Page 102

“Freddie, go get this girl a gun she can handle with bullets that fit,” Prince dismissed him with a wave of his hand.

“Gladly,” Freddie mumbled, giving Livie a wide berth as he stepped around her to leave the room.

“Right.” Prince cleared his throat, standing from his chair to pace a little. “So we have a pretty good idea of where they’ve taken them, but we don’t know what we’re gonna be walking into.”

Livie stepped forward then.

“I can cut the power to the neighbourhood, give us the advantage of darkness if we wait until dusk to strike. I can also do a little more digging and figure out if they have any other accomplices that might be there, so we can at least have an idea of numbers.”

Prince nodded. “That’d be great. We will also need to do at least a little surveillance of the area. They have the cops in their pocket, and need to ensure that they won’t be there already.”

Livie looked to the floor, putting her hands on her hips. I watched her mind work at a mile a minute, as it always did. Prince had a good point. What if theywantedus to come in all guns blazing?

“What if it’s a trap?” I murmured as Freddie came back into the room, shoving a new assortment of guns into my handbag.

Prince and Livie looked at each other, and then back at me.

“What if they’re setting us up? Who knows what they’ve got in that warehouse. They draw us there to find the others, and then they call the cops. The cops find us there with guns and who knows what else.”

“I can get access to the police comms system. If something is called in, we can have a warning,” Livie said.

“But what if they don’t use the radio? If these guys have paid cops to do dodgy things, wouldn’t they just call their phones? Keep it off the radar?”

Prince sighed, leaning back in his chair. “You’re right. We show up with a dozen Redliners and we’re fucked.”

I stood, wandering over to the small window that overlooked the rear parking area behind the clubhouse. It was a bike graveyard, if nothing else. Rusty motorcycle frames, old tyres, miscellaneous bits and bobs were organised in neat rows and piles.

As much as Prince and Freddie and Livie were a comfort to me right now, I wished that I could speak to my brother.

When our dad died, he was visibly nervous about taking over as Don. Of course, he tried to hide it, but he couldn’t hide it from me.

But still, he made careful decisions. Thought things through. Made choices that helped the Santino Crime Family rise to a whole new level of infamy and power. All while keeping his people safe.

Dad had never particularly cared about that part. He believed in numbers, having lots of people under him. People he was willing to sacrifice for the cause.

Toni had fewer men, but every one of them was loyal because they knew that he would never throw them into fire for no reason. He would never send them out to a fight while he sat at home, safe and sound. He would use his power, his influence, his name to deescalate—even if it meant taking a loss or risking himself.

“I have an idea,” I said, trailing my finger along the faint line of dust on the windowsill. “And none of you are gonna like it.”

26

ZARINA

We stoppedby my apartment and my stomach dropped when I found my door wide open.

They had come looking for me, too.

Freddie and I waded through the mess they’d made. He checked every room, every corner of my apartment before letting me inside. Nothing seemed to be missing. It was like they made a mess just for the inconvenience of it.

I assumed it would’ve been Theo, getting back at me for rejecting him. This was only confirmed when I found the yearbooks missing.

A quick change of clothes was all I needed before heading back downstairs to meet up with Livie.

She drove most of the way. The plan was to switch a block or two away from the building. I would drop her off, and a Redliner would pick her up.

I was going into this alone.

It was the only thing that made sense. It was the only thing that might buy us some time without immediately triggering bullets. No one, save for maybe Theo, had a direct reason to harm me in any way.