Meet me? We need to talk.
I’m at the clubhouse when I receive it, and everyone surrounds me, barking out orders with what to reply.
“Why don’t you just ask him where he wants to meet? Let him think he’s in control and calling all the shots,” Anna suggests.
“Unless he wants to meet at the police station,” Faye adds, smirking. “Because then abort mission.”
I look to Ardan, who takes the phone from me and replies for me.
Where?
“He must be fucked in the head to think you’d meet him by yourself though,” Ardan says. “Either he’s got a plan of his own, or he’s stupid as hell. Maybe he’s back on the meth.”
Faye makes a note in her notepad. “After we give our evidence—and a positive drug test will help—any cops who try to protect him, knowing he’s scum, will be taken down with him.”
“You’re brutal,” Lana says, looking impressed.
“I know,” Faye replies without looking up. “Be glad I’m on your side.”
The phone vibrates, and I look over Ardan’s shoulder to read what it says.
Tonight. I’ll message you the address last minute, at around 7:00 p.m. Don’t bring that asshole biker with you.
“Now what?” I ask the peanut gallery.
Ardan replies with,
Fine. We’ll talk for the last time, then you need to leave me alone.
“Let him think this is why you want to see him, to try to talk him into finally letting you go.”
“Seems legit,” Faye says, nodding her head. “We got this, people. When he replies with the location, we’ll figure out how to infiltrate it. Irish, you need to be aware that Tina will be driving to the location by herself.”
“Motherfucker,” Ardan mutters under his breath. “Can’t I just kill him now instead?”
The women all reply with a resounding no!
Only Arrow replies with a yes.
Faye puts her hand on his shoulder. “You attracted her; she attracted you. You’re both strong. You’re both wolves. No, you’re both dragons. She can do this. I have no doubt in my mind.”
He looks into my eyes and searches them. “Will you change your mind?”
I shake my head.
He nods and looks down at his hands. “Let’s do this, then. Let’s bring the fucker down. . . .” He cringes. “The legal way.”
Faye is the only one who cheers at that.
I just hope we’re making the right decision.
I repeat the address to Ardan, who rattles it off to Lana, who searches for it online.
“It’s pretty much a warehouse,” she says, squinting as she looks at her phone without her glasses. “An empty building in an industrial area.”
“How shady does that sound?” Ardan grumbles, still put out with my going. “You’ve got the microphone all sorted, right? The conversation will be recorded, so be careful with your words.”
Arrow looks at Ardan. “I feel like we work for the fucking FBI.”
“We’re practically doing their job for them,” Sin mutters, standing next to his wife. “Right; we all know where we’re meant to be, then? I have my police contact on call in case we need someone there on our side. Tracker is going to scope out if he’s there alone or has backup with him. I think we’ve got every angle covered, and if something else comes up, we’ll improvise. At the end of the day he’s just a junkie—I’m sure we can take him.”
Everyone disappears to get ready, leaving me and Ardan alone, no doubt on purpose. I appreciate it.
He cradles my face in his hands. “You’ve got this; we’ve got this. Backup plan, I run in, guns a-blazing.”
My mouth twitches. “I love you.”
“I love you too, darlin’.”
We kiss. It’s an almost desperate kiss, frantic and hungry. Soul surging. And longer than appropriate, given what’s going on.
When our lips part, our gaze stays connected.
Time to teach a man a lesson.
FIFTEEN
HE wears his police uniform. To intimidate me? I have no idea, but it’s not working. His clothes are wrinkled, and his hair is disheveled. He doesn’t look put together at all. His eyes are red, and I see his mouth twitching, a sign he’s been using. I walk toward him in the warehouse, glancing around the place. To me, it seems as though Darren is alone, but I know better. Tracker said the Wind Dragons spotted several cops on the other side of the warehouse, waiting for Darren’s signal should anything go wrong.
“You’re late,” he says, scanning me from head to toe.
“I had to find the place,” I say, stopping a few feet from him. “I can’t believe you came here. I left for a reason, Darren—I wanted a fresh start.”
His expression hardens. “You’re mine, Tina. If you think I’m going to let you walk away and start a new life, you have another think coming. I’d kill you before I let you move on. I might kill you just for being with another man; I haven’t decided yet.”