Chapter 14 #2
Lillith’s gasp filled the room. “Then we don’t take down just one of them,” she said. That got Tank’s attention.
“What are you saying?” Ember asked.
Lillith took a breath, and then another, trying to steady her nerves. “We talk to them.” The room fell deadly silent.
“Absolutely not,” Tank said immediately.
“Just hear me out—” Lillith started.
“No,” he cut in. “That’s not how this works.”
“Then explain how it does work,” she fired back. “Because from where I’m standing, this just keeps going until someone ends up dead—and I’m not okay with them killing the man that I love.”
“Lillith,” he said, his voice lower now. “Did you just say that you love me?”
“I did, you stubborn mule, and you dying isn’t okay,” she said.
Lillith didn’t need him to say those words to her in return, but she refused to hide the way that she felt about him any longer.
Today had taught her that tomorrow isn’t promised, but she wanted to work like hell to make sure that they were both around to face a new day.
He looked at her, like he was trying to figure out what to say next, and she shook her head. “Don’t worry about that now, Tank. We need to focus on what to do next about the assholes who are trying to kill us. We need a plan, and I think that mine is a good one,” she insisted.
“You don’t sit down with people like that,” he breathed.
“Why?” she asked. “Because they’re dangerous?”
“Yes.”
“So are you,” she said.
“They want you,” she continued. “Not me, not Ember, and not the Harlots.”
“They’ll use all of you to get to me,” he snapped.
“Then let’s make it not worth their time,” she said. Ember watched her closely now, and she hoped like hell that her sister would have her back in all this.
“You’ve got an idea,” Ember said.
Lillith nodded slowly. “Yeah, I do.”
“Let’s hear it,” Ember said. Tank didn’t look happy, but that was too bad. At least someone was willing to listen to her.
“I call them,” Lillith said.
“No—” Tank said.
“Tank,” she snapped, turning on him. “You said they don’t leave loose ends, right?”
His jaw clenched. “Yeah.”
“Then I’m already one,” she said. “Which means they’ll talk to me.”
“That’s not how—” Tank started.
“They already came for me once,” she said, cutting him off.
“They don’t negotiate,” Tank said, but there was less certainty in his voice now.
“Everyone negotiates when the cost gets too high,” Lillith said.
Ember’s lips curved slightly. “She’s not wrong.”
Tank dragged a hand down his face. “This is a bad idea.”
“Probably,” Lillith admitted. She stepped closer to him and wrapped her arms around him. “But so is everything else we’ve done so far.”
“Let me try,” she whispered. Tank exhaled slowly, and she could tell that she had gotten through to him.
“Fine,” he muttered.
Lillith blinked. “Wait—really?”
“Yeah,” he said, his eyes locking onto hers. “But you don’t do it alone.”
“Deal,” she quickly agreed. She couldn’t wait to put her plan into action because the sooner she did, the sooner she could figure out what to do about her feelings for Tank. She just hoped that she wasn’t alone in the whole love department.
It didn’t take long to get their attention. They called the next day on a burner phone, from an unknown number, right on schedule. Lillith stared at the screen for half a second before answering.
“Hello?” she said. Silence filled the other end of the line, and she worried that whoever was calling had changed his mind.
“You’ve got something that belongs to us,” a man said. The voice was calm and controlled. He sounded cold and uncaring, just as she expected him to. Lillith felt Tank move closer beside her. She didn’t look at him because seeing the fear in his eyes might break her.
“Actually,” she said, keeping her voice steady, “I think you’ve got that backwards.” There was a pause followed by a low chuckle.
“Bold,” the man praised.
“Truthful,” she corrected. “Because this isn’t going how you thought it would.”
“How about you explain how it’s going to go then?” he asked. Good—she had his attention, and he was at least listening to her.
“You came into the Royal Harlot’s clubhouse hot,” she said. “You lost people, and you didn’t get what you came for.” Silence filled the other end of the call again, and she wondered if she had pushed him too far, too fast. “You keep pushing,” she continued, “and you’ll lose more men.”
“And you think that scares us?” he asked.
“No,” she said honestly. “But I think it makes coming after us not worth it.” Tank’s hand brushed her back. He wasn’t trying to stop her, just offering her his support.
“We don’t walk away from loose ends,” the voice said.
“Then don’t,” she replied. “Tie it off.”
“Meaning?” the man asked.
Lillith took a breath. “This ends now,” she said. “You walk away, and we walk away. No more hits and no more hunting.”
“That’s not how this works,” the man insisted.
“Then let me simplify it,” she said, her voice hardening just slightly. “You keep coming, you start a war you don’t want.” That seemed to get his attention. She could hear it in the silence.
“You threatening us?” the voice asked.
“No,” she said. “I’m warning you.”
“What’s your leverage?” he questioned.
Lillith didn’t hesitate. “You’ve seen what we can do,” she said. “You’ve seen who you’re dealing with. And if you mess with the Royal Harlots, you mess with our brother club—the Royal Bastards. I’m pretty sure that they’ll finish this war before we even get started.
“Sure, I’ve seen what you can do, but you haven’t seen what we can do,” the voice pressed.
“You’re not the only ones who know how to make things inconvenient,” she said.
Tank’s fingers flexed slightly into her waist. “You’re not what we expected.”
Lillith allowed herself a small breath. “Yeah,” she said. “I get that a lot.”
A quiet exhale came through the line, and she could tell that he was thinking about her proposal and calculating his next move.
“This doesn’t happen again,” the voice said. “He needs to disappear and keep his mouth shut.”
Lillith’s grip tightened on the phone. “No,” she said, and Tank stilled behind her.
“No?” the voice repeated.
“No,” she said firmly. “He stays here, and this ends anyway. He won’t talk.”
“Fine,” the man said, “at least we’ll know where to find him if we need to.” Her heart stuttered.
“You keep your mouth shut,” the voice said. “And we’ll walk away.”
Lillith swallowed. “Deal.” The line went dead, and the room went quiet around her. No one spoke, and no one moved.
“Holy shit,” someone muttered.
Lillith let out a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding, her hand lowering slowly.
“It’s over,” she whispered. Tank didn’t move and didn’t speak.
She wasn’t sure that he was even breathing until his hand came to her face, pulling her into him, his mouth crashing against hers with everything he’d been holding back—relief, fear, and even need. She felt all of it in his kiss.
“You don’t do that again,” he muttered against her lips. “You were brilliant, but you scared the shit out of me.”
She smiled, “Noted.” But she didn’t mean it, and he knew it, because this wasn’t the end of who she was. This was just the beginning, but this time, he wasn’t running. Neither of them was.
He released her, pressing his forehead to her. “By the way,” he whispered, “I love you too.” Lillith giggled, framing his face with her hands.
“I know,” she whispered back. Lillith thought that she was all alone in the world after she lost her mother, but now, she had a family she never saw coming with the Royal Harlots, and she had Tank.
The guy who had stumbled into a church that wasn’t really a church and quickly became her whole world.
Life had a funny way of twisting everything around, and Lillith wouldn’t want it any other way.
She liked the twists and knew how to take the turns as long as Tank and the Royal Harlots were by her side.
The End
What’s coming next from K.L. Ramsey? You won’t want to miss Josie (Royal Harlots MC: Yonkers, NY Chapter Book 3)! Coming in November 2026!