," he spat and spun back to his computer. "That's the only piece I'm unsure about. The rest of it is good."
I checked on Beasty and jerked when the screen showed the room empty. Flipping through the footage, I started breathing again when I found her walking down the hallway with Kim, pushing at his shoulder and laughing.
I grinned. I loved that girl and our love looked good on her.
She never looked this happy when we were growing up. Even when she was with us before, she never had this level of confidence or just radiated calm. Which was a feat given that we had no idea where Gio and Adrian were and the Pescis seemed to have gone to ground.
I pocketed my phone and started watching the door instead. It was barely a minute before Kim and Beasty came through. I got up and greeted her with a kiss and an ass grab. She melted into me, and my grin turned into a bright smile.
It turned me on so fucking much to know that she enjoyed my touch.
Lake's phone rang. "Yes?"
"Lake," Guy's voice boomed from his speaker. "Books is here. You want me to let him into the office?"
The bookie from West Virginia, who gave Beasty the opportunity to leave us the first time, and saved our asses this time. At least once.
Lake cursed, but Beasty perked up. "Books is here?"
Lake had his own issues with the man, probably because of the former, but I didn’t mind him. There was nowhere Beasty could or would go without me now and that knowledge did wonders for my temperament.
The brightness in her voice drew Lake's gaze like a magnet and he slumped. "Sure."
I laughed under my breath as the door buzzed and Books stepped in. He instantly found Beasty and smiled. "Hi, sweetheart."
She had started toward the door, but tilted her head at the endearment.
Books pulled a wince. "Too much? I'm trying to sink into my uncle role."
"No..." Beasty drew out as she approached him. "It's just new. I've never been called anything except Beasty."
Fuck this girl, pulling on my heartstrings like that. She’d missed out on so much that most of the population experienced. So did we, but where we didn’t care about these simple things, Beasty made little comments that pointed out how much it bothered her.
Or should bother her.
At least we called her Beasty out of love because that was who she was to us. If anyone from our hometown called her that today…
They’d find everything they hold dear suddenly gone.
Books scowled at us. "Which is a terrible name."
She laughed. "It's me. I don't mind it." Some of her confidence stalled as her hands hovered at her side.
"What's wrong?" Books sobered immediately, gaze flying around the office, searching for a threat.
"N-nothing." Beasty dropped her hands.
"She was going to hug you," Kim offered helpfully, shrugging good-naturedly when Beasty shot him a glare.
"You wanted a hug?" Books couldn't have sounded more surprised if we'd gifted him a puppy.
Beasty dropped her head, almost in defeat as she shifted on her feet. "I've been hugging the guys so much, I think it's starting to be second nature."
I hated that look on her.
Glaring at Books, I waited to see what he’d do. He better not hurt her feelings.
"I don't mind a hug." Before she could process what he said, he wrapped his arms around her and gave her a squeeze. It was over in a matter of seconds, but it left a stunned Beasty blinking at him. It was cute.
But that was enough attention for Books. I grabbed her hand and pulled her over to sit on my lap in my favorite corner of the couch.
"Hey, it's my turn," Kim complained as he sat next to us so that his thigh touched Beasty's knees.
"You should be quicker. But really, it's my turn since you just spent an hour with her." I raised my brow at him in challenge.
Kim scowled. "That doesn't count when you have twenty dancers with dancer drama bouncing around you."
I hid my smirk on Beasty’s shoulder. He wasn’t wrong. It was why I decided to watch the cameras instead.
"I see that you've all settled into the relationship well." Books tried to hide his amusement as he grabbed one of the chairs and spun it around. "What's going on?"
"Working on plans for tomorrow night." Lake said without looking away from his computer. Now that we were all here and happy, he was back to obsessing over the plans.
Books' brows pulled low over his eyes. "You don't have to do that." That being the job. Beasty had given him the high-level specifics of our deal and he wasn't thrilled.
"Yes, we do," Beasty chimed in. "Lake promised we’d fulfill this job for them in exchange for being allies, and we also need to make sure they don't retaliate since Parker lost his part of the club."
We’d had dozens of conversations around the statue both here and at home. The one thing we all agreed on was that it was in our favor to keep Parker happy if it meant he walked away from the club.
So, I was with Beasty. As much as I doubted Parker was the ruthless cartel man I’d originally thought he was, I personally didn’t want to tempt our fate or that of my lover’s because he was cocky.
Brilliant, but cocky.
Books stared at the floor for a minute, probably trying to figure out if there was some way he could turn this around so Beasty didn't feel the need to jump into danger again. At some point Books would realize it was pointless trying to argue with her or Lake.
