Page 27 of Jagger’s Remorse (Iron Veins MC #1)
"We vote," Squirrel finally says.
One by one, the patches speak. One by one, they vote yes.
Unanimous approval.
"Then it's settled," Squirrel announces. "Iron Veins MC partners with Sinaloa. God help our enemies."
Power secured, I turn to immediate threats.
"Digger," I call him forward. "You know about the problem coming to your doorstep."
I project the files onto the wall for every single person to see. The photos. The surveillance logs. The obsession clearly documented.
"This prosecutor—Yuki Nakajima—she's hunting you specifically."
"Let her come," he growls, but I see an interest spark in his eyes.
"She will. But on our terms." I smile. "Sometimes the best way to neutralize a threat is to let it think it's winning."
"What are you suggesting?"
"Give her what she wants. Let her get close. Let her think she's building a case." I hand him a burner phone. "Document everything. Every interaction, every line she crosses. And when she goes from investigation to obsession, we'll own her."
Digger grins, dark and anticipating. "I like how you think."
"One more thing," I announce to the room. "In approximately seven months, the club will have a new member. Smallest prospect you've ever seen."
It takes a moment for the words to penetrate.
Then Raven gets it first. "You're pregnant?"
"I am."
The room explodes. Cheers. Congratulations. Brothers slapping Jagger's back hard enough to bruise.
"A prince or princess," Hammer shouts. "Heir to the throne!"
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," I laugh. "Kid's got to survive having us as parents first."
Church dismisses and Jagger leads me upstairs to the rooftop deck, looking out over our territory.
The lights of Redding spread below us like conquered stars.
"From college girl to cartel queen in five years," he muses. "Hell of a journey."
"It started with a bullet," I remind him. "That night in my father's office."
"Do you regret it? Any of it?"
I think about the bodies left in my wake. Diego. Pablo. Eduardo. The innocents caught in crossfire.
The girl I was versus the woman I've become.
"No," I decide. "Every cut, every scar, every death led here. Led to us."
"And our kid?"
"Will be born into power instead of scrambling for it." I lean against him. "That's worth everything."
My phone buzzes. Surveillance alert from the cameras we've placed around Digger's neighborhood.
I check the feed and laugh.
"What?"
"Look." I show him the screen.
A woman sits in a car outside Digger's house.
Professional blazer, hair in a tight bun, camera in her hands.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Yuki Nakajima, based on the files.
She's taking pictures, documenting his evening routine.
"Should we tell him?" Jagger asks.
"He knows. Look at his window."
Sure enough, Digger stands there, backlit and clearly visible.
Shirtless, tattooed, dangerous.
He's baiting her. Drawing her in like moth to a flame.
As we watch, he does pull-ups on a bar mounted in his window frame.
Each rep deliberate, showing off.
"The hunter thinks she's hunting," I observe. "She has no idea she's already prey."
"Think she'll take the bait?"
"Oh yes. Righteous prosecutors always think they're untouchable." I save the footage. "She'll learn differently."
Yuki Nakajima adjusts her camera, zooms in.
Her face is visible in the streetlight—pretty, determined, completely unaware she's being watched by multiple cameras.
"How long before she crosses the line?" Jagger wonders.
"Based on her escalation pattern? Two weeks. Maybe less." I smile. "Digger will have her wrapped around his finger by then. Or in his basement. Depends on how it plays out."
"You're enjoying this."
"I'm enjoying winning." I turn to face him. "For five years, I've been reactive. Responding to others' moves. Now? Now I'm ten steps ahead."
"And if someone catches up?"
"Then I'll be twenty steps ahead." I touch my belly again. "I have more to protect now."
We go inside, where our family—because that's what Iron Veins is now—celebrates our new reality.
Music pounds. Beer flows. Stories about how the club is changing moves through the room.
Raven approaches, sets a shot of tequila in front of me.
"Can't," I tell her. "Remember? Baby on board."
She replaces it with water. "Never thought I'd see the day. You, domestic."
"I'm running a cartel and planning federal crimes. That's domestic?"
"You know what I mean." She sits beside me. "You're settling. Building instead of burning."
"For now."
"And when that changes?"
"Then I'll burn prettier things." I watch Hammer, eyes glued down to his phone. “Starting with one ambitious prosecutor."
My hand drifts to my stomach, still flat but holding our future.
What kind of mother will I be?
The kind who teaches her child to load a gun before they can write their name?
Who shows them how to read people's weaknesses like other parents teach the alphabet?
My own mother sang lullabies and painted sunflowers.
I orchestrate deaths and rule through fear. The comparison makes something inside me ache.
"Digger’s going to destroy her," Raven observes.
"Or she'll destroy him. Either way, it'll be great."
"You're cold."
"I'm ice, Raven. She declared war on the club."
Raven nods slowly. "The queen protects the kingdom."
"Always."
As the party continues around us, I feel it—the shift from surviving to thriving. From revenge to building. From princess to queen.
My father wanted me to use law to help our people.
My mother wanted me to create beautiful things.
Eduardo wanted me to rule through fear.
In the end, I'll do all three. Just not how any of them imagined.
Scarlett Delgado. Little dragon turned queen.
And anyone who threatens my kingdom will learn what that means.
Starting with one obsessed prosecutor who's about to discover that sometimes, when you stare into the abyss, the abyss doesn't just stare back.
It swallows you whole.