Chapter Nineteen
“Poppy, this isn’t smart,” Chloe told her friend.
The two women were sitting next to each other on Pete’s couch.
Catarina was sitting in one of the chairs off to the side, with Jack standing behind her, Gavin in another.
Pete and Fallon were on the couch opposite the women.
Like Beckett, I’d opted to keep my feet and stand.
Unlike Beck, who looked mildly bored, I was struggling to keep my mouth shut.
“My friend is missing,” Poppy returned.
“I know,” Chloe whispered.
“Pete told me,” Poppy continued. “What they do and what’s happening at the Vault. I can’t quit. For Cindy I can’t quit. I have to try and help.”
Chloe’s gaze came up and locked with mine.
Fuck my life.
From across the room, I could feel Chloe vacillating. I knew she was smart. I knew her being stubborn about quitting was, yes, about needing money, but it was more about my approach, which was part of my colossal fuckup I was attempting to rectify by keeping my mouth shut.
But now she was wavering.
One of the many things I liked about Chloe was her loyalty.
I didn’t have to be entrenched in her daily life to know she deeply cared for her friends.
Poppy especially. There was no chance she’d quit and leave Poppy blowing in the wind.
She’d stay and put herself in danger to have her friend’s back.
And that was a mindfuck. Something I admired so deeply was now the very thing that was going to cause me the most trouble.
Yeah, fuck my life.
“Poppy,” Chloe tried again but got no further.
“I can do this,” Poppy returned. “Catarina explained everything. Their plan won’t work unless they have someone on the inside.”
My gaze shot to Cat. To her credit, she held strong under my scathing stare. The damn woman was impenetrable. Or maybe Jack had been right and the woman had a death wish, because right then I felt like wrapping my hands around her throat and squeezing.
“How helpful of her,” I gritted through clenched teeth.
“She needs to understand what she’s getting into,” Cat put in.
What she was getting into was a dangerous game she didn’t know how to play. I didn’t want Poppy involved, but unlike my violent reaction to Chloe’s continued employment at the Vault—which made my gut twist into a ball of fury—Poppy staying on was a worry I could manage.
Totally fucked, but the truth.
“Poppy, please think about this,” Chloe pleaded. “It’s really dangerous.”
“You didn’t see her,” Poppy said softly.
“Who, honey?” Chloe asked.
“Pamela, Cindy’s sister. She was undone. I want to help. And it won’t be dangerous, not for me. All they need is someone on the inside to report what’s going on behind the scenes.”
That wasn’t exclusively true. If we couldn’t find what we needed electronically—and so far we were coming up empty—we’d need someone to get us the full membership list.
“Okay. But if you’re staying, so am I.”
Fuck. There it was.
“Chloe,” I growled in warning.
Big hazel eyes soft with worry latched on to mine.
“You know there’s no way I can quit if Poppy stays.”
There it was—the unnecessary confirmation I was totally fucked.
Thankfully before I could blow my stack, Beck spoke up.
“It’s dangerous as fuck, woman.” Poppy jolted, and when he had her full attention, he went on.
“You go in as an informant, rule number one is you never forget danger lurks around every corner. No one is your friend. You don’t trust anyone outside this team.
If you do, you wind up like your friend, or worse—dead. ”
“Beck,” Pete muttered.
“You wanted my help on this,” Beck returned. “This is me helping. She’s gotta know what she’s walking into or you’re all fucked. One slip-up from her and your case is blown. She opens her mouth to the wrong person, she’s fucked.”
“You’re not wrong,” Pete conceded. “But, maybe dial it down a little.”
“Brother, I haven’t dialed it up yet.” Beck transferred his gaze back to Poppy.
“Cat, Calista, Pete, me—we’re all in to coach you.
But it’s up to you to keep yourself safe.
We can’t do that for you, especially while you’re inside those walls.
That’s on you. That goes double if Chloe’s there.
One fuckup on your part and the both of you are dead. ”
My gut revolted, but it was my heart that rejected the thought of Chloe dying.
Poppy’s face had lost some color. She was now sitting ramrod straight, but when her eyes narrowed on Beck, some of her fear faded. “Is there a reason you’re telling me this, and not both of us?”
Beck pushed away from the wall, came farther into the room, and crossed his arms over his chest. The man was a beast, tall and built in a way that would make someone think twice about fucking with him.
He’d grown back the beard he’d worn when he’d been undercover in a motorcycle club, making him look not only dangerous but more than a little feral.
“Chloe rightly told you this operation’s dangerous.
You said it wouldn’t be dangerous for you.
That’s the first reason why I’m addressing you.
The second is because you have a personal connection to this case—Cindy.
And that makes you vulnerable. It means you’ll be reckless in your decision-making.
