Chapter 11 Diego
ELEVEN
DIEGO
“Up there,” Stone said.
I peered up the steps as I slung my sack of clothes over my shoulder. “You guys want me upstairs?”
Texas pushed himself past me. “Yep.”
Stone shoved his chest into my back. “That way, we know when you’re coming and going.”
Texas nodded. “Yep. Can’t just sneak out through a window on us or some shit.”
Stone snickered. “Mostly because this upstairs portion doesn’t have windows.”
Great. “Wherever you want me is fine.”
As we walked up the steps, we came to another door that had the lock on the outside. I didn’t like that shit one bit, but it wasn’t as if I had a choice in the matter. I acted like I didn’t see it as I slipped inside, and the sheer expanse of this loft space dropped my jaw.
I mean, my home was twelve-hundred square feet, and this space was a lot bigger than that.
“There,” Texas said as he dropped my things, “make yourself at home.”
Stone tossed my suitcase into the corner. “And if you piss us off, we’ll lock you in. Just keep that in mind.”
I drew in a deep breath so I wouldn’t quip back. “Understood.”
“Good,” Stone murmured.
Texas walked over to the kitchen toward the left-hand side of the loft. “We got you stocked with plenty of food. There’s a deep freezer in the corner with plenty of meat and fish. If you need shit, let one of us know and we’ll add it to our grocery list.”
I nodded. “I appreciate it. Thanks.”
Stone gripped my shoulder and turned me around. “And if you so much as even think about double-crossing us or escaping in any way, my men have orders to shoot you on the spot with no questions asked. Got it?”
I locked my eyes with his. “Loud and clear.”
His eye twitched. “Good.”
But as the guys headed out of my new home for the next few—I don’t know, days? Weeks? Months?—I cleared my throat. “That still doesn't help my predicament, though.”
Stone continued out of my room as Texas grabbed the doorknob of my front door. “Your mother’s being guarded. That’s all we can do right now.”
Without leaving me any room for rebuttal, the door slammed closed.
Right before my cell phone vibrated in my pocket.
“Wow, there’s service out here?” I whispered to myself.
But when I pulled my phone out, I almost wished I hadn’t.
Unknown: You got that update for us? Time’s ticking, and you know that Santa’s always watching.
I walked over to the sprawling king size four-poster bed in the right-hand corner of the room.
I perched on its edge and took a second to admire the delicate softness of the mattress itself.
My bed at home was the same one I’d been using ever since I was a teenager.
It was worn and sagged in the middle, and this damned thing felt like sitting on a fucking cloud.
I relished the feeling against my ass before I responded to the text.
Me: I’m in with the club. I’m working on getting the contacts.
It didn’t take much time for them to respond, either.
Unknown: Good. You have three days to get us those contacts.
I slipped my phone back into my pocket and I knew I couldn't sit on this information. So, despite Stone and Texas’ warning about leaving the room, I went in search of Notch.
Thank fuck they hadn’t locked me into the room yet, but I had half of a mind to ask Notch for a key to it just in case they got weird about things.
I shoved it all to the back of my mind, though, as I kept walking up and down hallways, silencing my footsteps so I wouldn’t run into anyone that had an itchy trigger finger.
“So, how are you liking your new room?” Notch asked.
I whipped around and found him leaning against the doorframe of a bedroom that sat at the end of the hallway beneath my loft. “It’s, uh…Well, it’s big.”
He grinned. “Yeah, that’s one of the reasons why we liked this place. Everyone gets a nice slice of space to be themselves while still on high alert.”
I walked up to him. “Do you know that Stone has given orders to—”
“Shoot you on sight? Yeah, I told him that wasn’t flying with me.”
I patted my phone in my pocket against my thigh. “I just heard from the cartel.”
He quirked an eyebrow. “And?”
I sighed. “I told them that I was in with the club, so to speak, but they want something leading them to those contacts. Now, I have no plans to tell them anything, but I have to give them something that feels like I’m helping them out.
I’m trying to stall as much as possible, but Mom’s in the crosshairs and they’ve only given me three days to come up with something before she’s in trouble again. ”
“And you,” Notch said.
I shrugged. “I don’t care about me. I only care about Mom. She’s lost enough. She doesn’t need to lose anymore.”
He placed his hand on my shoulder. “Which is why you’re just as important in this equation. We need to keep you safe, too.”
I shook my head. “I’m between a rock and a hard place. Is there anything I can give them in a couple of days to calm them down enough for us to have the space to come up with something?”
He drew in a deep breath. “Did you say three days?”
I nodded. “Yep.”
He chewed on the inside of his cheek. “Come. We need to go talk to Stone.”
“Are you sure he isn’t going to try and shoot me on sight?”
He chuckled as he took my arm and started down the hallway. “Not with me in your corner. Come on.”
We wove our way through the warehouse until we found the kitchen, and it seemed like every guy in the damn crew was there trying to find something to eat. They all slowly looked over at me before their eyes snapped to Notch, and I saw all of the ways they wanted to kill me rush behind their eyes.
“I thought you said if we shoved him up there, we wouldn't have to lay eyes on him,” Puck said flatly.
Bronx nodded. “That’s the only reason why I bought those damn groceries in the first fucking place.”
Notch sighed. “Shut up and listen, okay? He’s heard from the cartel.”
Stone shoved his way through the crowd. “What did they say?”
I licked my lips. “They want information on your contacts. They’ve given me three days before Mom and I are back in their crosshairs.”
Puck scoffed. “You’re an idiot if you think the two of you ever left their crosshairs.”
