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  The office door swung open before they took another step, and panic froze her mid-step while her mind flailed.

  Lenora swept in, her insidious smile showing far too much pleasure as she caught both Adelia and Seven stuck in place. She click-clacked into Mayhem’s small office. “I’d say to work on your poker faces, but nothing will save you in here. Should I even guess what you’re up to?”

  They’d been caught. They should be dead.

  “We’re just leaving,” Seven finally managed.

  Lenora lifted her eyebrow but trained her legal-eagle-dagger stare on Adelia. “How many more lucky breaks in life do you think you have?”

  “I don’t,” she stumbled. “None, I mean.”

  “Get out of here.” Lenora shooed them out. “You keep making rookie mistakes like this, you need to be good with what you’ve done so far.”

  “What does that mean?” Seven snipped.

  “She won’t live long enough to do anything else.” Lenora put her hands on her hips. “Have you done everything you need to? You’ve given your greatest good? Nothing left to strive for?”

  Adelia quietly shook her head.

  “Don’t talk like that,” Seven said.

  “Someone needs to.” Lenora’s lips flattened. “You both are bigger than this.”

  Bigger than helping save people? Adelia’s lips parted, but nothing came out as her step-mom turned on a heel far higher than she’d ever try and walked away, disgusted.

  “Don’t listen to her,” Seven whispered.

  How much more could Adelia do? Actually sacrifice her life?

  It wasn’t enough to track down truckloads from distributors or save girls from small timers, offloading two or three people?

  “She’s nuts.” Seven walked to the office door and peeked out, confirming Lenora was gone. “We can’t get too much bigger.”

  Short of pimp killing, Seven was right. Though Tex had taught her to have a handy trigger finger. Maybe that had been the reason all along and Adelia had misunderstood everything?

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Adelia stared at her trigger finger and swayed in her heels, wondering if every assumption she’d made about what Tex had taught her had been wrong. What if he didn’t want to teach her the inner workings of Mayhem because that was the only way he knew how to be a good Pops? What if he allowed her to hold her own in a club shootout because he was training her for a higher purpose? What if…

  “The way you’re staring at your hand isn’t giving me the warm and fuzzies.” Seven eased closer. “We love Lenora, and we’ve always taken most her ideas with the caveat that she’s batshit crazy and probably playing.”

  “True.” Adelia dropped her hand, rubbing her palm on her hip as though she could feel the recoil of a weapon firing in her hand and vibrating down her forearm.

  “Adelia?”

  She snapped to focus. “Yeah. Sorry—ready?”

  Seven held out her hand. “Of course, I am. But remember, short of telling Tex what we’ve done…”

  Adelia groaned because they both knew that’d never happen.

  Seven added with a serious dose of side eye. “We’ve tapped all the people we know in our network who can help us. We can’t get much bigger.”

  Adelia leaned into her friend’s arm, taking the support of the woman she should be celebrating right now. “Maybe there’s another way to look at it. We could take out hits on pimps? Loop in the MC and blow out the tires on transport operations?”

  Seven laughed as they turned out the office light and shut the door. “All very logical possibilities.”

  “What’s the equivalent in the human trafficking world for a cartel lieutenant?” Adelia didn’t know enough about the world she wanted to end. Maybe that was her first problem. She’d realized years ago that she could help trafficked woman by saving them from traffickers and relocating them rather than simply trying to take out small cogs in a powerful wheel. Turning over the networks to investigators wouldn’t help as many people as she could help long term. The only thing she’d accomplish would be to quickly dry up her access to traffickers’ networks. “I don’t even know what they call their upper echelon. It’s not like a drug lord? A people lord? Nope.”

  “I know why you want to do this,” Seven said. “I know you were born to make a difference. You came to Mayhem for a reason. And you’re doing it, hon.”

  They walked down the dim hallway that opened into a wider one where the meeting rooms were and led into the parlor. “Mayhem’s the largest, most powerful organization in the country.” They stopped next to a pool table. “Maybe Lenora’s right that we’re playing footsie with traffickers when we could be taking them out.”

