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He nods as my brothers stare at us.
“I sure am. You sure her name is Charlize, Raid?” Grudge asks, and Raid furrows his brows like he’s confused.
“I mean… yeah, why? You know her?” he queries.
I scoff, rolling my shoulders from the tension building inside my muscles. “Know her? Yeah, you could say that. Grudge, do you think this is a coincidence, or was she planted?”
Grudge scrubs at his face uncomfortably as he grumbles under his breath. “I don’t fucking know, but I don’t like it.”
“Will someone tell mewhat the fuckis goin’ on?” Hurricane bellows.
I turn to my president, anxiety rolling through me as I shake my head. “That babysitter… she was my nurse at the hospital, and her name sure as shit wasnotCharlize… it was Charlotte. Pres, she had full access to me the whole time I was in the hospital. If she was there as a plant, she had ample access to take me out on behalf of Novikov. This doesn’t make any sense.”
Raid furrows his brows and sits taller. “But she wouldn’t take you out, Hoodoo, because from everything I have seen, Charlize…fuck, Charlotte, doesn’t know anything about Anton and the Bratva. I think she was just there doing her day job. It’s one hell of a coincidence that the man who put you in the hospital is the man she’s sleeping with.”
“Fuck me,” I mumble, rubbing the tension at the back of my neck.
Hurricane sits back in his chair, his eyes focused firmly on Raid. “Tell me… on a scale of pissed off to murderous rage, how attached to Charlotte is Anton?”
My eyes widen as I realize what Hurricane’s saying. As payback for almost killing me—for nearly taking out a Defiance brother—we’re going to hurt someone who means something to him.
That someone is Charlotte.
Shit.
Raid closes his laptop, placing his fisted hands on top. “We hurt her, we might get away with tit-for-tat. He got one. We got one. It’s done and done. We kill her, though, I would imagine it will set off a chain of events, and we’re already in his sights for the attack on the camp. Though he did get us with the drone attack, so maybe that was his revenge? But it feels unfinished. It doesn’t seem like it’s enough for the damage we caused. So I think if we killed Charlotte, the revenge would be… catastrophic.”
Grudge nods, shifting his weight forward. “I have to agree, Pres. I’ve been at this club a long time, and I must admit, no adversary has made me anxious like Anton. It’s the waiting, the not knowing what he’s up to, but being fully aware that he’s planning. Somethingiscoming, Hurricane, and while I think we need to let Anton know he can’t fuck with us, I don’t think we want to poke the bear that fucking much.”
Hurricane rubs at his bearded chin and huffs out a heavy exhale. “All right. We get Charlotte. We tell her who Anton is, we hurt her emotionally, not physically, then we let her make her own mind up on whether she stays workin’ for and fuckin’ the dickhead. If we scare her enough and she leaves Anton, maybethatwill suffice as a psychological wound used as payback? Takin’ someone you love away emotionally can be more painful than any physical scar. We all on board?”
I nod, my brothers around me also agreeing.
“If her schedule is the same, she should be at the hospital tonight. We can pick her up in the parking lot after she finishes her shift in about half an hour, then bring her back here and question her in the soundproof shed.”
“Do it. Hoodoo, you take the van. Take Grudge and a couple of others with you. She’ll recognize you and feel comfortable before you grab her,” Hurricane states.
“Got it. Omen, Bayou, let’s go,” I instruct.
“Hoodoo, don’t fuck this up,” Hurricane orders as I head for the door.
Dipping my chin, I slap Grudge’s shoulder on the way past, and he walks out with us to the club’s van. My stomach churns as I walk.
Grudge steps up to my side. “You good with this?”
“We’re not gonna hurt her. Just wake her up to a truth she’s been missing. If anything, we’re gonna be helping her…right?”
Grudge slaps my back. “Right… let’s go wakeCharlizeup.”
***
Grudge sits in the driver’s side of the van while I stand by the side, and City and Omen are in the back of the van, waiting for my signal. I need to play this just right so we don’t attract attention.
I spot Charlotte walking to her car and tap the side of the van, letting them know I’m engaging contact. I take off after her, making sure my footsteps are heavy so I don’t surprise Charlotte as I approach. Clearing my throat, I make as much noise as I can. “Hey, Charlotte?” I call out, and her head snaps up from looking at her cell.
She looks bewildered for a brief moment, but when she spots me, her eyes narrow, then a slow smile crosses her face, and she lets out a small laugh. “Nico? Is that you?”
I shrug like it’s nothing. “I can actually function now. Go figure.”
