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I guessed it made sense for her to want my opinion. I was the only one she could count on here who had any significant experience with that part of her life. It wasn’t as if the skater guys could offer much insight into the criminal mindset.
I traced more soothing patterns on her arm as I contemplated my answer. “I think you started off on the right foot. You didn’t give the defectors any real information and found a way to test their loyalties. And you pushed the Devil’s Dozen pendejos to focus on your mother rather than you. That’s definitely the direction their attention should be pointed in.”
“It just seems like hardly anything.”
“Hey.” I eased her closer and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Listen to me. You showed them you’re no one to be messed with but made your stance clear at the same time. No one could have handled it better.”
“I think you might be a bit biased,” Lou muttered, but she nestled against me as if she was meant to be nowhere but here.
For a few minutes, there was nothing but the soft whisper of her breath and the muffled voices as Jasper and Quentin continued their half-hearted bickering. I let my other hand come to rest on her thigh, relishing her warmth and the smooth skin I could trace through her thin leggings.
“So, I made a good start,” she said. “Where do we go from here? It’s obviously not the last time I’ll have to deal with the rogue underlings, and it’s fairly likely the reps are going to get on my case again.”
My chest constricted again with an instinctive urge to avoid the question. Yes, I was her only remaining tie to her criminal life—but it wasn’t as if I had all the answers. Hell, I’d come to the totally wrong conclusion about things in the past, to the point of nearly making a huge mistake that would have upended both our lives.
Who was I to give any kind of advice?
Lou lifted her head to glance up at me, her brow knitting at my silence. I cleared my throat as if I were getting ready to reply.
I had to offer her something—the best I could. We weren’t going to rush into action.
If it looked like I’d led her astray, I’d just have to bust my ass course-correcting.
“Let’s see,” I said to buy myself more time as I mulled it over. “With the Deadly Rose turncoats, I would probably give them a few more tests—chances to see if they’ll stick to the loyal path or backstab you. If they pass, then you can trust them a little, but I still wouldn’t let them find out anything particularly important like where we’re actually living or training.”
Lou nodded. “Gradually let them in, but never too close. That makes sense.”
“There might be a point when you can bring them on board completely,” I felt the need to add. “If they do something that puts your safety ahead of their own—you’ll be able to tell when you can really trust them.”
“If that ever happens.”
I shot her a wry smile. “It might. That’s how your latest skater won us all over, isn’t it?”
The image of Quentin’s bloody shoulder after he’d leapt in front of a bullet for Lou would never leave my mind. Mostly becauseIshould have been close enough to defend her.
But I hadn’t been and he had, so he’d earned his place by her side. All the more reason I should help her this way if she could use some strategy suggestions, though.
“That’s a little different,” Lou said lightly. Then her expression darkened again. “And the Devil’s Dozen reps? What if they don’t let up on me?”
I let out my breath in a ragged huff. “That’s the trickier situation, for sure. You just keep telling them the truth as emphatically as you can… and I guess if they refuse to listen to words, at some point you’ll have to turn to force.”
Lou made a face. “Attack them?”
I shrugged. “We’d have to figure it out when we got to that point. A little strategic destruction to show you’re not an easy target. I know you’ve got it in you when you have to go that far. But the whole time, the message should still be that your mother is the real problem and you’re just trying to keep yourself safe and away from all of them.”
“If only they’d listen to that. If they’d stand up to her, maybe we could actually live our lives freely. Imagine that!”
Her tone was wry, but it didn’t completely disguise the longing in the words.
I hugged her to me. “We’ll get there. Look at how far you’ve come in half a year. We’re all the way on the other side of the world.”
Lou let out a soft snort, but she hugged me back with her arm wrapped around my chest. “I really hope you’re right. It’s just intimidating going up against people who have as much power as my mom.”
“The reps don’t,” I pointed out. “They’re more like tangling with Sheeran in Boston, which you did just fine. And not all of the Devil’s Dozen pricks are total cabrónes. Those two who were passing on info to you back in Austin seemed halfway decent.”
Lou’s head perked up. “That’s true. I was so focused on getting away from everything to do with Mom and the Devil’s Dozen that I didn’t think about where Beckett and the Blood Hunter fit in. I should give the two of them a heads up about the threats I’m getting from their colleagues. They could speak up on my behalf—they know I was working against her, not with her.”
I smiled at her, even though I could feel her already pulling away from me. She had work to do, and I wasn’t going to keep her from it. “Sounds like you’ve got a plan—and a good one.”
