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Micah cursed under his breath and gulped down his scotch, despite having poured himself a double. "Told you."
Lakewood shook his head. "Yesterday you said that we were all a team. That we would all do this together."
"I know what I said. That was until I learned that Dear old Dad has a file on Morgan. He’s investigating her, looking for pressure points. I made it clear, she’s a kid. Yes she wants to help, but I won’t put her at risk. Even I’m not that much of an asshole. We have the software. We can do this ourselves. And before you give me grief. I tried to tell Gwen, but she’s still out of range."
Pierce shook his head. "Atticus, this is insane. We can wait."
Micah went back to the bar and poured himself another drink. "My big brother is trying to give me a fucking ulcer. He said he wanted the woman, and he got the woman. She’s beautiful, brilliant, and for some reason, she likes him and is perfect for him in every way. But he's determined to throw it all away."
Gavin looked back and forth between Micah, Lakewood, and myself. "I'm missing something. What the fuck?"
"You'll have to forgive Micah, he's just being dramatic,” I assured them. “I'm not throwing anything away. We are just going to do this plan without Gwen and Morgan. As a matter of fact”—I checked my watch—"We go in fifteen minutes."
That got Lakewood's attention, and he shot to his feet. "The fuck are you talking about?"
"If we wait until the gala, it's going to require putting Gwen in harm's way. If my father figures out what she's doing, it's a goddam problem. Not to mention putting Morgan on his damn radar now. She's just a kid who should be worried about parties and being hungover for class. She doesn't have what it takes to stand up against my father. Dad's got a meeting with Calvin Tatum in fifteen minutes, and we’re going to do it then."
"How do you know that?"
I frowned at my brother. "Give me some credit, would you? Tatum might be on Dad's side, but his assistant and mine are bosom buddies. I have Tatum’s schedule. He's due here in fifteen minutes to meet with Dad. Lakewood, you're here because you have the technical expertise. We'll get you close enough to his damn phone to install the software."
Lakewood stared at me. "You're mad. You want to put together a plan right the fuck now?"
"I know what lapel he keeps his phone in. We’re getting the data off that phone. Micah and I will do a version of what I like to call ‘fuck you Dad.’ Pierce is going to make an attempt to hold us back. Gavin will keep anyone else from interfering, and Lakewood, you get the goddam phone, or at least get close enough that we can clone it."
Why was everyone staring at me like I had lost my goddam mind?
Gavin shook his head. "This is fucking insane. Right now?"
"Yeah."
Micah shook his head. "I don't even want to do the ‘fuck you, Dad’ routine. I'm always the one who gets shoved."
"You want to shove me?"
Micah nodded. "Yes, but I fear if I shove you, it'll look much too real."
Lakewood was still confused. "What the fuck is going on?"
Pierce shrugged. "Looks like you're one of us now, Lakewood. What's going to happen is exactly what Atticus just spelled out. And you, pretty boy, are going to steal Lucian’s phone and grab the data. It's really very simple."
"B-but we don't have any tools,” Lakewood sputtered. “We don't have a contingency plan. What the fuck? Not to mention Gwen is going to kick your ass."
"I’ve been trying to reach her. She’ll understand. Sometimes things don’t go according to plan. She can feel free to kick my ass all she wants. But this isn’t like before. I don't understand why you guys aren't on top of this, especially you Lakewood. I thought basically anything that kept Gwen safe was all you cared about."
The muscle in Lakewood's jaw ticked. "It is all I care about, which is why I know cutting her out, not discussing this with her, and running off half-cocked is going to hurt her."
I rolled my eyes. "Are you in or not? Because now we're down to eight minutes."
Micah threw up his hands. "It's like you've learned nothing at all. When you're running around here moping and crying after she finds out what happened, I don't want to fucking hear it."
I leveled my gaze on my brother. "Does that mean you're out?"
He shook his head at me. "Of course not. I'm your brother. I'm always in."
My gaze went to Lakewood. "Six minutes. In or out?"
He glowered at me, and I could see the hatred for me in his eyes. We’d formed a tentative truce, but by doing this, I was back to being persona non grata.
