It didn’t make me balk or sweat, or sit up any straighter. Gray had warned me about what I was getting into. Men still governed the criminal underworld and it didn’t matter that I was Colt’s Old Lady.
But I wasn’t speaking for Colt.
“She sits with us,” Torque said in solidarity.
He wasn’t any happier about having me in the room. His jaw had dropped open when he’d realized I hadn’t gotten into Darcy’s car. I was a wrench in his plans and Colt would pummel his ass if anything happened to me. No one wanted me involved in any of this, but we were a united front.
I caught Knight’s eye. He’d never say it aloud because he wasn’t a Waco Blue Angel, but he was a warrior, a savage, and I was his daughter. His look said it all; he was proud of me.
I still hadn’t processed that he was my father. There hadn’t been time to process much of anything, really. Not even Cheese and Shelly’s deaths. Not even the fact that I’d taken a child out of his home and decided he was going to be my family. Add in Colt’s arrest and I realized most women would be sitting at home under the covers, broken and terrified.
But I wasn’t most women.
If I’d learned anything from Grammie’s death, it was that the world continued to rotate, and it was your choice if you wanted to move forward and live your life or let your past destroy you.
“Who’s orchestrating this discussion?” Franco asked, his Spanish accent thick and sultry.
Everyone spoke at once, all trying to talk over each other. I was in a room stuffed with criminal alpha males, all with different stakes in the outcome of a cartel and biker drug war.
Franco spoke for Sanchez who wanted his product distributed through Waco and then through the Heartland of the country up to Idaho. Knight wanted to lay the foundation to be part of the distribution for the northern territory and see to it that the Blue Angels of Coeur D’Alene were the only source to buy from. Flynn’s bottles of scotch were being used to hide the product for international shipments. Pike and the Jackals weren’t allies of the Blue Angels, but they hated the Iron Horsemen, too.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
I let everyone talk until finally they all fell silent—no one took the lead because there was no lead, just a common goal.
“May I say something?” I asked, treading lightly, not wanting to piss off Pike any more than he already was.
Franco didn’t appear interested in what I had to say and I could tell that he, like Pike, was merely tolerating my presence.
Flynn nodded for me to continue.
I took a deep breath. “We’ve got to get the Iron Horsemen off the streets and destroy the Garcia cartel’s stranglehold on our territories. That is our singular objective. I’m sure you can all agree on that.”
After several nods of agreement, I went on, “I know for a fact that Dev has some weird personal vendetta against me.” I swallowed. “He thinks I’m involved in what Richie did and that I know where the shipment is. I wasn’t involved and really did know nothing, but that’s changed now. I know where the shipment is kept. We need to set a trap for him, and I’ll be the perfect bait.”
No one spoke for the first few seconds after I closed my mouth. Then Knight jumped in, protesting vocally, followed by Gray and Torque. Both Flynn and Ramsey tried to speak over them. The only two people who didn’t object were Franco and Pike.
Shocker.
I wasn’t going to fight to be heard, and when the room finally quieted down again after the commotion, I took a chance and spoke out for the second time. “Dev is desperate to find the shipment Richie stole before the cartel kills him. He crossed the line when he opened fire on women and children at a public park. It was a fucking charity event to raise money for an elementary school. Two people are dead, ten are injured. Decorum be damned. He’s out of control and not playing by the rules anymore. We can’t sit idly by and wait for his clock to run out with the Garcia cartel and for them to kill him. How many of us will die between now and then?”
“We are not using you as bait, lass,” Ramsey voiced. “That’s not how we do things.”
“I’m also not supposed to be at this table,” I pointed out. “And why is that? Because I’m a woman? I’m not trying to change the way you gentlemen do things. Frankly, I don’t want to be involved. But Dev has been after me for weeks. Why shouldn’t we use his own desire for me against him?”
“Have you ever had a gun put to your head?” Pike asked.
I frowned. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“Do you panic? Or do you keep your cool under stress? How would you react if a gun was put to your temple and there was a real chance that you’d die? You could actually die, you know? With this plan that’s not even a real plan. It’s an idea.”
Pike didn’t like me sitting at the table, but he was being honest and levelheaded. He wasn’t saying anything that the others were disagreeing with, either.
“Barrett would approve of this,” Ramsey said, his voice low, his comment directed at Flynn.
“Of course she would,” Flynn stated. “Because my wife likes to be in the thick of shite.”
“And if she were in town, she’d be at this meeting,” Ramsey added.