I shot him a look before Stone cleared his throat. “And you need something to give him so you can keep protecting your ass from the stupid decisions you’ve made with your life.”
I shook my head. “No. I need something to tell them so my mother stays alive.”
The man narrowed his eyes. “Tell me exactly what the cartel’s looking for. What are they hoping to smoke out of us?”
I cracked my neck. “They want to know everything about your weapons operations. How many weapons you guys have. Who you’re selling them to. Where you store your weapons after they arrive. Everything. But they’re starting with those contacts they can’t pin down on their own.”
The entire room fell silent before Stone threw his head back in laughter, and like a scene out of a movie everyone else started laughing with him. Even Notch had to curl his lips over his teeth to keep from laughing with them, but I didn’t think any of this was funny.
The cartel had already taken my brother from me, and now my mother was next.
“Look, I know this is funny to you guys, but this is my family’s—”
Stone interrupted me with his hand around my throat. “I don’t give a shit how you feel about the situation. It’s your decisions that got you and the rest of us into this mess.”
“Stone, cut it out,” Notch said curtly.
I wrapped my hand around Stone’s wrist. “I don’t expect you to give them everything, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“Good,” Stone glowered.
“But,” I said as I worked his hand away from my neck, “I need a little something to give them, even if you point them in another direction.”
Stone glared at me. “I’m not giving you shit. You’re the reason we’re in this mess and I don’t trust you as far as I can kick you.”
I shrugged. “Hey, I’m not the one that brought me into lockdown, so as long as I’m here—according to your words—all of you are targets.
So, we can either work with what’s happening, or in three days’ time this entire compound and its whereabouts are going to be blown because they will come after me, even if they’re only coming after my body once you guys put bullets in my head. ”
That shut them up, but I saw that I had made them even angrier at me.
And then, Notch once again came to the rescue, as if that were his purpose in my family’s life. “What if we give them what they want to hear and buy ourselves some time to figure out the rest?”
Stone turned his attention to Notch. “What do you mean?”
I furrowed my brow. “That might work, actually.”
Texas stepped to the forefront. “What might work?”
I drew in a deep breath. “The cartel already has theories as to who your contacts might be. I could tell you what they think they know, and you can tell me which contacts you’d like to confirm with them, even if they aren’t actually your contacts.”
Notch folded his arms over his chest. “Use their ego against them. They’ll already think he’s telling the truth because they are conclusions they’ve already come to.”
Texas groaned. “As much as I hate it, it sounds like a solid plan.”
We all looked to Stone before he nodded. “I like the idea. Someone go get West so we can formulate a story that he can help us back up electronically.”
“On it,” Bronx said.
Notch sighed. “We should probably fill the Celtic Riders in, too, just in case.”
Stone chewed on the inside of his cheek. “I’ll call Asher in the morning. He’s on a weekend trip with his guys and I don’t want to spoil their ride back. Plus, they’re clear across the country right now. I’m sure they’re safe for the moment.”
I nodded. “Probably. The cartel doesn’t work in a broad area. They focus on a very small area to target first before branching out. I can almost guarantee that they aren’t looking beyond the borders of California right now.”
Stone pinched the bridge of his nose. “Do you have any idea where the fuck the leader of your cartel is now?”
I snickered. “Not my cartel at all, but yes. I’ve heard rumors, at least.”
“What were the rumors?” Notch asked.
I peered over at him. “There were rumors flying around that the Boss was buying a place right here in the U.S. somewhere near his first base of operations, which would be in the areas you guys operate. But I don’t know specifics.”
Stone shrugged. “Then, you better figure out where this fucker is.”
I nodded. “I’ll do my best.”
Before things got any more heated between me and the guys, I dismissed myself and backtracked to my room.
I closed the door at the bottom of the steps and had half a mind to lock that door, but I decided against it.
I eased up the steps and into the loft that had become my new temporary home, but I didn’t even get the door closed behind me before I smelled her.
Ruby, and that wonderful fruity body spray of hers.
“Hey there,” she said.
I closed the door and sighed. “What are you doing up here? You know they won’t like it if they find you up here with me.”
She giggled. “And when did that ever mean something to you?”
My gaze found hers. “How are you doing?”
She walked over to me, and it took all I had not to watch her hips sway. “I should be asking you that question.”
I shrugged. “I’m fine.”
She slipped her finger beneath the collar of my shirt before pulling it off to the side. “Got some bruising along your shoulder.”
I closed my eyes and drank her in. “The internet told me that was normal with gunshot wounds.”
She nodded mindlessly. “Especially ones that aren’t through and through.”
The truth of the matter was that I wasn’t fine. I didn’t know how the hell I could get Stone and these guys to trust me, nor did I know how I could get away from the cartel. And beyond all of that, I had these feelings for Ruby that were hard to stomach whenever she was around.
Especially when I felt her skin against my own.
I have to stay on the good side of the club. I can’t have Ruby.
“I know you’re lying to me, by the way,” she said as she took a step back.
Her stare found my gaze and I drew in a deep breath. “Come again?”
She snickered. “I can tell you aren’t fine.”
“I mean, the pain medication is already wearing off, but I’m—”
She shook her head. “Not what I’m talking about.”
Please, don’t do this. “Seriously, I’m okay. Just gotta take it one hour at a time.”
Her eyes searched mine before she rolled them. “I’ll get it out of you eventually, but for now your wound is bleeding a bit. Probably from all of the hustling and bustling of today. So, take your shirt off and let me change your bandage.”
And despite the fact that I knew I needed to get her out of this loft, I settled for taking my shirt off.
I enjoyed her lingering gaze against my body as she unwrapped the gauze from around my shoulder.