Page 42 of Collapsed

“BJ, what is going on?” Stryker asks. Her eyes break away from the pancakes, and she looks at him.

She takes a deep breath and pulls a knife and a piece of paper out of her purse. Stryker walks over to her, taking the paper from her hands, but I have no idea what is going on. He starts to read the paper, walking out of the room. I can hear his feet running up the stairs.

“What happened?” I ask her.

“The worst thing imaginable,” she says with her usual dramatic flair. “My freshly painted door had a note stabbed to it this morning. I got up to try to sneak out of the house to get some coffee and bagels to surprise Lane for our successful soft opening, but there was a knife plunged into the door!” she shouts out.

“Oh my gosh, are you okay, BJ?” I ask her.

“NO!” she yells. “It took me forever to pick out the perfect door color. Something inviting yet bold and colorful to represent me. Canary Yellow. Perfect. That Ginger bitch fucked with the wrong door.”

Stryker comes back into the kitchen with Conrad and Nat close behind. “We’re meeting now!” Stryker commands. We all know that’s our cue to head into the dining room. I grab a tray and start placing my stacks of pancakes and bacon on it.

After I get everything loaded up, I walk into the dining room. Everyone is already in there except Marcela, but Stryker says she’s on her way. Conrad has the previous security footage of Ginger we’ve already seen. He then pulls up an image of the note BJ found on her door. I set down the giant tray of food in the center of the table. Everyone dives in but still pays the utmost attention to Conrad’s findings.

The party looked lovely, especially the hostess. Pity, I wasn’t invited. Tell your team they are moving too slowly and Ivan is on the move. You have 48 hours to handle your shit, or I will.

“It seems the little assassin has googly eyes for our fairest Rainbow Sparkles,” Alexie says as a chuckle escapes him.

“No way,” BJ says to him, but looking at the message, Ginger does talk about how lovely BJ looked. Maybe Alexie is right.

“I think he’s right, BJ,” King chimes in with a mouthful of food.

“Well, she has zero chance after brutalizing my door,” she says. “But…”

“Not to break up this potential missed love connection,” Stryker interrupts. “But we really need to get down to business. If this Ginger takes out Ivan, that could spell problems for us.”

“If she takes out Ivan, isn’t that a win for us?” King counters.

“The boss is correct,” Alexie says. “For one, I want to watch Ivan’s life drain from him slowly, but if Rainbow Sparkles’ suitor kills him first, the Bratva will go on the defensive. That will set back my chances of taking over. They will not take kindly to an outsider killing him. It has to be done carefully.”

“Holy pancakes!” Marcela exclaims as she walks in. She takes in the serious tone of the room. Marcela takes a seat next to BJ and starts to pile pancakes on her plate. BJ leans into Marcela and starts to whisper to her. “What the fuck? Stabbed your door?” she screeches. BJ simply nods her head and points to the image being displayed.

“Alexie,” Stryker directs his attention to him. “We need you to take the lead on how to lure Ivan out. Use any connections you have. We have forty-eight hours to wrap this up until our plan is shot to shit.”

“I will get in touch with Jaxxon now. He will know how to use Ryan to bring Ivan to us. No longer will we wait for him to find us. Ivan will be the rat we lure to our trap,” he says, standing and walking out the door.

Everyone looks around the room, a bit confused about Alexie walking out. Stryker never said the meeting was over, but Alexie walked out without seeing if there was anything else to discuss. I’ve been a part of this team for a short while, but even I know that we wait until the meeting is adjourned.

King throws his hands behind his head and makes a whistling noise. “Well, this will be interesting.”

“What?” Stryker asks.

“When both of you are bosses, who gets to run the meetings and give orders? By the looks of it, the power dynamic will be one to watch. Just try not to kill each other,” King comments, and everyone turns to look at Stryker. He’s right, though, how will things change when Alexie is successful in taking over the Bratva? It sounds like they have it all figured out and don’t want to step on each other’s toes, but at the end of the day, they will be on opposing sides at times, and I’ll be firmly in the middle.

Clearly dumbstruck by Alexie declaring a plan and walking out, Stryker tells everyone to get ready to roll out as soon as Alexie is able to talk to his contacts and get a game plan. The girls help me clear up the breakfast mess and twenty leftover pancakes.I really overdid it.I set the tray on the island, where all the girls have convened. Nat is the last one in the kitchen, and as soon as she enters, BJ starts talking. “I have a huge favor to ask, ladies,” she declares.

“Fine, we’ll help you repaint the door,” Marcela says.

“No, no, no,” BJ responds. “Actually, yes. I will need that as well, but this is something of even more importance.” We all wait silently for what she is about to say. “My wedding is going to be the most amazing day of my life. I have already asked Alexie to be my man of honor,” Marcela and Nat both snicker at her statement.

“He will make a fine man of honor,” BJ bites back. “But I also need each of my best lady friends there, too. So, without further ado, will each of you do me the honor of being my bridesmaids?”

Nat, Marcela, and I all look at each other. In unison, we shout, “Yes!” BJ squeals in excitement.

“Of course, we will, BJ,” Nat tells her. “I’d be more upset if you didn’t ask.”

“Same,” Marcela says. “Now, I know we’re each a bridesmaid, but I am going to be taking over planning the bachelorette party.”

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