Chapter 9 #2
“The fuck are you three not talking about?” snapped Blaze.
Shadow scratched his chin, then set down his folder and tapped his finger on it. “If we want to take down the entire organization, we have to get Jean. Not just the underlings because she’ll just hire new ones.”
“We need to catch her in a con,” I added.
“Exactly.”
King folded his arms over his chest and leaned back against his chair. “How do we get her back in the game?”
“Bait,” Cross tossed out. “A fish so big and illusive that she can’t help herself.”
I sat back and propped an ankle on the opposite knee. “Appeal to her ego and her love of the thrill,” I mused.
Ace rapped his knuckles on the table twice, then snatched Wizard’s laptop.
“What the hell?!” Wizard bellowed, his face a mask of outrage.
The rest of us stared at Ace, absolutely dumbfounded. Taking Wizard’s computer was the fastest way to change your address to the nearest cemetery.
“Chill the fuck out, man,” Ace said distractedly as he quickly typed. “Not like I stole your kidney or something.”
Wizard’s face turned purple as he seethed, glaring daggers at Ace while curling his hands into fists so tight his knuckles cracked.
I shot a look at King, wondering if he’d step in, but he was watching the two of them with amusement, something we rarely saw from the prez unless he was with his old lady or son.
“You gonna save his ass?” I asked Blaze quietly, who was sitting next to me.
“Nah. Fifty says Ace ends up in the hospital tonight.”
There were several murmured agreements, making King chuckle.
“You have a death wish, Ace?” Cross murmured, watching Wizard warily from the treasurer’s left side.
He grunted and tapped hard on one key, then slid the laptop back over in front of Wizard.
Taking a deep breath, Wizard tore his eyes from his prey to scan the computer screen. “This is good,” he admitted grudgingly. “Not gonna save you from being stabbed in your sleep when you’re least expecting it, though.”
Ace rolled his eyes. “It will if you want my help with the financial shit.”
Wizard ground his teeth, but he didn’t say anything else.
“You two done?” King grunted, his face back in its usual scowl.
Ace gestured to the computer and explained, “Wizard and I have the beginnings of several aliases set up for cases when we need to get someone gone fast. One of them is for a high roller. Someone who wants to disappear with their fortune and can afford to pay us to do it since it takes a fuck ton of work.”
Wizard nodded. “Won’t take much work to get this up and running. The back end is as solid as they get. Breaking this identity would take years for the best of the best. Once it’s live, we filter word of the new man through the grapevine, and as long as we’re reading her right, she’ll bite.”
“Volunteers?” Ace asked with a smirk.
I sighed. “It’s my op, I’ll do it.”
Blaze and King shared a look, then they both grinned and King suggested, “Bring Violet in here to tell her.”
“Why?” I questioned, my eyes narrowed in suspicion.
“Protection,” Blaze drawled.
I scowled. “Why would Violet need protection?”
“Not Violet, Echo,” King muttered as he stood and walked around his desk to take a seat behind it. “You.”
“What?”
Blaze swept his hand around the table and grunted. “Out.”
They all protested but shut up and left when King growled. “Now!”
Ace was the last to reach the door. “I’ll send in your woman,” he told me before leaving.
I was pacing in front of King’s desk, much to Blaze’s amusement, when Violet stepped into the room.
“Hi,” she said softly, giving the prez and VP respectful nods. Then she came directly to my side, and I curled my arm around her waist before giving her a soft kiss.
“Hey, baby.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah. King gave me permission to bring you further into the loop on some of this shit with the con organization.”
“Oh?” Her eyebrows shot up into her hair, and her mouth formed a cute little O.
“Let’s sit,” I prompted, guiding her over to the couch. Once I settled, I tugged her onto my lap. “You know Jeff is a low-level conman. And I told you we were going after the big fish.”
“Yes,” she agreed with a nod.
“Well, we discovered the other day—when I had to leave for a few hours—that the boss is actually a woman.”
“No way!” Violet gasped. “Seriously?”
I went on to explain more about her and our plan to take her down. When I got to the bait part, her expression fell, then darkened as I continued, and by the time I finished, she looked absolutely livid.
“Are you kidding me, Brodie Fauks?” she shouted, jumping to her feet.
I heard a deep chuckle and tossed a glare at Blaze, who was grinning behind Violet’s back.
“Shouldn’t take long,” I assured her. “I’ll play the part of the mark, give her what she wants until we catch her trying to steal the money from the dummy account we set up. You’ll stay here in the clubhouse where you’re protected.”
“You’re going to give her what she wants?” Violet asked in an emotionless tone.
“You are so fucked, brother,” King muttered as he shook his head.
“For shit’s sake,” I barked. “It’s not like I’ll actually be dating the woman!”
Violet inhaled slowly and crossed her arms under her breasts, pushing them up and distracting me with thoughts of how they tasted and what they’d feel like wrapped around my?—
“Focus, Brodie!” Violet stomped her foot and growled, forcing me to mash my lips together so I wouldn’t smile at how damn cute she was.
I locked my eyes with her gorgeous purple orbs and tried not to think about how fucking bad I needed to be inside her.
“Let’s look at this from another perspective, shall we?” she asked in an overly sweet tone that put me on edge. The smirks on King’s and Blaze’s faces didn’t help either.
“Let’s say that the mastermind of this group was an older man. A man who had a preference for much younger women. Particularly curvy girls with brown hair who were of average height.”
“Don’t forget violet eyes,” Blaze piped up. “He likes those, too.”
I glared at my VP for a moment before turning my attention back to my woman.
“And let’s assume that in order to put this man in jail, someone needs to pretend to date him.
Oh, for the sake of ease, let’s say me. I’m the bait, so I have to let him think he has rights to me, to let him take me out, show me off, give me jewels and dresses, and tell me what to wear. Possibly even try to steal a kiss?—”
“No!” I bellowed, jumping to my feet. “Not a fucking chance in hell, Violet!”
“Exactly,” she huffed, a triumphant smile curling her lips.
“Walked right into that one,” King rumbled.
“Fine,” I gritted out through clenched teeth. “Get one of the other guys to do it.”
Blaze snickered until I turned my lethal gaze on him. “Think Courtney would let you be the one? I’ll go tell her you volunteered.”
That shut him up real fucking quick.
“Brodie, don’t be mean,” Violet chastised, her voice back to its normal sweet and sultry tone.
I held out my hand. “Let’s go,” I rasped, desperate to be alone with her.
“Is this Violet?” an excited female voice squealed. “I’ve been so excited to meet you!”
Knowing King would put a bullet in my head if I looked at Stella with anything less than a pleasant expression, I schooled my face and turned to greet her.
“Hey, Stella. This is my Violet.”
Some of the frenzy inside me began to settle when my girl looked up at me with a bright smile and pink cheeks, her dimples on full display. Damn, she was beautiful.
“Come on, we’re dying to get to know you,” Stella uttered as she grabbed Violet’s hand and dragged her from the room.
“I’m gonna give her a tour first,” I said loudly as I caught up to them. “We’ll meet you back in the lounge in an hour.”
Stella pouted, but King gave me a knowing look as he slipped his arm around his wife and guided her away. “I’m sure she’ll want to meet Cadell, baby. Let's see if he’s up from his nap.”
Before anything else could get in my way, I tossed Violet over my shoulder and practically ran to my room.