Austin returned and dropped bags of cash and drugs on the table in front of Tony. “That’s what he was after.”
“I thought we cleared out all the drugs.”
“We found that stashed in a fucking tire. There’s about twenty grand right there.”
“Boys, we’re rich,” Tony said with a chuckle. Typical. He didn’t even see it for what it could be.
“We should use that as bait,” I suggested.
“What do you have in mind, Kara?” Austin asked, and I was glad that even though he was a little shit, he was more civil with me than Tony.
“We plant it somewhere, make sure he gets word of it, and ambush him when he arrives.” I shrugged. Good plans didn’t have to be complicated.
“I like how she thinks,” Austin nodded.
“Alright, where do we plant it?” Seth questioned, elbowing Tony as he simply inhaled the food instead of joining in the conversation.
“We could put it back in the warehouse. He’ll keep sending people there,” Seth suggested
“No. Put it in the safe at the bar,” I suggested.
Tony nodded. The idea was fucking crazy. Bold as shit. But it could lure my father out himself instead of sending these little boys. It could be over, and the bar was an easy place all of us and our allies could be lying in wait.
Speaking of . . . I looked around, seeing if Eric was still here. He had only come to testify for me at the vote, but if I knew him, he’d hang around and blend in so he could be here with me longer. My feelings about him were so fucking conflicted, mostly because I felt like I was using him here. In truth, I was.
Normally, I wouldn’t fucking care. I was a bitch, and I used men when I needed to, had always done it, but Eric, despite what he’d always said, felt different. We’d had something real way back when until he helped me get out and into hiding. And now, I was almost certain he still held a candle for me.
I was in a place now, once I defeated my father, where I could maybe learn to open up and let someone in. But was he the one I wanted to do that with?
I had always thought he deserved better.
Sure enough, I spotted him sitting down with his own dog, pretending like he hadn’t been looking at me.
“The warehouse is easier to contain the violence,” Austin argued, bringing me back to the matter at hand.
“Maybe there doesn’t have to be any violence. Make a rule of no guns and no innocents can get hurt,” I offered.
“Do you really think your father will stick to that?” Austin gave me a look.
“No, but you all can take him down before he gets off a shot.” Duh.
“I still say the warehouse.”
“We can’t set up a sting at the place where we found it, he’d know it was a sting. Moving it makes more sense.” Now, Tony was on my side. That felt fucking good for a change. The things we could do if he would just stop waving his cock around like an ass.
“What if we use Sophie?” I suggested. “Have her set up a meeting with him. She doesn’t believe the shit anyway. She can meet him at the bar, he’ll come alone to meet with her, and he won’t guess it’s a setup. We have her drop the hint that the safe contains twenty thousand dollars, and he won’t be able to resist going after the money.”
“Would she do it?” Tony asked.
“Not if she knows it’s my idea, but yeah, I think she would. Make it sound like he is in trouble, like he needs her.”
“I’ll try to call her again, set it up.” There we go, Tony. “What if she says no?”
“Then we do it anyway, without her help.”
“Would he meet with you, Kara?” Tony asked, leveling with me.
I had to think about it. The motivations would be different, the situation less than ideal. “Me? Not without backup.”
“I’ll go call her.” Tony got up again.
Chapter 8
Tony
“Hey Sophie, it’s Tony, the new Prez of the Midnight Saints. You got some time to swing by the clubhouse tomorrow?”
“Why would I do that? No, I don’t really have time, unless it’s really important.”
“It is really important. I need to talk to you.”
“Oh, okay, yeah, I can come by tomorrow afternoon. Don’t suppose you could give me a hint about what you want to talk to me about.”
“Nope. I think it’s better if you just come to the clubhouse.”
“If it’s about my father, I don’t know where he is.”
“It’s about your father, but that’s okay if you don’t know where he is. I’ll fill you in when you get here.”
“Fine, whatever, I’ll be there in the afternoon.”
“Great. Look forward to seeing you.” I hung up and rejoined everyone. They had moved back inside to the war room. Well, everyone but Kara.
If I thought Kara was a bitch, I realized Sophie would be so much worse. I was only doing it now because Kara herself had suggested it. I should have realized the problems someone like Sophie would cause. And now, I owed Kara an apology I was too proud to ever give.
“I called Sophie. She’ll be here tomorrow afternoon. I didn’t tell her why, just convinced her I needed to talk to her. At first, it was because I felt, as Maxum’s daughter too, she had a right to be here. Plus, I know Kara hates her.”
“Why are you so hellbent on pissing her off when I know for a fact you like her?” Seth asked.
“Sophie has no business being here. She’s a law student, she doesn’t need to be getting mixed up in all this,” Austin said. “And she’s not Maxum’s daughter,
