Soul
Ghost’s surveillance room is somehow both dark and blindingly bright with every monitor lit up. The base of my skull throbs the second I step inside.
“How the fuck do you not get a headache when you spend all day in here?”
He continues to click away, not bothering to look up. “You get used to it.”
Fucking Ghost.
He’s the only one who could get used to this blue-screen-lit cave. Although, given he’s the opposite of me, preferring technology over human interaction, it’s fitting for him.
Luna pops into the room, balancing a plate in either hand, causing Ghost to break his stare on the computer screen.
“I thought you might be hungry, so I made us lunch.” Her smile widens when he tugs her onto his lap the moment she’s within reach.
It nearly knocks the sandwiches off their plates.
“You shouldn’t be serving me. I should be serving you.” He glares, but there’s no threat behind it as he plants his hand over her belly. “Why do you make it so damn difficult to take care of you?”
“Because I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.” She rolls her eyes, setting his plate down. “And you were busy.”
“I’m never too busy for you.”
“Aren’t you the sweetest—” Her smile falls, and her face drains of color. “I’m sorry, I’ll be right back.”
She sets down the other plate, rushing through the room and offering me a quick wave as she goes.
“Fuck morning sickness,” Ghost grumbles, climbing out of his seat and following after her.
“That was morning sickness? I figured she just got sick from how nauseatingly ridiculous you two were being,” I joke.
Ghost flips me off as he walks out of the room, following Luna. It’s close to impossible to get any of the guys to focus lately with everyone having their own shit going on. From pregnancies to babies to Chaos spending all his time fucking his old lady, Venom is the only one consistently around.
And now, I’m as distracted as the rest, pulling out my phone for the tenth time this hour to make sure I haven’t missed a text from Emery.
Ghost strides back into the room, frowning.
“Did she kick your overbearing ass out of the bathroom?”
“She doesn’t want me to see her vomit. Like I give a fuck.”
I chuckle, even though it’s actually sweet. If I’d have been there for Emery’s pregnancy, I’d have wanted to hold her hair back too. Did she even have morning sickness? Was she tired all the time? Did her body ache carrying our daughter around?
Fuck, there’s still so much I don’t know. Burdens I couldn’t lift from her shoulders because I wasn’t there to help.
“I’m guessing you dropped by for an update?” Ghost asks, snapping me out of my thoughts.
“Steel said there was nothing new, but I figured…”
He nods, popping his knuckles as he sits back in his chair. I’m being an overbearing asshole myself. But Ghost is nicer than me and doesn’t call me out on it.
Ghost leans forward, resting his elbows on his desk. “Zane’s been silent as far as I can tell. There’s been nothing new since Emery showed up.”
“Well, he knows she’s here, so it’s not like he needs to knock down doors trying to find her.”
“Still.” Ghost drops his chin, shaking his head. “If he knows she’s here, why hasn’t he contacted us? Better yet, threatened us to return her? It’s unnerving.”
“Maybe he’s still figuring out his play?”
It’s not like Zane isn’t careful. There’s a reason he’s amassed as much money and power as he has. He knows when to push and when to sit back and wait. But I’m under no illusion he isn’t just biding his time.
“Maybe.” Ghost sounds as uncertain as I feel.
“Where is Zane at right now?” I tip my chin to the computer.
Ghost tugs his keyboard forward and begins typing. He might as well be somewhere else mentally because his mind is no longer in the room when he goes down a dark-web rabbit hole.
Finally, he strikes a key and turns his screen around to show me the map of the Strip. There’s a red dot at the center.
“You’ve got a tracking device on him?”
“Technically, no. But I’ve fed his face through the system, so it does the work for me, pinging me every time it gets a hit on his location. Looks like he’s still at his hotel downtown. Hasn’t left the Strip since Emery came here.”
“He doesn’t need to. Not when he has people he can send in his place.”
Ghost nods. “That and he’s safest there. There are too many people around him for us to do shit.”
“Hiding behind his security. How brave of him.” Sarcasm drips from my tone.
The fucking coward thinks he can hide from what he’s done, but he can’t. He kept me from Emery and my daughter. There isn’t a place in this life or the next where I won’t be the one to deliver the karma he’s got coming for him.
“Either way, we’re in a holding pattern with Zane until he makes a move or contacts us,” Ghost says.
My teeth grit because I hate that we have no other option but to wait right now. Taking out the Iron Sinners was difficult, but at least they were surrounded by empty desert. Zane isn’t the kind of man we can make disappear without people noticing.
