Page 63 of Victorious: Part 2
She reaches out, gripping my wrist before I pull away, shaking her head. “Oh no, you don’t, you have that look on your face. What’s wrong?”
Snorting out a laugh, I slide into the seat beside her. “It’s scary how well you can read me.”
Her hand slides out, gripping my knee. “Don’t sweet-talk me. Just talk.”
Scrubbing at my face, I let out a small groan, then look back up at her.
Fuck she’s beautiful.
Concentrate Loki!
“Doughnut was taken from his enclosure. My security feeds were cut without my sensors being triggered. It was a targeted attack.”
All three women gasp, just as I knew they would, but Bea reaches out, grabbing my hands in hers. “Hey, I already know where your head is right now. Don’t you go blaming yourself for this. The club is under attack. You already know we’re at war and they’re going to come at us from every angle—”
“Which isexactlywhy I should have been better prepared for a cyber-attack—”
“Stop it, Loki. You’re one man doing the tech work for an entire club. You’re trying to figure out everything you need to win this war, keep this club afloat,andbe the vice president. Don’t you dare lay blame on yourself because you’re spread too thin.”
Ellie exhales, sliding her hand across the table, resting it on my arm comfortingly like the mother figure she is. “Darling, Bea’s right. You can’t take this on. And I can already see it in Bea’s eyes what she is thinking, but she doesn’t want to ask you for fear of what you will say, so I will ask for her.”
I turn to look at Bea, wondering what Ellie is picking up on that I am not, as Ellie continues, “You need help, Loki, and we all know someone who is just as good at tech as you. You only need to ask him to come down from Silicon Valley to help us during this time. Am I right, Bea?” Ellie asks.
My heart sinks in my chest as Bea weakly smiles at me, nodding. “Baby, I know you hate asking my brother for help when it comes to tech, but please, right now, let him help you. Let him help us through this war. Anyway, I am sure he’d love tocome, if only to flirt some more with Navy.”
I can’t fight the smirk that lights my face knowing that Theo does have a crush on our head club girl. I shift my gaze across the table to Ellie and Rhyan, and they both nod at me. I groan, rolling my eyes. “Okay, fine! Make the call. But I am doing this for you, Bea, not for me.”
Bea leans in, pressing a tender kiss to my lips. “Of course, babe. Whatever you say.”
“Loki!” Alpha roars through the clubroom.
I turn to see him charging through with Rip. “I’d better go deal with this. We’re gonna ride out, see you when I get back. Love you.”
“Love you, too, and when you get back, my brother will be here to help.”
I lean in, kissing her once more before I stand and make my way over to Alpha and Rip. The look on Alpha’s face tells me everything I need to know.
He’s pissed.
“You have the address?” he grunts.
I pull the printout from my pocket and hand it to him. He glances down at it with a simple nod. “We will deal with the security breach later. For now, we go talk to these twins and get the info we need, then you and me are having avery real talk.”
Craning my neck, I decide to tell him the truth. “Already handled, Pres. I have Bea bringing in Theo to help me bolster security and to stay on to accelerate any tech research we need. The more help we have right now, the better. We don’t need anyone being pushed too thin.”
My words seem to hit the button I was trying to press, and he instantly backs off. He raises his brow as if he’s impressed. “Work smarter. Good.” Then he turns to the middle of the clubroom. “Montana, Maverick, mount up, we’re going for a ride,” he calls out. The two of them, sitting at the bar drinkingtogether, both place their beers down almost in unison, stand, and then start heading for the door. “Rip, you’re coming with us too.”
“Fuck yeah!” he wails as the five of us make our way out to the lot.
Twenty minutes later, the procession of bikes roars down the freeway. Maverick is in the lead with Alpha following, then me, Montana, and Rip flanking us as we head toward the Martinez brothers’ last known address. I know why Alpha asked Montana to come—his mother’s life is on the line, and once he realizes what we’re doing, there’s no way he’d want to sit this one out.
As we pull up, the apartment complex is exactly what I expected, run-down but not abandoned, the kind of place where people mind their own business and don’t ask questions.
We park our bikes, and Alpha gathers us around in a circle. “Right, we’re here to gather intel from a set of twins, Luke and Logan Martinez. They worked in the correctional facility until they were forced to quit. They know shit we need. So, we’re here to get that information from them. Montana, if shit gets dicey, you know that correctional facility better than anyone. We need you to get through to them if they think we’re part of the Cartel.”
Montana rolls his shoulders in understanding. “Got it.”
“Let’s go, approach with caution. We don’t know how volatile these guys can be. But we do know they are military trained. So be on your guard. Weapons hot.”
