“You know I’ll always be here, don’t you? No matter what life throws at us.” Wraith’s hand moves out, sliding a piece of hair away from my face.
“I do now. I’m sorry I doubted you. Thank you for rescuing me.”
He presses his forehead against mine. “Remember what you said in the church?”
“Which part?” I scrunch up my brows.
He leans in pressing his lips softly to mine. “I love you, too. I’m not sure I’ve ever loved anything in my life, Prinie, so I apologize now if I screw shit up and do things wrong because I am bound to. All I want is to make you happy.”
Smiling, I wrap my arms around his neck, threading my fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck. “You just did.”
WRAITH
The Next Day
Spending the night with Prinie after everything that went down was difficult. Not only because I couldn’t touch her in the way I wanted to but seeing her wince in pain every time she moved nearly damn well killed me. So, to pass the time, we talked it out. She has a way of making me take comfort in her. I talked about how I’d found the other part of my family, and how there’s still one piece of it left out there, the one dirty piece which started all this drama years back while I was in juvie.
I’m not sure what Damir has in store for me, but I know he will come.
I just don’t know how or when.
Stretching back in my chair, I glance around the chapel. In the aftermath of yesterday’s events, I only have one thing I need to take care of right now.
Zero.
He’s in immediate danger still being in the system with Damir and the Baron breathing down his neck. So last night I asked Neon to make sure Finley was here this morning bright and early. Right now, Neon and I are sitting at the table waiting for Finley to arrive.
A knock resonates, and Cherry pops her head through the door. “Finley’s here to see you guys.”
“Send her in, thanks, Cherry.”
She nods, disappears for a brief moment, then Finley enters the room, the door closing behind her. Finley’s the same as always, dressed impeccably. Hair styled perfectly. “Hello, boys, may I take a seat?” she asks walking around to the empty seat where I normally sit in the VP position. She drops her ass down, and everyone raises their brows.
If she’s come with a plan, then I’ll let her sit wherever the fuck she wants for this briefing.
“What ya got for us, Finley?”
She exhales like she’s preparing for a fucking big speech. “Okay, this isn’t normally how I’d do things, but then again my clients aren’t usually 1%ers either.”
I chuckle. “We going off-book here, Finley?”
She tilts her head. “If the man you’re going after is playing dirty, then maybe we need to as well. The Baron… he quite simply has his hand in everything. Everyone worships him, and is too scared to stand against him because his reputation is waaay too clean on paper…” she pauses and smirks. “But… what if his reputation was suddenly not as clean as everyone believes it is.” She raises her eyebrows up and down a few times.
“I’m listening.”
Finley slides a document across to me. “In here is a smear campaign. It shows the Baron stealing shit from local businesses, funds from government agencies and the like which I managed to put together. It took a fucking lot of work to get people to talk, so we need to get this shit right. Otherwise, these people will be on the Baron’s radar. So, my thinking… we plaster this stuff all over the internet. We need to ensure it’s untraceable to protect my sources…” she pauses and looks at Neon. “If we can bring the Baron down, it might stop him from having so much power and persuasion in Houston. It will stop his scare campaign, and he won’t have the pull he once had. Then maybe, just maybe, we can work something for Zero.”
“Like get a judge who won’t be tainted by the Baron’s influence,” I clarify.
“Exactly! If we know the Baron has lost his pull in the legal system, I’ll ask for a preliminary hearing seeing it’s within sixty days of the arraignment. It can determine if there’s enough evidence to go to trial. If enough of our evidence shows the Baron is behind Zero’s arrest, it should be thrown out and Zero will be released without charges.”
My energy skyrockets—this is the best news I’ve heard since I knew for sure Prinie was okay. “Finley, I’m gonna like having you on our team.”
“On your team?” Her eyes widen.
“I talked it over with the boys before you came in here. If you’re willing, we want to keep you on as Houston Defiance’s legal staff... permanently.”
A slow smile lights her face. “I am getting used to bending the rules for you guys. And I have to admit…” she leans in lowering her voice, “… I like it.”
We all laugh as I throw out my hand for her to shake. “Welcome to the team, Finley.”
“Thanks for having me. Now, if you approve of this plan, Neon and I have a shitload of work to do. You up for it, Neon?”
Neon nods enthusiastically. “Anything for Zero.”
My eyes roam the room. “Brothers, what say you?”
“Aye,” they all reply.
I bang the gavel with a dip of my chin. “Make the mud stick, Finley, and make it stick like mud on a pig’s back. Pin down the fucker real good.”
She cracks her knuckles. “Oh, the Baron’s already
