Page 33 of Pursued-
“We slept all right,” I say.
C’s eyes cut to me. “Frank’s losing his shit. Alberto Leone made it into town this morning with a dozen guys.”
“You want me to change locations?”
“No.”
“Might be better.”
“There are trucks parked at the end of the drive. Unless we wage war on the next-door neighbor’s lawn, you’re going nowhere.”
“Sorry I brought it here.”
“Where else would you bring it? This is the C Crue compound, built with C Crue brains, sweat, and blood. It’s yours and Trick’s as much as mine. And if you’re under siege, we’re all under siege.” He draws in a breath and blows it out. “You know what Trick said?”
“Do I wanna know?”
C smirks. “He said, ‘It’s about time. What’s the point of a building a multimillion-dollar stronghold if your enemies never surround you?’ Then he sent a text to Frank, challenging him to a game of online chess and sent UberEats to the cars out front with an order of catfish, hollandaise sauce, blood sausage, and cole slaw. For breakfast.”
“What the fuck,” I mutter as C barks out a laugh and keeps laughing. When he subsides, I say, “Trick is off.”
“He does have a tendency to throw gasoline on bonfires and then to step back and watch things burn. Right now, he’s playing video games,” C says. “But first he loaded the guns, including the ones on the roof.”
I nod. “I shouldn’t be back here playing house. What do you need me to do, C?”
“Nothing yet. Operations outside the compound are rolling. We’ve got supplies here. We’ll wait. I say play house until Frank or Leone make a move on us. We’ll call the rest of the crue back if we need to.”
The door opens, and Zoe emerges with her wildly curly hair twisted into a tight bun.
“Speaking of playing,” C says. “Here’s a little girl who likes to play games. When you get to the bedroom, Z, put the black toy box on the end of the bed. After you strip, bend over the end of the bed and wait for me. Your naked upturned ass should be the first thing I see when I walk in that room.”
Her flush is a deep crimson as she hurries down the steps. C is crazy about Zoe and he lets her get away with a lot of sass, but she never gets a pass if she outright disobeys him. She must have been really worried about Rachel to come over the way she did.
“Come to the house around noon. We’ll bunker in the basement to run our plans.”
I nod.
Chapter
Nine
RACHEL
“Ineed clothes. Zoe has some of my things that I kept at her apartment. They’re in the house, so that’s lucky. If you hurry and eat, I’ll take the tray and the dishes back when I go over.”
“There’s no rush. About now Zoe’s getting her ass caned, so she won’t be ready to see anyone for a while.”
I turn sharply to face him. “What?”
“You heard me.” Sasha sits on the end of the bed.
I glare at him. “That is not fair.”
He waves off my objection. “When you talked, did you calm her down or wind her up?”
Istare at him.
He waits.