Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 66480 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66480 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
"We've accounted for a medical team already," Vittorio noted, making another mark on his tablet. "And safe houses ready to receive them. The authorities can't be involved initially. We’re not using legal methods to go about this and I fully intend to kill everyone at this warehouse."
Ghost's gaze drilled into me. "And where exactly will you be during all this?"
The question carried layers of suspicion, but I met his stare without flinching. “On the sidelines. Or right in the thick.” I met and held Ghost’s hard stare.
The office door slammed open hard enough to rattle the framed patches on the nearest wall. Wren stood in the doorway, her purple hair wild like she'd just rolled out of bed. Every man in the room froze, conversation dying mid-sentence as she marched toward our table. Ghost moved faster than I'd seen him move all morning, intercepting her before she reached the maps and photos.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Ghost growled, his body blocking her path like a human wall. "This isn't your business."
Wren tilted her chin up, green eyes flashing with the same defiance I'd grown to both admire and worry about. "Everyone I love, my entire family, is involved in this except Honey. I'm staying." She planted her feet, shoulders squared and her chin high.
"The fuck you are." Ghost lowered his voice, but the edge in it cut through the room. "This isn't a game, Wren, and you’re not ready for something like this."
"I know exactly what this is." She stepped around him, her gaze sweeping over the table covered in maps and surveillance photos. "Thirteen-year-old girls drugged and sold like cattle. You think I don't understand what's at stake?"
Ghost grabbed her arm, gentle but firm. "We've got this handled."
She yanked free of his grip. "I'm not here to help with your op. I'm here because I need to know what's happening." Her eyes found mine across the table, holding for just a second before returning to Ghost. "My family is putting themselves in danger tomorrow night, including you, Ghost. So I need to be here."
The rawness in her voice silenced whatever argument Ghost prepared to launch. Jack cleared his throat from his position at the table.
"Let her stay," Jack rumbled, surprising everyone in the room. "If she’s brave enough to insist on being her, girl’s got a right to know what her family's walking into."
Ghost shot Jack a look, but Wren took advantage of the momentary distraction to slide onto a stool at the edge of the table, out of the way but where she still had a clear view. Ghost sighed, but backed off.
Vittorio, ever the diplomat, merely nodded at Wren before continuing as though the interruption never happened.
"Rocky will coordinate with Marcus to lead the extraction team through the northeast entrance," Vittorio continued, tapping the area I'd identified earlier. "That team moves first. Their only objective is getting as many girls out as possible before the main assault begins."
"After last night's incident," Vittorio said carefully, "we have to assume security might be heightened. Acid knows Rocky has connections outside the club now. Whether he suspects we’re here because of the girls or for something more mundane is anyone’s guess."
The planning continued. Until everyone felt we’d done all we could to plan. By the time we’d finished, it was past lunch. Which meant we had less than twelve hours.
"Any questions?" Vittorio asked, capping his highlighter with finality.
Ghost's voice cut through the momentary silence. "Yeah. What happens after?" He looked directly at me, the question layered with meaning that had nothing to do with tactical extraction and everything to do with his daughter.
Before I could answer, Wren slid off her stool, drawing all eyes to her. "After," she said firmly, "we deal with after. Right now, we all get some rest so we’re ready mentally and physically."
“There is no we, honey,” Ghost said smoothly. “You’re stayin’ right here.”
“I’m going to be watching every move going down from here with the rest who’ve been left behind. I can’t help out there, but I can help once you get these girls to safety.”
In that moment, she sounded so much like Ghost I almost smiled despite the tension crackling in the room. The apple hadn't fallen far from the tree, after all.
I slipped away as the meeting broke up, my head pounding from hours planning this thing. Ghost and Jack huddled with Vittorio near the bar, their voices low. Nobody noticed when I pushed through a door at the back of the clubhouse, finding an empty office tucked away from the main area. The room smelled like old paper and leather, with a hint of gunpowder. I dropped into the chair behind the desk, letting my head fall back as the weight of what waited for us tonight settled across my shoulders.