Chapter 5 #3
“No.” Vi shook her head. “She’s not doing that for you.
” Zeke’s chin jerked back into his neck, but before he could respond, she turned to Indie.
“Sis, figure out what’s the biggest crime family close by.
Not Sicilians, though. Don’t care if it’s Russians, Armenians, Chinese, Crymorahs, whatever.
We have to find one that, in reality, is close enough to Pittsburgh and would want to expand their territory.
One that would come off as a valid threat to the Russos. ”
Rage pressed his lips together at the way she reminded Zeke that she was in charge, not him.
He wasn’t the only one amused. Reaper’s lips also twitched.
But Crymorahs? Who they fuck were they?
“And then what?” Zeke asked.
Reaper answered instead of Vi. “Then we start fucking with the Russos and leave hints behind that would point the finger at that other crime family. But not Crymorahs. They’re from another galaxy.”
The corners of Vi’s lips tipped up. “Right. Their galaxy is far, far away.”
When his cousin and her newest team member’s eyes met, Rage sucked on his teeth at the silent, but very obvious, exchange between them.
It had to be an inside joke.
“What about women and children?” T-Bone asked, pulling Rage’s attention away from Vi and Reaper.
“Off limits,” Rage answered before anyone else could.
“Agreed,” Reaper said. “Taking out the key players will start enough of a shit storm.”
Rage was liking this plan. On the surface, the club wouldn’t appear to be involved.
They’d have a sniper in their back pocket to take out some of the Russos from a safe distance. They had an explosive expert to blow the shit out of businesses, cars, homes, or whatever.
“This mean we gotta hit the other family we choose?” Zeke asked.
Reaper shook his head. “Hell no. The Russos will do that on their own once they figure out who it is.”
Indie smirked. “Once they figure out who they think it is. We don’t want them to know who’s really behind it.”
No shit.
“We’ll do some deep dives, gather some intel, and get back to you on how we can go about this without starting Armageddon,” Vi announced, her dark brown eyes slicing between Rage and Zeke.
“Need to do somethin’ soon, Vi. Look what those goddamn Souls did to your club sisters. To our fuckin’ family.” Zeke said.
Vi shot him a frown. “No reason to remind me. I fucking know. Believe me. Do you think I don’t want retribution for that?”
Too late. Rage already got it. But he didn’t need to bring that shit up at this point. That might cause a shit storm of its own.
Vi sat back and focused on Zeke. “One more thing before you get out of my warehouse. If you want Reaper to do some of your dirty work by using some of his finely honed skills, you need to patch him in. It’s not negotiable.”
Damn. His cousin was definitely a badass bitch.
He was proud of her, but the fuck if he was telling her that. She would snap back and tell him that she didn’t need his approval. Truth was, she certainly didn’t.
Zeke eyed up Reaper. “That what you want? Or that somethin’ she wants?”
The sniper jerked his baseball cap lower. “I’m nobody’s bitch.”
“It’s somethin’ you want, then,” Zeke concluded, his jaw shifting.
Rage didn’t miss it when Reaper’s eyes sliced over to Vi and then back to Zeke.
What the fuck was going on between those two?
Reaper then pulled on the brim of his hat and answered, “Got a bike. Like to ride. Angels of Fury told me to fuck off when it came to joining their club, so yeah. Why not?”
“Sled,” Zeke corrected him.
“Sled. Bike. Same shit,” Reaper muttered. “Didn’t know the terminology was crucial.”
“It’s not. Our cousin’s just being his typical dick self,” Indie said. “As long as you don’t ride a pink one like Lexi, or attach streamers or a bell to the handlebars, you’ll be good.”
Rage noticed Zeke staring at him, a question in his eyes. He shrugged in answer.
If being a former Marine recon sniper meant the man had discipline, was loyal, and wasn’t a pussy, then Rage might make an exception when it came to letting the man patch in without being a prospect first.
But the membership as a whole would have to agree and he knew they’d get some pushback since every fully-patched member once had to prospect for a year. And most of them hated every fucking second of it.
It was worth it in the end, but it was like running a gauntlet to get there.
While Reaper would definitely be a club asset, since he was a Shadow, he didn’t need to be a DAMC member. The Shadows worked for Vi, and if they wanted to press the issue, that meant they worked for the club, whether she agreed with that or not.
But…not being a member could mean he might not want to do some of the things Rage would want him to do, like the real down and dirty shit. By not wearing their colors, he’d also have no loyalty to the club itself. Only to Vi.
And whether she liked it or not, Vi was club property and not a DAMC member.
It was one thing for Rage to handle the revenge on those three Souls. Taking them out had been child’s play. But going after the La Cosa Nostra was going to take a lot more fucking finesse than Rage had.
Once they left the warehouse, he’d talk to Zeke about the benefits of patching Reaper in. It wouldn’t cost them shit to do so and could help the club in the end.
They would just need to convince the rest of the membership to agree. Including the OGs.