It’s the only reason he’s still alive right now.
“What about Eli?” I angle my chin at the computer again, the name raising bile in my throat. “Have you found anything on the asshole who tried to buy Emery?”
Who tried to buy her virginity.
Anger ripples through me. As if I don’t have enough reasons to make Zane suffer, his selling his niece to a business associate sealed his fate.
“He’s untraceable.”
“Like Zane?”
Ghost shakes his head, pulling up a file on Eli. “Worse. Even with every surveillance program running, I can’t get a hit on his location.”
“Maybe he’s keeping a low profile.”
“That’s what I thought at first, but then I saw this.
” Ghost pulls up an article about a recent restaurant opening; Eli stands at the center of the group photo.
“He’s all over the fucking city but moving like a wraith.
Charity events. Warehouse visits. Somehow, he manages to move without triggering anything.
It’s like the grid erases any trace of him the second he does anything. The benefits of being loaded, I guess.”
“What does the heir of an oil tycoon want in Vegas?” My hands clench as I stare at his smug face on Ghost’s computer screen.
Eli is young—late twenties. There’s a woman on his arm at every press event. And his smile tells me everything I need to know about him. He’s a snake.
“I’m still figuring that out.” Ghost taps the screen, and it changes to an info sheet. “His net worth is more than Zane’s, so if he’s after money, then Zane is hiding it somewhere Legacy hasn’t been able to dig up yet because it’s nowhere near what Eli has.”
“Maybe it’s not about money. Zane might have connections Eli can’t secure without him?”
Ghost shrugs. “Maybe. It’s as good a guess as any.”
Footsteps at the doorway pull our attention as Luna reappears. Ghost pops out of his seat, hurrying over to her. The color has completely left her face, and there’s no bounce in her step like usual. She presses her hand to her stomach and frowns as she looks between us.
“Sorry for earlier. I guess we can add the smell of lunch meat to the long list of things that make me vomit.”
Ghost grips the sides of her face. “Don’t apologize for anything. You need to go lie down. I’ll take you back to the house.”
“I’ll leave you guys to it.” I step around them to give them their space. “Feel better, Luna. And thanks for the research, brother.”
Ghost nods, and Luna smiles. The moment he puts his arms around her, she melts against him.
He locks his office, heading out front to take Luna back to the neighborhood, while I split off to the bar at the back of the clubhouse.
A headache is blooming between my temples, and everything Ghost just said about Zane and Eli didn’t help.
They’re always a step ahead, and I’m tired of chasing phantoms.
“Shot?” Venom asks, holding one up as I stop at the bar.
“It’ll just make shit worse.” I pinch the bridge of my nose. “I can’t wait to get my hands on him.”
“Zane?” Venom guesses, and I nod. “Right there with you.”
Wren sets down a water for me and disappears to the other end of the bar. Her red ponytail swishing behind her as Venom’s gaze rakes down her body.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt you two,” I joke, taking a sip.
Venom shrugs, downing his shot. “We were just talking.”
“Talking… right.” I chuckle.
He drags his fingers through his pitch-black hair. The snake inked up the full length of his arm flexes with whatever tension stirs. Black ink vibrant even with his summer tan. A warning he wears on his sleeve.
“It’s not like that with me and Wren.” Venom shrugs, turning his back to her.
“Since when? You’ve been trying to fuck her forever.”
“You and Chaos think I’ve been trying to fuck her forever. I never said that shit.”
“Well damn, hero.” I chuckle, sliding onto the barstool. “Keeping us all on our toes. What’s up with you lately? I’ve barely seen you.”
“Steel’s keeping me busy.” He downs a shot, gritting his teeth. “I’ve been helping him figure out what he’s doing with Ironside Ridge.”
“You’re not moving to Texas on us, are you?”
“And leave Vegas? Fuck no.” His face puckers. “I’m just helping figure out logistics.”
“Good, we need you around here to balance us out.”
“Why? You thinking of going rogue?” Venom grins, and I know if I said yes, he’d be the first one who would want to join me.
“No, sorry. That’s on you now.”
I glance around the room, taking in the start of a party. Shots are already circulating, and a couple of the guys are getting rowdy with patch bunnies. It’s the beginning of what will probably be a good night, but I have no interest in sticking around.
“Let me guess, you’re headed out?” Venom smirks, downing another shot.
“Are you gonna try and talk me out of it?”
“Nah.” He shakes his head. “Have a good one, brother. Go be with your family.”
My family.
That’s never sounded so damn good.