Page 24 of A New Era

“I thought that was what you were going to do anyway,” Luca grunts while Dad watches us closely.

“Yes, but we’re going to say one thing and do another.” I grin.

“Care to share or do I have to fuckin’ guess?” Luca grunts.

“Like I said, I’m going to make it clear I’d rather work with anyone than her but you, you’re going to wait till late tonight and make a call of your own. You’re going to tell her that I don’t know what you’re doing. You’re going to make her believe you don’t agree with me and that you want to take her deal yourself, even if it breaks our relationship.”

“That kind of betrayal wouldn’t just break your relationship, if it were true, it would fracture the whole club,” Dad interjects.

“That’s what we’ll make it look like. She’s already seen what your chapter and Darius’s boys can do on your own, she’ll take the bite.”

“She fuckin’ won’t bite nothing when she won’t believe I’ll just take her offer after she shot Ford. No one would believe it.”

“I reckon she will cause she wants me to accept her offer, she’ll still want to get to me through you.”

Luca smirks but his next question isn’t as cocky. “Say she believes me, what’s the end game?”

“I’m not quite sure about that yet, but you play Effie, I play the Haywards, and what will be will be.”

Dad sighs. “Son, that won’t last long.”

“Hopefully we won’t need long…”

He cuts me off. “Leo, you need to know what the end game is before entering a play like this with powerful people. We may not like them, we may even want them dead, but they are powerful.”

His worry ignites my stubbornness. I argue, “The Haywards dump vast amounts of cash on us, but it’s not charity. We earn every penny. We haven’t gotten close to her in the last year and a half. The Haywards want her in the ground, this is how we do it.”

“You could’ve led with that,” Dad grunts and I laugh.

“I’ll get the brothers together and fill them in.”

* * *

Sat in my office, the only sound to be heard is the small hand ticking on the clock. The only light to be seen is from the cherry on my cigarette and then from the phone screen lighting up. Swiping across, I answer and press it to my ear.

“I’m pretty certain she believed me. Couldn’t wait to arrange a meeting in two days.”

“Meet me at our spot, 2 a.m., the night after.”

“Will do.”

The line goes dead, and I toss the phone on the desk. The whole picture of my plan isn’t quite clear, but it’s being chipped away at, and I have faith that we will be victorious.

Chapter Seven

Leo

Luca made the call to Effie and while I wait for more information, I take apart the engine of a mini motorcycle I’ve been working on for when Gunner is old enough to learn how to ride. Maybe one day I’ll have a son I can build a bike for. If not, I’ll settle for building them for my nephews. Knowing my luck, Rayna will want one of her own, and being that I’m wrapped around her little finger, I’ll build her one too. Though the thought of her on a motorcycle fills me with dread.

“The sheriff has a sister, one niece, and a nephew all living in the city. She has a brother living in Australia.”

I drop the spanner and look up to Zach leaning against the doorframe to the garage.

“How come your dad didn’t find that out?”

His shrug has me wondering if Slade's lack in his job is something I’m going to have to worry about.

“Have you got a passport?” I ask.

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