Ace’s eyes flicked once to Stone, then back to Dave. He nodded, short and sure. “Copy.”
The decision settled, Dave leaned back in his chair. “We’ll be flying out within the hour.”
“Are we seriously going to be taking Titus with us?” Winter asked.
“Fuck that,” Viper spat. “He’s not getting anywhere near this operation.”
Titus’s voice cut from the doorway, low and steady. “You’ll need more than maps and muscle.”
Dave looked up. Titus stood braced in the frame, arms loose at his sides, broad shoulders filling the space like he’d been listening the whole damn time. His eyes locked on Dave.
“I thought we were in this together.”
“Convince me,” Dave said, folding his arms.
“Franklin knows me. On paper, he still answers to me. You want him alive? You’ll take me.”
“He won’t be expecting you,” Dave pointed out. “This meeting was between him and a seller.”
Titus shrugged. “It’s not a stretch for me to be there since he fucked up your first meeting.”
“No fucking way,” Viper snarled.
Titus stepped farther in, his boots quiet on the carpet. Ignoring Viper. His words were directed at Dave. “Take me and my men with you, like you agreed. Keep your word.”
The room shifted. Viper’s jaw tightened; Stone’s head turned slow, the kind of look that meant trouble. Ace straightened by the door but didn’t speak.
Dave’s hands pressed against the desk, steady, cold. “And if I tell you no?”
Titus’s mouth curved, not quite a smile. “Then I’ll meet Franklin in Vegas myself. Or pull him from Vegas. Either I’m on that bird with you… Or you won’t find him.”
“Yeah…” Viper snorted, half-amused and half-infuriated. “How are you going to do that in chains?”
The words hung heavy. A bit of a threat. But also a fact. Titus would be in chains when they left here.
“I can help you,” Titus told Dave, ignoring Viper.
Viper’s shoulders tensed, his voice a low growl as he continued. “You think walking into Vegas with us makes you one of us?”
Titus turned his head and met Viper’s stare without flinching. “I think keeping me out makes you blind. Franklin still thinks he’s my man. If I’m there, it’s more legit. That’s the door you need opened.”
“Bullshit,” Viper hissed.
Titus drew his gaze from Viper and settled on Dave. “Better to have me where you can see me, Commander. You know it.”
“He does have a point,” Stone murmured to Dave.
The silence was a knife.
Dave exhaled through his nose, the decision sharp in his gut. He didn’t fully trust Titus. Couldn’t.
But he trusted the truth in Stone’s words. Plus, Franklin believed he was still answering to Titus. That was leverage no one else in the room had. And having Titus pull Franklin from Vegas was not an option.
They had to get the guy in his place of business to take down the Vegas operation. That wouldn’t give them Tatum, but with Franklin and his devices in Genesis’s custody, Tatum would soon follow.
Dave’s voice was flat, final. “Then you’re on the bird with Walt. No other men. They stay here under Ace’s watch. Don’t make me regret my decision.”
Titus inclined his head once, as if they’d just struck a bargain.
