His perceptive gaze is still on me, and it feels like there’s something I’m missing. Just as I’m keeping secrets from him, it almost feels like he’s keeping secrets from me too.
My stomach clenches a little with a wave of anxiety. One thing the guys and I haven’t accounted for is the possibility that Mitch Carter could already be in Julian’s pocket. There’s no telling how far his reach stretches across the city, and while we didn’t find any evidence to make us think he’s got feds on his side, that’s the kind of thing a person would keep buried for maximum effect.
If he does have Carter on his side, then this whole thing could blow up before we have a chance to carry out our end game.
“That’s all,” I tell him again, making it clear that the meeting is over.
“Well, thank you for your time,” he says. “And for the information. I’ll be sure it gets to the right channels.” He holds his hand out for me to shake, and I take it, giving him a firm handshake before getting up from the bench and walking away.
I can feel Carter’s gaze on me as I go.
That wave of anxiety doesn’t fade, and all I want in this moment is for the last few steps of this plan to be complete and the whole thing to be done. There’s so many moving parts to this plan, which means there are more chances than I’d like for it to go wrong. In the end, it’ll be worth it. I have to keep reminding myself of that.
For Hannah.
For all the innocent people who suffer in the name of powerful men gaining more power.
It’s worth it.
27
Priest
Gentle fingers trail down my arm, and then soft lips press to mine, giving me a light kiss. I feel it through the haze of sleep, and I jerk awake, going from asleep to wide awake immediately.
It’s late at night, dark in my room, but River’s face comes into view when I blink to clear my eyes.
“Sorry for waking you,” she murmurs softly. “But we’re ready to go.”
I nod, reaching up to run fingers through my hair before capturing her chin in my hand and pulling her down into another kiss. This one is deeper, not just a brush of lips, and I press my tongue into her mouth, savoring the way she tastes.
She melts into it, and I like how that feels. How the little sigh she exhales against my lips tastes.
I still struggle with my demons sometimes, but I’ve been taking more and more of these moments for myself. Just touching her whenever I want, reaching for her and kissing her just because I can. And because she wants it too.
It’s been a long time since I’ve gotten out of my own head this much. Since I’ve given in to something that feels good just because I want it. This thing between us just keeps growing, and giving in to it makes me feel like I’m becoming a better version of myself.
So I kiss her thoroughly, trying to say things with my lips and tongue that I don’t have words for yet. River kisses me back with the same hunger, so maybe she understands what I’m trying to tell her.
We break apart after a moment and get up, joining the others as they all get ready to head out.
We slip on our black tactical wear like we’ve done before, shoving black masks into our pockets to put on later.
It’s second nature for the guys and me to check each other over, to make sure we’re covered and ready, and River folds into that ritual easily. Once we’re all geared up and ready, we head out to Julian’s boxing ring.
It’s a pretty big place, a well-known establishment in Detroit.
Before Julian was on our radar, we knew about this place, and we’ve even been to a few fights here before.
“This is one of those places you’d never know was sketchy until you met the owner,” Ash murmurs softly, looking around. “Well. Not that sketchy anyway. Yeah, the fights aren’t always above board, but everybody knows about it and a lot of people come here to train or watch fights. That’s just a thing you do when you live here.”
“Oscar DeLeon fought Pascal Lewis here,” Knox says. “That was a hell of a fight. We were right in the front row for that one. Shit got crazy.”
River tips her head to one side and looks up at the building like she’s sizing it up. “I knew Oscar’s daughter,” She says softly. “Or I met her, at least.”
It sounds like there’s a story there, something faraway in her voice, but there’s no time to poke at that. We’re all here with a job to do, after all.
We pile out of the car and move quickly, pulling our masks on so we’re covered in head to toe black. Gage takes point, and the rest of us fall in as we move on the building together.
Knox steps up and uses a tool from his pocket to break through a window. He clears out enough glass that he can fit through, and shimmies himself into the building with a grace that seems out of place for someone his size.
But he makes it work and then helps us all get inside one by one.
We pause once we’re in, listening.
Silence.
So far so good, then.
“Where’s the accelerant?” Gage whispers.
I open the bag I’m holding and pass the bottles out. Everyone takes one and we start moving through the building, squeezing the bottles and drenching everything we can see.
We want to make sure it’s all well soaked so it will all go up quickly and burn completely.
The smell of it is strong, and it burns my nostrils, but I don’t let that slow me down. I work quickly, spraying the accelerant in arcing waves to hit everything.
My heart beats a little faster while I work. Fire always makes me think of Jade and losing her to the flames. There’s always that moment where it feels like I can hear her screaming in the distance, and where I feel that sense of paralyzing dread that I can’t save her.
It’s gotten more faint over the years, but there’s a part of me that wonders if I’ll ever truly be over it.
But this flame will serve a different purpose. This is for River, to help her in her quest for vengeance, so it’s more than worth it.
“Make sure you get it everywhere,” Gage is saying to Ash, talking in a quiet, rushed voice. “Don’t just squirt it everywhere.”
“Make up your mind,” Ash hisses back. “You either want me to get it everywhere or you don’t.” He squirts his bottle a little more aggressively, spraying the wall in a splatter.
“You know what I mean,” Gage fires back and then moves on. “We have to be thorough. There’s no way we can make this look like an accident, but we want the whole place to go up in smoke.”
After the other two massive blows to his business, there’s no real way Julian would buy that his boxing ring burning down was just some random occurrence. Even if we went to great pains to make it seem like that.
“Speed over stealth,” Knox says, echoing something River said when we came up with this plan.
“That sounds like the name of a porno,” Ash mutters, and Knox snorts a laugh.
Gage just rolls his eyes. “I’m so glad you’re all taking this seriously,” he grumbles.
“It’ll get done,” River says. “One way or another. He’s going to lose everything, and we may as well enjoy making that happen, right?”