Instead of operational security, you’ll be focused on justice, and that’s the worst thing someone undercover can be fixated on.
Your first priority is making sure you’re alive at the end of the mission. Dead women can’t report in.”
I didn’t miss the renewed fear on Poppy’s face. Nor did I miss the way Chloe shifted closer to her friend. And there was the goddamn allegiance again. She wouldn’t even allow Beckett to have a go at her friend without keeping her close.
“Beck’s right,” Cat put in. “Priority one is your safety. What we’re asking you to do is unsafe. We need access to information, and it could take a long time before Pete and Ryan are invited into the inner circle, but the mission isn’t worth your life.”
Chloe’s head tipped to the side ever so slightly as she regarded me. A look I’d never seen from her washed over her expression—hurt, maybe. Miffed, definitely.
“You’re going undercover at the Vault.”
I might’ve been a man, therefore clueless as to the whys and wherefores of a woman’s shift in attitude mid-conversation. However, I wasn’t so oblivious I didn’t hear the accusation, thus know to brace.
“Yeah.”
“You’re going undercover at the Vault,” she repeated, this time with weighty disdain, along with a healthy dose of offense.
“Remember the part about this not being my first rodeo?”
“Yes, Ryan, I might be dead-on-my-feet tired, but I can still retain information. And being that I also speak and comprehend English, I know I didn’t miss you telling me it was going to be you undercover at the Vault.”
I might not have given her the specifics, but I was pretty sure at some point I’d begged her to quit and let my team handle the situation. So I didn’t understand the sarcasm and the filthy look she was throwing my way.
“I’m not sure what that has to do with anything.”
“You don’t?” she snapped. “You being a member means you’ll be at the club.”
I still didn’t understand what that had to do with her and Poppy quitting.
Unfortunately, I pushed instead of shutting my trap.
“And?”
“You’ll be there.”
“And?”
“You’ll be there,” she repeated. “That means it might be dangerous, but I won’t be in any danger because you’ll be there to make sure we’re safe.”
And fuck me running.
I wasn’t sure if I was pissed as fuck I’d walked right into that trap or if I wanted to howl at the moon, She trusts me to keep her safe.
I didn’t do either.
I stared at her.
She smiled a triumphant grin.
“When’s your next shift?” I asked, and that smile turned toothy.
“Tonight.”
I looked at Poppy and asked, “You?”
“Same. Tonight.”
“Beck, you’re on Poppy.”
“Can’t, brother, I’ve got someplace to be.”
“I’ll cover Poppy,” Gavin offered.
That worked out better.
I looked back at Chloe, returned her smile, and lowered the hammer. “You’ve got a choice. I’m moving in with you, or you’re moving in with me.”
“What? Why?”
“I might not be able to control you, but I sure as fuck can control how this operation is carried out. You want in, you follow my rules. Until we get our memberships sorted, I can’t go into the club, but I’m driving you to and from work.
And after our memberships are sorted, I’m still driving you to and from, with the added protection of my ass being at the bar. ”
“I don’t think—”
“With this, you don’t think. I do. The team does. And that’s not being King Bossy. That’s me being the one with operational experience. I make the rules, you follow them. You said it yourself; this shit is dangerous. You also said it will be me who makes it safe for you to be involved.”
Chloe glared.
Poppy nudged Chloe’s shoulder.
“It’s King of Bossiness,” she spat and intensified her scowl.
“Careful, baby, you’re going to give yourself a seizure with all that effort you’re using to summon up those daggers.”
“My couch is lumpy, so I pick my place.”
I gave her that play and smiled.
Her eyes narrowed. She knew I had no intention of sleeping on her couch, lumpy or not.
“Um. Yeah. So, I think I’m missing something,” Poppy muttered.
I heard Gavin chuckle.
Chloe shot him a filthy look, then transferred her stare to me and scowled.
Those pretty eyes flashed with fury, taking Chloe from her normal beautiful to straight-up gorgeous. And that had nothing to do with the deadness I witnessed yesterday.
That was just her.
I beat back the fear that was threatening to encroach. Fear that was on some level irrational, on another completely justified.
The team and I had been out on countless missions. We were well trained and excellent at what we did. Yet there was still that kernel of anxiety that was aggressively fighting its way to the surface.
When I had the disquiet shoved back into the box that I knew wouldn’t hold it back for long, I told Chloe, “I hope you know, the only thing you scowling at me does is make me want to kiss the frown off your beautiful face.”
The fury was smothered out by something far sweeter, and she couldn’t hold the frown when her mouth dropped open.
“I think I missed more than something,” Poppy muttered.
Chloe jolted.
But she did so with her eyes locked onto mine.
And that worry came back full force.