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Being confronted by four such formidable men would have intimidated her a year ago; these days it didn’t make her blink. Tuck, Zave, and Thad went to the table in the corner to sit down.
“Are you ready?” Brodie asked her, though she didn’t know what he was talking about, so she could only look left then right as her love went over to stand behind an empty chair at the table where the other men were seated.
All of them were waiting for her, and their intent scrutiny made her self-conscious. “Ready for what?” she asked. This was like getting a pop quiz in high school that everyone else was prepared for, while she hadn’t known it was coming. “Is this the initiation or the punishment?”
Calm and patient, Brodie was at peace in an eerie way. “You’ve been itching to tell me your plan since I got into that rental car with you,” Brodie said. “Now’s your chance to spill it. Now’s your chance to lead.”
Brodie pulled out the seat he’d been leaning on and sat down to wait, just like the others. Curling her fingers around the arms of the chair, she scanned each face at the table. They were blank, awaiting orders, there was no judgement or annoyance, but there was a silent expectation and she’d have to meet it. There was no place for whining, complaining, or second guessing herself now. She wasn’t performing for her boyfriend and friends, she was presenting to serious, capable colleagues who needed her to step up.
Pushing up from the chair, she swallowed to moisten her throat then licked her lips. She knew all of these men, and she had worked with them, but being in control, that was a different ball game. Here she was, little Zara Bandini in charge of her own army.
Jumping in meant conducting herself with confidence. Art had been an inclusive leader, but the Kindred wasn’t a democracy. Brodie ran things and had the deciding vote on all actions taken by their squad. He’d probably instructed the others not to argue with her or disrespect her because he knew about her personal struggle. Even if this little performance was just to humor her, they didn’t let it show and gave her their complete focus and trust. Pitching her feeble idea to these experienced men was intimidating because if she made a fool of herself, it would take a long time to win back their respect.
Buying herself some time, she went to the table at the side of the room, poured herself a coffee, and took a calming sip before turning to face them, bolstered enough to fake confidence even if it was wavering a tad.
“Leatt’s a dead end,” she said. “Hanging around at Rigor’s doesn’t get us anything. We need to be focused now, and sitting around there waiting for something to come to us is frustrating and counterproductive. Unless we can predict his next move, there’s a good chance he’ll get the drop on us there. Rigor’s place used to be Sutcliffe’s, Leatt knows that ground better than we do. Here, we’re protected and on our own turf. If anyone tries to come for us, we have the home field advantage.”
“So we’re supposed to forget about Leatt?” Tuck asked.
Like tennis, the spectators looked at the speaker then back at her. “No,” she said, wetting her mouth with the coffee. “We can still keep an eye out and our ears open. But we have an imminent concern.”
“Kahlil Samara,” Zave said. “You fear him?”
Brodie leaned back and pulled something from his pocket. Tossing the item into the middle of the table, she had to cross the room to see what it was: her watch. “We heard it all.”
Everyone was up to speed, so it saved her recounting the meeting. But she was concerned for her love. She gazed at him, hoping for a sign that he was okay after listening to Kahlil bring up his parents in the way he had. Brodie was blank, businesslike, just like the others, and he didn’t relax his mask for a second.
Thad broke first and his laugh startled them all. “I particularly liked the part when you told Cuckoo not to spend too much time on her knees,” Thad said, his lips twisted in a smile that wanted to be another laugh.
Tuck laughed and even Zave smiled. They’d heard more than just the Kahlil meeting. They’d heard her whole morning. Zara’s mouth opened when she fixated on Brodie, but no sound came out. She should have turned the damn recording off before talking to Mischa. Zara hadn’t been thinking straight because she was too busy cleaning up after Grant.
She couldn’t stay shocked. She might not have realized that the men would hear her initial meeting with Cuckoo, but she couldn’t take back what had been said, nor would she if Brodie demanded it. “I won’t apologize to her,” Zara said, starching herself with resolve. Showing Cuckoo that she was no doormat was important, and groveling would eliminate any possibility of equality between the women.
“Wouldn’t ask you to,” Brodie said. “You stood your ground.”
He didn’t smile, but his eyes warmed with pride. “Much as I’m not a fan of the woman, she’s doing a job and if she knows her stuff, then she’s in the right place,” Zara said. “If we can trust her and I’m not so sure that we can. So we should be vigilant.” Art didn’t trust her and knew she got off on criminality, those facts were enough to keep Zara suspicious.
“So Cuckoo stays put,” Tuck said. “What about Kahlil?”
Glad that Tuck was following and supporting her position, Zara was happy to return to business and happier still to stop talking about Cuckoo. “Whether or not he’s telling the truth about what he knows,” she said. “We have to take him seriously.”
“Why?” Brodie asked.
More than a question, she read curiosity rather than affront. He was testing her; this whole damn thing was a test. He wanted to know how she’d perceived Kahlil and how she’d played this forward.
“Because he’s pissed that he got fired for failing to obtain Game Time. So pissed that he went out there and found someone else to bankroll him. Not only is he spreading the word that Game Time exists just by telling his new employer, but he’s convinced the new employer of Game Time’s value. Kahlil has proven that he’s hungry and that he’s bitter, that’s not a good combination.” As Grant had demonstrated.
“There’s another hungry party,” Zave said.
She opened her hand to him in agreement, then sat down, gulping from her mug as she did. “We have to nip this in the bud. If Kahlil has heard about Grant’s death, then Sikorski has too. Both groups wanted Game Time to cause harm, and we shouldn’t assume those plans have gone away just because they lost out on the deal.”
“She’s right,” Zave said, and she was surprised that he was turning out to be her biggest ally when he’d never displayed much fondness for her before. She smiled, she’d thought the same thing about Art’s opinion of her, and he ended up being her most vehement cheerleader.
Tuck linked his hands on the table. “We have to shut them down before they get off the ground. We have to know who Kahlil is working for now.”
So much had fallen by the wayside since the loss of Art, and they were still trying to recover from that damage to their ranks. “He’s got to be in town,” Zara said.
“There’s an email address for contact in the envelope with his offer,” Brodie said. She hadn’t been aware that he’d seen the envelope. “It’s in the box you left in the kitchen.”
