Page 101 of The Deals We Make

“We should get you to the car,” Vi says.

Cat smacks Vi’s hand away. “You’re no use if she falls over, given you can’t see your own toes because of your baby bump anymore either.”

I laugh at that, but Cat takes one side of Iris and I take the other.

“You’re coming with us?” Iris says.

“Oh, I don’t know if I should be?—”

“She is,” Cat says with a glare. “If I have to go through this, so does she.”

30

VEX

The clubhouse is busy with people actually doing their fucking jobs for a change when I get back, and nobody mentions the decision I face.

To stay or to go.

Niro is working with Martin, his replacement as treasurer, as they work to close the annual books out. Bates and Spark are doing an inventory of all the weapons we have. They’ve been to our underground storage unit and are now tallying things here.

Halo is doing a mandatory bike inspection with Clutch. Everyone’s bike is going through the garage. Any repairs are being dealt with immediately.

Saint is doing an inventory of the bar, as he’s taken over the liquor ordering, combining it with the inventory he does for the strip club to get a better deal on volume.

King is on the phone with our contacts in Ukraine. We’ve had our share of good luck with the bonus income we stole from the Righteous Brotherhood. And one of our brothers in the Austin Chapter is Ukrainian. So, we’re organizing a weapons run to help his family’s village.

It’s not like what happened before I left on the ride has been forgotten. Each brother greeted me when they saw me. It’s simply they are giving me space to make a decision.

I decide to do what I always do when I’m tired or worried about something. I put my headphones on and get busy on my laptop.

Avery’s investments are all doing well, with the exception of the airline stock. But she’s up overall, and I can’t wait to see her little face when I tell her.

Then, I review Switch’s portfolio. I sell some stock I think might be close to peaking and invest it into a fund I’ve had my eye on.

I text Sophia because King gave her the go-ahead to take over management of the Outlaws’ real estate portfolio, but he asked me to work with her to set up the systems she needs to do it properly.

Like she does for the Sicilians, we’re gonna make our real estate arm a legal entity from the start.

Which leads me to check over the traps I placed on all the Sicilian laptops.

Someone has run up against my code, but my sense is they realized it and shut down their machine before the code could do what I wanted it to. Only someone with highly sensitive software and a highly trained eye would notice it.

This is no amateur they’re up against.

I run a few more tests to see if there is a way to go over, under, and around what they tried to identify if they left a useful trace.

But there is absolutely nothing.

This person is a pro, and I can’t help but think it’s Calista.

I need to ask her straight out.

Shit, I need to ask her a lot of things.

Like, where we stand, and does she want me to go with her to California?

And I should probably tell her I’m in love with her too.