  “It won’t work.” Seven put her hands on Adelia’s shoulders. “We’ve watched Hawke spend more than two years trying to untangle Mayhem from drug cartels, and god, we’re so close. But Mayhem’s still stuck in so many ways.”

  She bit her lip. Seven knew far better than Adelia how hard Mayhem had tried to untangle itself from the drug game. They’d tried negotiating out of contracts, subcontracting, and outright lying. They’d made huge progress and had unexpected setbacks, but they were powerful and still weren’t free years after the club voted. “It’d be similar, huh?”

  “I’d have to guess so.” Seven let her hands drop. “If you take out one source, another one would pop up. We could target the tractor trailers on Interstate Ninety-Five, and they’ll go up the east coast on Interstate Eighty-One. Or blow up every port in Louisiana, and they’ll head to Florida.”

  Adelia nodded shook her head. “Similar to weapons.”

  Seven lifted a shoulder. “I’d have to guess so. If someone shuts down the holes with US Customs Agents on cartel payroll in Mexico, the cartels will find new border patrol agents to leverage, new families, new blackmail—”

  “Forget about it.” Adelia needed to get Seven to her party. “We’ve got places to go.”

  Seven wasn’t hard to pull out the front door. Adelia could tell she was still lost in thought. “We need to shake this out of our system before we show up.”

  “I’ll be fine.”

  Stepping into the parking lot, she cast a concerned eye at her friend. “Jax will kick my butt from the park to the compound and back again if you’re moping.”

  Seven half-laughed. “One last thought, and then I’m done.”

  “Sure.” It wasn’t as if Adelia could say no. Her mind never stopped when it came to the topic of traffickers.

  “I have a friend of a friend.” Seven paused as they parted get in Adelia’s car. Once they were both seated inside and Seven buckled in, she continued, “Her family had a corporate conglomerate that owned many things, and the purpose had been to hide their most profitable product.”

  Adelia’s fingers wrapped around her car keys. “People?”

  Seven bleakly nodded. “People are unlike drugs and weapons in many ways. They don’t have to be farmed, cultivated, or produced.”

  “Why are you telling me this?”

  “Because I’ve had years to struggle with Mayhem… much like our talks about Lenora.”

  Adelia remembered late-night heart-to-hearts with Seven and Victoria, trying to understand why Lenora represented people who Adelia thought deserved to die behind bars. She struggled with the concept that everyone deserved a defense. “And…?”

  “People aren’t a product. They’re not scalable, and there’s more risk and reward.” Seven grimaced. “There will always be fewer sources. I don’t know what to call them. Conglomerates? Cartels? But different than with drugs and weapons.”

  “Monsters,” Adelia whispered.

  Drug and gun cartels made a product that eventually killed people. A cartel that specialized in the use, abuse, and destruction of a person? Monsters. There was no other appropriate word.

  They remained quiet, processing what Seven had said—or not said—each lost in her thoughts, maybe sidetracked about what that meant they should do.

&n
bsp; Finally, Adelia inhaled, shoved her keys into the ignition, and put the car in reverse. “I’ll ask Lenora to take me to the dark side. She knows more evil people than I can fathom.” She backed out of her parking space and shifted into drive. “Then let’s do what we need to do.”

  Seven fidgeted with the hem of her skirt. “And what’s that?”

  “We go monster hunting,” Adelia answered.

  CHAPTER NINE

  “Who’s ready for a party?” Grayson turned in the front passenger seat of Colin’s rental car and the back seat erupted in giggling, “We are!”

  “Guess we should go.” After a few hours of sleep in the hotel, Colin pulled out of the hotel parking lot. Grayson’s crew had to be twice as loud as the radio, so he turned it off as they headed to the joint guys-and-girls party that Seven had apparently promised Emma would be family friendly and filled with cupcakes.

  Colin wasn’t sure how anything with Mayhem was family friendly, but who was he to judge? They arrived at an outdoor park that had as many motorcycles lined up as it did cars in the parking lot. There was a man-made lake, picnic shelters, a small wooden building that looked like a forest ranger hut out of a 1950s movie, and a hundred of Jax and Seven’s nearest and dearest.

  “Whoa.” Colin shifted into park. “This isn’t what I expected.”

