“Actually,” I say, lifting a hand, “Sarah gave me explicit orders not to drag you guys into this mess at all. As of six months ago, my brother thought I was here to locate him, convince him to come home, and try to clear his name—which isn’t the case. Phillip is unaware of the plan I have in place. Lathan now thinks I’m back in New York. Sarah aided in that. If Phillip learns of the plans I have and about my place in Halo, I have to leave and take the trouble with me. Because if harm comes to this club because of me, Sarah will become AJ and my worst enemy. Lots of bodily harm threats went along with that speech.”
My eyes stay fixed on Jude, but he looks away, his jaw tensing.
“You knew Sarah?” Drex asks, drawing my attention. “Before six months ago? Or are we to believe this all happened by chance?”
“I knew of AJ,” I say, shifting my gaze to him. “But I’d never met her. We all knew she was Phillip’s ghost of a daughter and favorite assassin. Until he betrayed her and she betrayed him in return. Before then, if you saw her and knew who she was, it was because you were her next hit.”
I lean forward, rapping my fingers on the table, knowing this breaks all the rules to tell them everything.
“Imagine my surprise when I found her in the unlikeliest of places on a night that I almost died. The devil herself became my ally. I’m her only tie to the Four Families.”
Drex studies me like he’s searching for a lie, and his arm tightens on the girl in his lap. I’m not completely sure who she is, but I assume it’s Eve. Sarah didn’t have time to tell me much on the way to the warehouse, but I’ve heard her mention Drex’s girl before.
I just don’t know if that is his only girl or not.
“Four Families,” Drex repeats, then curses.
“What?” the girl asks, confused.
“The Four Families are what used to be the Five Families,” I go on. “There are Families all throughout that run underground things. Arms dealers. Drug lords. Gambling rings. You name it. They own the major ports. Have them on payroll so they can import and export at will. The only thing they don’t allow is sex trafficking.”
“Which is what Jenkins is doing,” Axle says from beside me, his voice settling over me like a calming force.
I nod without looking at him.
“Phillip wanted to bring that into our city. My parents argued against it, because they had a daughter themselves. Most of the Families do. Believe it or not, we’re not all monsters. We’re mostly regular people with skewed morals. You want to gamble but don’t have the money to pay it back? Then that’s your own fault, and your body parts get broken or come up missing. You want to snort your way into an early grave? Someone has to make money off the blow, and it’s your choice to be a fool. But sex trafficking? Not our cup of tea.”
“You keep saying it like you’re still part of the Families,” Axle says from beside me, and my lips twitch as I turn to face him.
“I am. Hence the reason I said you could threaten me all you want, but killing me would be a terrible idea.”
No expression is on his face, but his eyes are intense as they take me in. I return my attention to everyone else.
“This is bad. We can’t get mixed up in all this when we have enough issues of our own,” Dash tells Drex, running a hand through his hair.
“Herrin being our biggest issue at the moment,” Rush adds.
“As I said, I don’t want you mixed up in it. You demanded answers; you’re getting them. None of this has anything to do with you. I just need a place to lie low and conduct this experiment. And you guys can supposedly conceal anything. I need you to make concealed compartments for girls in the vehicles of my choice. It’d save me a lot of time to take them across the Mexican border and get to the ports where we own people. Since it’s in Mexican Cartel territory, I need it to be extra savvy and discreet.”
The girl slides off Drex’s lap, moving in behind him as he leans over the table, his fingers clasping together.
“Why the cars?” he asks.
“Because you need money, and I need a better solution to hiding these girls,” I say with a smile.
“But no way we get dragged into this war?” he asks, unconvinced.
“It’s no different than you selling to drug dealers who are at war with other drug dealers.” I shrug one shoulder. “No one will know I’m here. And if Phillip catches wind of my plan, I’ll leave. It’s that simple.”