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“Kenji.” Caleb’s voice pulled my attention back to the present. “What’s your vote?”

“Let’s test her. An initiation of sorts.” I shrugged. Equally excited and nervous about putting her in harm’s way. “I say we start off with letting her peek behind the curtain, but let’s keep the important shit to ourselves until we think we can trust her. Fuck, we may never decide to tell her all our plans,” I answered, my gut turning at the thought of not fully committing her to our group.

“That works.” Caleb pushed up from his seat, walking over to the large desk in the center of the room. “Kenji, take her with you when you visit the fights. Let her get a look at the underbelly of the city. We don’t know what the fuck her uncle had her doing besides sneaking around in a ski mask and fucking schmucking it up with the elite. She probably doesn’t have a fucking clue.”

Niko snickered. “Fuck off, Caleb. You were just telling us how she almost got you in a chokehold. None of us thinks she’s as innocent or aloof as the other women we’ve been around,” he teased. His eyes darted to Caleb meaningfully.

The fucker pouted like a petulant child, but he couldn’t fully cover up the smirk. Caleb liked that she was full of fire and fight.

He may not have wanted to admit it, but she was his twin flame. All talks of Scar halted when Caleb’s phone went off.

“The Bulgarians are on their way,” he stated, staring at the illuminated screen before locking eyes with us. “If we want to control the drug drop, we need them to side with us.”

My gut tightened. All of our plans teetered on the small organizations agreeing to our coup. If they didn’t, there was no fucking way we could pull this off.

The leader of the Bulgarian crime organization had been murdered two years prior. He was a nasty bastard and enjoyed women who were unwilling and way too young. I’d have done it myself if Cain hadn’t gotten to him—at least that was the rumor.

But the problem was that we didn’t know who was leading the group now or what would convince them to join us. It was why we’d locked Scar upstairs. We needed this meeting to go off without a hitch because it was the current linchpin.

CHAPTER 25

SCAR

ALWAYS BRING A BAT TO THE PARTY

Those fuckers had locked me in my room.

Well, it was one fucker in particular, but the other two went along with it, even after we’d had the most amazing sex of my life. They might have had amazing cocks, but fuck, they were dicks.

The ride to the apartment with Caleb was painfully awkward. Whatever tension I thought we’d thawed resolidified.

When we got back, Caleb told me they were having a meeting tonight about Four Family shit, and despite the fact that I was supposed to be part of this, they told me I was staying behind.

I don’t know. Paint your fucking toenails or some shit.

That was Caleb’s suggestion when I asked what the fuck he expected me to do while they were gone. It pissed me off that they didn’t trust me to be there.

Then again, I didn’t trust them.

But I might have to show them how fucking capable I really was so I didn’t get left out in the cold again next time.

The ding of the elevator drew my attention, my heartbeat ticking up a notch. The tendons of my fingers flexed as I adjusted my grip on my partner in crime for tonight. The sound of my angry steps bounced off the polished concrete floors.

“Ma’am. Ma’am. You can’t bring that in the club.”

I ignored the bouncer, pushing through the throng of people. A hand clasped around my shoulder.

“Ma’am, you can’t bring a metal bat into the club.”

I spun on my heels, staring down the giant manning the door to the posh club as I broke his hold, pulling his thumb back almost to the point of breaking it. He let out a shrill scream, which was honestly disappointing. I thought he’d handle pain better. My mouth curled up in a cruel smirk when he flinched under my gaze. “I own the fucking club now. I’ll walk in with whatever the fuck I want,” I said, loud and angry.

The confusion that crossed his face confirmed what I’d thought. Caleb was keeping this union a secret. But if that asshole thought I would roll over and come to heel whenever he barked an order…well, he was in for a rude awakening. I didn’t even wait for the man to understand what I meant. I just melted into the crowd.

“Of course it’s stunning,” I grumbled when I walked into the club’s heart. Hush Money was more of a trendy speakeasy. The 1920s style was a throwback to the glory days of the Art Deco era in New York.

Black and gold adorned every surface. Velvet booths lined the room so patrons could rest while taking a break from dancing on the massive black marble dance floor. Hundreds of chandeliers hung at various heights, creating a sexy ambiance with their golden hue bouncing off every shiny surface. I found myself smiling when I recognized the artwork. Giant black and white murals depicting the mugshots of famous New York criminals were painted on various walls, re-creations of the art in Caleb’s bedroom.

“Damn,” I said under my breath as I moved farther into the club. I’d studied the blueprints of the place, but my research didn’t do its beauty justice.