  “Nothing about anything out here is what I expect,” Grayson added.

  “Off we go.” Emma opened the door over the older one’s head and pulled the younger one behind her. “We’ll be having fun while you two debate wedding expectations.”

  “When she puts it like that…” Grayson grumbled, unbuckling.

  Colin took in the whole scene. There was a giant wooden dance floor where a metal band shredded guitar, but not too far away, there were kids playing in their bathing suits and running in and out of the water.

  He got out, and the scent of beer and barbeque hit him. Two huge black pits attached to the back of mammoth trucks poured smoke. Across from that was a table longer than the one in Titan’s war room filled with what had to be snacks and side dishes.

  His stomach growled, and for the first time in what felt like weeks, he smiled for no reason. Fun floated in the air, mixing with the scent of food and drink, kids playing, and people dancing. No one seemed to care what anyone else thought about them. There were good ole boys in overalls dancing next to good-looking women in sky-high heels. He recognized a few faces. Seven and her pink hair were hard to miss. Same with Victoria in a yellow dress, both swarmed by kids holding hands dancing around them. There were few people Colin didn’t recognize and one he did—Adelia, a face always with Seven or Victoria. A beautiful one at that.

  “Hey,” Winters caught Colin’s attention from behind.

  Colin turned. The big man had a little kid—not a baby but too small to be running around on the ground, asleep on his shoulder. “Hey, man. How’s it going?”

  Winters’s large hand spanned the width of the girl’s back, rubbing small circles as her cheek draped on her dad, somehow sleeping through the excitement. “Not bad. But this little one’s a party pooper.”

  “Where’s Mia?”

  “Making sure the kids don’t dive headfirst into the water before we eat.”

  “Ah, good plan.”

  A little arm stretched and grabbed onto Winters’s ear, and they laughed, but she nuzzled her face into his shoulder the picked up her head to look around.

  “Annie, are you waking up?”

  She turned to her dad’s voice, and a sweet smile grew. Annie saw Colin, and she didn’t shy away.

  “I think she remembers me,” Colin said.

  “Of course, she does.” Winters shifted her to lean against her back and made cute-kiddo noise. “Here, she’s sick of me.”

  Before Colin had a chance to think, Winters had Annie in Colin’s arms. Every time he did this, she weighed more than he thought she would. It took him a good two times of moving his hands so that they both seemed happy with how he held her, but in the end, Annie seemed pleased to get to watch her dad.

  Sophia and Javier walked from the parking lot, and his sister beamed. “I do not get to see you with little ones enough.”

  “Maybe you should have your own,” he shot back.

  Javier raised his eyebrow. But Sophia didn’t stop gushing, and her husband quickly clued in, maybe even remembering the last time she went on one of her Colin-and-baby moments.

  “I need a picture.” Sophia reached for her phone.

  “We are pretty cute, huh, Annie?” He bounced her but decided she didn’t like that, and he wasn’t in the mood for a pukey shirt. “Or we can just stand still and look good.”

  “Got it. See?” She showed Javier.

  He raised his voice an octave higher. “He’s so cute.”

  “Cut it out.”

  Winters cut in. “Hey, now. My kid’s cute.”

  “Aw, Colby, your daughter is adorably cute. Javier’s just jealous he’s not.”

  Winters grinned and laughed.

  “I’m going to send this to Mom and Dad,” Sophia said.

  “Not Dad,” Colin quickly added. The last thing he needed was for his father to get a picture of him holding a baby and have a panic attack that he was focusing on anything but his career.

  He shifted away from the conversation, taking Annie’s hand and pointing to the volleyball court, picnic tables, and water. “When you’re old enough, you can outrun all of them.” She giggled and played with his finger, wrapping her hand around it. “And then you can grab some barbeque. See all the smoke?” He made their hands draw loops over shadowy smoke clouds. “Or you could show off your dance moves or play the guitar.”

  Colin’s gaze swept across the outdoor dance floor as he strummed her little hand as if it strummed a chord. Adelia turned as he caught her eye, and her smile lit. Her brows went up as she noticed the baby in his arm.