Beasty was proving to be the most stubborn of all of us.
"We could give them a number of favors from the Network. I would make the offer, and Bishop would too."
Lake drummed his fingers on the desk. "That's not going to work with Parker. Believe me, I've worked with the guy for years and he already weaseled one favor out of me. Anyway, we'd be pushing our luck, considering he's actually giving up his investment without a fight."
"Yes, but I hear that has more to do with his wife than anything. I'm sorry I missed it." Kim's soft smile was almost mocking. I was sure he was sorry he missed it. He loved watching other people get knocked down a peg or two.
Books grumbled unintelligibly. "What can I do to help then?"
We all looked to Lake.
He scratched his jaw. "I think we have a good handle on it. The only thing I'm not sure about is the tracking." He recited the same plan he'd told me, and the one downfall.
Surprisingly, Books offered the solution.
"Why don't you wear jewelry trackers, and have them sent to a burner phone. I'll hold it and if anything happens, I'll send it to your guy...Guy." He shook his head. "What a terrible name."
"Hey, we don't judge names around here," Beasty chastised him, and I barked out a laugh.
For his part, Books did look repentant. "Sorry. I'm upset on your behalves. It's not your fault or Guy’s that people around you were idiots."
Another chuckle escaped as Kim grinned. Books wasn't so bad when he was on Beasty's side. I'd never had any dealings with him, that was all Joaquin, but he would have mentioned it if this guy had been so...funny.
It must be Beasty, bringing out the best in us. I snuggled her closer on my lap.
Lake hummed. "So you'd be the control center?" He brought us back to the problem.
"Yup. And I promise to guard it with my life. If you don't believe I'd do it for you, believe I'd do it for Cressida."
"You wouldn't sell the guys out, just because you don't like them?
" Beasty asked, studying him with a solemn expression.
I didn't for a minute think she believed he’d turn us over while keeping her safe.
It was probably that she felt she had to ask since we'd made more enemies than friends over the years.
"No." A ghost of a smile lingered on Books’ face. "I've grown to like the little shits." Kim bristled. "And they seem to make you happy. So for now, they don't have anything to fear from me."
Lake didn't seem to care about any threats from Books. Neither did I. We were here to stay, and happy or not, no one, not even Books, could separate us from Beasty.
"That's a better idea than I had." Lake traced the perimeter around the museum. He looked up at Books. "What's to stop you from getting attacked and losing the phone?"
That must have caught Books off guard. It took him a minute to answer. "What if I brought Bishop? She likes you, and she's always up for an adventure. It's one of her faults." He frowned. "She could be my security detail."
"You'd have Bishop protecting you? Not the other way around?" Lake sounded more curious than anything.
Grinning, Books shook his head. "Have you met Bishop? She's a tiny package of dynamite. I'd hate to be on her bad side. She's definitely more intimidating than I am."
"True," I said, looking at Lake while stroking my fingers along Beasty's hip.
I was glad she loved my touch, because now that I'd had this experience, I'd never give it up.
They'd have to pry her luscious body from my cold, dead hands.
"Books was supposed to be the getaway driver when we saved your ass, Lake.
He's definitely not one to get his hands dirty. "
"Hey." Books’ frowned. "I resent that."
Lake nodded, his chair creaking as he leaned back. "It's settled then. I'll ask Parker to assign one of his men to you and Bishop too. Someone who can't be bribed."
"You know what that means?" Kim stood and stretched like a giant cat. His excitement buzzed around him.
"I'm afraid to ask." Books eyed him warily. Kim was usually so calm and centered, giving fake smiles out like candy, that this side of him probably did concern Books.
"We need outfits." He canted his head like he was taking in Books measurements. "You too. You can't go to a gala in a cheap backwoods suit."
Books nostrils flared in real offense this time. "Take that back."
Kim opened his mouth but Beasty placed a hand on his forearm, halting him immediately. "You can't argue fashion with Kim. It's his entire purpose in life. Don't be offended he finds your clothes lacking. You should have seen how he reacted to my jeans."
"Beasty," Kim said, looking at her with exasperation. "You had at least five holes in every article of clothing you had. They were better as Swiss cheese than actual clothing. They couldn't keep a fat man warm and that doesn't even cover how atrocious they looked."
I peeked at Beasty's face to make sure she wasn't hurt. That was the line I drew with my friends and this girl. But she just smirked up at him like this was the exact reaction she expected.
"Fine. I'll let you pick out my clothes," Books responded like the compromise was the biggest inconvenience.
"Great!"
Everyone but Books laughed. He just looked tortured.