24. Dax #2
Harper giggled as she walked up and took the plate from Eagle then waved her arm like she was starting a race. “Okay, go!”
That had everyone laughing for a moment before they all converged on the food, shoveling like they were teenagers who’d never been fed before.
Taking a seat on the couch, Harper joined me and rested her head on my shoulder for a moment, looking up at me.
“Why does it feel like we’re on some family holiday or something and not planning for battle against a murdering psychopath who’s been stalking you for years? ”
Laugher burst out of me. “I think the term you’re looking for is family, Harpster. Neither of us have had much experience in that department.”
“Weird, right? The two girls who had no one most of their life now have this brood of overbearing men looking after them,” Harper said with affection filling her voice. “Not to mention one of your in-laws is even here with us. Was that weird for you? Wait, does he still hit on Weston?”
“No, the guys and I had a long talk with him about that. What’s going to be really entertaining is watching how the triplets react to him when he pulls this shit on them.” I chuckled.
Her eyes went wide at the thought then we both laughed. “Oh God, I need to make sure none of them kill him. Then again, Ghost has been so excited to meet him so maybe he’ll be flattered and protect him from Maggie.”
“One can only hope,” I murmured before digging into my meal.
Everyone settled in the living room, sitting on the couch or floor when we ran out of space, eating, chatting, and completely relaxed.
Just like Harper pointed out, everyone seemed to have this air of comradery, and the hostility and irritation between our two groups of men seemed to have worked itself out after our last interaction.
When we all finished eating and dumped our plates on the kitchen counter for the butler to deal with.
“So, darlings, you’ve asked for my help. How can I be of service?” Dante asked as he slipped off his light gray suit jacket, rolled up the sleeves of his soft pink long-sleeve shirt, ready to get down to business.
“Our biggest worry right now is… how do we get an army into Mexico without drawing attention to it?” Wes explained.
It was clear to me that the boys had done some planning last night with how prepared they were for this conversation.
“The largest portion will be coming from the West Coast, but I can’t seem to think of a way to get thousands of people from one place to another,” Wes continued.
My brows shot up. “Thousands?” I blurted.
Everyone looked at me.
“Yes, Dax, thousands,” Wes answered. “Did you think we were going to be able to pull this off with only the thirteen of us?”
“Well, yeah, that’s exactly what I thought. There’s no reason we need to involve the rest when we can just slip in, kill the fucker, then go back home. Done deal!” I explained. “Why, what are you thinking? An all-out war?”
“Hellcat, this is an all-out war,” Eagle pointed out.
“Marco has attacked my people, and if he wins, then he’d happily slaughter all of your people as well.
We can’t do this quietly. We need to make a statement that says if you pick a fight with the Hidden Empire, you’ll be destroyed.
If we were going to do what you just suggested, we could send the triplets to do the job and be done with it. I know that’s not what you want.”
Shit, Eagle had a point. I’d been looking at this in a way to get it to end but not really long term.
This needed to be huge news with flashing lights and a neon sign that says, ‘Fuck with me, and I’ll end you.
’ Fuck, I must be getting tired if I didn’t realize this before.
It’s a damn good thing I put them in charge of planning.
“You’re right.” I sighed.
Cognac whipped out his phone and held it near my face. “I’m sorry, loba, could you say that again? I just want to make sure I have it on record since this is a momentous occasion.”
“Fuck off,” I grumbled and flipped him the bird. “So does anyone have any ideas as to how to get that many people into another country so one would notice?”
“Honey child, this is such an easy solution, I’m astounded none of you thought of it. Y’all must be slippin’ if you didn’t think of it yourselves,” Dante teased.
We all stared at him expectantly when he didn’t continue to tell us his brilliant idea, “Goodness, you clearly do need my help. I’m so glad you asked since you seem to be in dire need of some fresh ideas.
Tell me what comes in and out of the country with thousands of people on them that no one would bat an eye at?
” Dante asked, trying to get us to figure it out ourselves.
Sprocket groaned and dropped his head on the table. “How the fuck did we not even consider that?”
“See, there ya go, now you’re cookin’ with fire,” Dante praised. “Now tell the others what they missed.”
Lifting his head, Sprocket grinned at us all. “A motherfucking cruise ship. They come and go all the fucking time and flood the ports full of people doing this or that, and no one bats an eye. We just need to buy out a ship, fill it with our people, and bam, we’ve got ourselves an army.”
We gawked at his answer, then I quickly dissolved into laughter.
“God, if that isn’t the best fucking idea and something we can totally make happen.
The boat can even start in Seattle and make its way down, collecting people.
Hell, if we run out of room, we simply get another boat.
Wait, how many people does a cruise ship hold? ”
Wes turned to his computer, and the sound of keys clacking told me he was looking up that very information. “Seems to be an average of two or three thousand, and some of the bigger ones can take almost four if you count the crew.”
Three to four thousand. Holy shit, that’s waging war on Marco with those kinds of numbers.
“So how do we do this? Rally the troops, I mean?” I asked, looking at the others. “We’ve kept most of this a secret, but I have zero doubt most saw the fight night and my declaration.”
“Simple, little demon, you be yourself and rally the troops. I’m sure there’s a way for us to film something we can send out to your leaders throughout the Hidden Empire. Then we’ll make it known to talk to those in charge in their area to get more details,” Void suggested.
Wes nodded his agreement. “That’s simple enough to do. It will be like the monthly meetings we typically have with the lieutenants running the Pacific Northwest.”
My gaze flicked around the table as Wes said that, expecting there to be a bigger reaction to the fact that I controlled the whole West Coast, but no one seemed to care.
Had Weston told them already? I suppose it didn’t matter.
Most of the men in this room were my husbands and would have found out soon enough, and the others didn’t seem to give a fuck.
Well, good to know we aren’t making a big deal out of that bit of news.
Now, on to more important things like what are we going to do with the army we’re collecting?