  They didn’t know each other well, only enough that he enjoyed hearing second-hand stories from Javier as he caught up with his long-lost sister. How had they missed the opportunity for their families to get together—

  “All right, I’ll take Annie.” Winters swooped his daughter from Colin’s arms.

  “Hey.” Colin relinquished the little girl, who still hadn’t let go of his finger. “I wasn’t finished telling her a few things.”

  “You’re not using my kid to pick up ladies.”

  “What?” Colin’s jaw fell, uncomfortable at what Winters thought he saw. Javier’s sister was…, well, not like his sister. Nothing like that. Adelia was just Adelia. Simple. His teammate’s sister. His sister’s sister-in-law. Hell, Adelia was complicated and mixed up with Mayhem, and the woman had shot a gun at him the first time they’d crossed paths. She might’ve been attractive enough to make a grown man groan, but Colin was pragmatic first and genuinely didn’t find women who’d tried to kill him attractive. Plus, Adelia was like family. What the hell? Colin focused on the gravel, kicking a larger rock.

  “I saw that.” Winters laughed. “She’s good looking but find another way to get her attention.”

  “What?” Heat warmed the back of his neck, and Colin pulled his attention away from the pebbles. “Adelia? Give me a break. She’s like a…” He couldn’t even pretend to say a generic platitude.

  “Yeah, Adelia.”

  Colin shoved his hands into his pockets. “All right. Whatever you say.”

  “I haven’t lost my sense of the obvious.”

  “Apparently, you have.” Except Colin could feel Adelia casting her eyes on him, just like he had felt Annie’s little legs kicking in his arms.

  “You’re a moron if you don’t go talk to her,” Winters finally added.

  “I will later.” He glanced back at the dance floor, and Adelia was gone.

  “Moron.”

  Colin ignored how true Winters’s words rang but was saved by his phone’s buzz.

  Sophia brushed against him when he reached into his pocket. “Bet that’s Mo
m and Dad. You know they love Colin-holding-baby pictures.”

  “If you sent that picture to Dad, we’re going to have words.” His father would spend five minutes discussing the importance of a career focus before Colin could get a word in edgewise to reassure his father he had no interest in settling down.

  “I didn’t. I swear!” She laughed.

  He checked the screen and ignored the pang of guilt that came with the swell of relief when Brock’s name registered. “You’re lucky, Soph.”

  She kissed him on the cheek. “You’re all talk.”

  “Yeah, yeah.” He answered the phone and scanned the crowd, trying to pin Brock down. Colin hadn’t seen him or Jared all night. “What’s up, boss?”

  The lack of background noise was the first clue Brock wasn’t here. “Hate to break it to you,” Brock said. “But work calls. Get to some place quiet. We need to hash out a couple plans.”

  “Tell Jax he can kick my ass later,” Jared offered by way of announcing himself on the call. “We’ll try to be done in under an hour.”

  “Will do.” Colin mouthed to the group he had to take the call and cast a quick glance for Adelia.

  “You’ll see her at the wedding,” Winters chuckled.

  Colin shook his head, ignoring Sophia’s question, and hustled back to his rental car. It didn’t matter if he’d see Adelia at the wedding or not. Colin shouldn’t have paused. He’d have time to check out women later. There was always time. It was a commodity. There were seconds, minutes, hours—hell, there were years to use how and when he wanted to, and right now, Colin wanted to advance his career.

  Boss Man told Colin he had to take his new role seriously, not just to officially land the position, but also because people would die if he didn’t. Colin turned on mental blinders, placed his friends and family on hold, pushed Adelia to the back of his mind, and opened the driver’s door of his rental. “Another minute.” He hooked in his phone’s ear buds and settled back for a long strategy session. “I’m good if you are.”

  The night went dark around him. An hour ticked by as they planned jobs and talked shop, and finally, Colin ended the call and checked his mirrors as he pulled out he ear buds. Except for a few cars and motorcycles, the dimly lit parking lot was empty. His gut tickled. Maybe he should call Dad, or maybe he should’ve found time to talk to Adelia. “Talk about two opposites,” he muttered. Maybe he didn’t know what his priorities were.