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My name sounds different coming from her.

"They call you Switch. You are Sergeant-at-Arms. Former Army. Handler of prospects." She leans back in her chair. "And if you backed me, everyone at this table would eventually fall in line."

A challenge.

Her gaze locks on to mine. "So. tell me, Switch." The corner of her mouth lifts. "Can you handle a little girl?"

A few heads turn toward me, waiting for my reaction. I almost laugh. Almost. This woman just profiled every officer in the room, then somehow decided poking me was a good idea. Interesting strategy.

I choose my words carefully. "Tatum, I'm sure I could handle you…but that's not the issue. We don't put women in harm's way."

Several heads nod around the table. A reasonable answer. A safe answer. Apparently, she hates both.

"I figured you'd go diplomatic. The soldier in you likes following orders." A few guys shift in their seats, but she keeps going, "The problem is you're making a pretty bold assumption,” –her eyes meet mine– "That I'd ever be one of your women." She tilts her head, "But considering your ASVAB score, I'll let it slide, sweetie."

Fuse chokes on a laugh. Diesel coughs into his fist. And just like that, every eye in the room swings to me again.

My eye twitches. Barely, but she catches it.

Of fucking course, she does.

"I clawed my way out of worse places than this," she continues. "And I ran from people a hell of a lot scarier than you."

Before I can answer, Fuse cuts in, "What do you mean you ran?"

The humor vanishes from her face instantly. "I was an old lady for one of Redline's officers, and I left."

Nothing else. Nothing more. Just those two sentences.

I glance over at Lennox whose jaw is tense just like Judge next to him.

“You don’t need to explain more. We know what we found out about Redline, and how they treated people. Let’s put it to a vote, and we can announce it at church. It's time to wrap this shit up,” Pres speaks up.

Tatum sits a little straighter. Trying to hide her nerves and failing. For the first time since she walked in, she looks unnerved.

“There are six of us. Four passes the vote. All in favor of letting her pledge say ‘aye.’”

“Aye.” Diesel.

“Aye.” Ledger.

“Aye.” Pres.

Three out of four.

Judge and Fuse sit silently along with me, and I realize it’s up to me. Neither of them plan to budge. I don’t look up, feeling the heat of both Lennox and Tatum’s gaze on me.

The enemy of my enemy is a friend, is what they always say.

“Aye.” The word leaves my mouth before I can reconsider it.

Lennox nods once. before speaking. “The vote has passed. She'll pledge with the incoming recruits tomorrow. We'll discuss the rest in church. Meeting adjourned.”

Chairs scrape across the floor, while conversations start immediately. But my attention stays fixed on the woman at the end of the table. The woman who somehow managed to challenge me, insult me, and impress me in under ten minutes. My gaze drops before I can stop it. The outline of those piercings are still visible through her shirt, and I’m barely able to drag my eyes away.

This is a terrible idea.

For the club. For me. Especially for me…