Wild Like the Wind (Chaos #5)(117)

Chew ran Chaos’s girls when they had them.

Chew took freebies whenever the fuck he wanted.

And Chew could get rough.

“You with me on that too?” Knight prompted.

“That message as well will be repeated,” she said tightly.

“Where’s Valenzuela?” Knight asked suddenly.

Hound watched her closely and she didn’t miss a beat when she answered, “He’s expanding operations elsewhere.”

“He comin’ back anytime soon?” Knight went on.

Again with the unamused lip curl. “I’m thinking he’d frown on me sharing his travel plans widely, Sebring. He’d especially frown on me sharing it with Chaos’s dog in the room.”

“He’s been gone a long time,” Knight remarked.

“He’s exploring some exciting opportunities,” she returned. “That takes a lot of time.”

Hound kept watching her, and for the life of him he couldn’t catch anything. Not a flinch. Not a tick. Nothing.

Knight kept at her. “He know you ordered the retreat from Chaos?”

“Of course he does, since he’s the one who ordered it,” she replied.

No flinch.

No tick.

Nothing.

All Hound could see coming from her was that she was landing truth on them when he knew it was nothing but lies.

“Years of pushin’, he gave up easy,” Knight noted.

She shrugged. “I’ve never understood why Benito does half the shit he does. Though I don’t question it. He’s not a fan of that.”

“He’s also not a fan of giving women positions of authority in his business,” Knight pointed out.

There was more hard than normal behind her, “I proved myself.”

Knight gave it a beat. Rhash stood at his man’s back while he did. Hound stood four feet away and kept his attention locked on her.

“Do we have more to discuss or can we all get on with our days?” she asked in a prompt for them to get the fuck out, the words sugar sweet and all fake.

Since Hound kept watching her, he only felt Knight and Rhash turn their eyes to him.

“Not discuss,” Hound said, and she looked to him.

“It speaks,” she said on one of her catty smiles.

He ignored that. She was young. She had no idea with men like him, bites like that had lost their power to sting a long time ago.

“Just say,” he went on.

“So say it,” she spat when he didn’t continue, and Hound thought it was interesting she thought she could play with Knight but she had zero patience with him.

“You tell Chew, he’s got a beef with his former brothers, he shows his fuckin’ face and communicates his shit. He doesn’t hide like a pussy behind a little girl who’s playin’ a dangerous game that might get her neck snapped.”

That’s when he saw it.

Surprise and panic cut through her features before she erased it.

Hound wasn’t the only one who caught it.

“He wants to come outta the shadows,” Knight put in immediately, “you can set that up with me. I’ll find a neutral place. He’ll have parlay.”

She pulled herself together to retort, “I’d be happy to pass on this message if I knew what the hell you were talking about.”

But Hound caught it. A little lift of her chin.

She’d been cool and in control. She thought she had a secret.

They knew her secret.

So now she was rattled.

“You need to get smart, girl,” Hound advised low. “It seems like shits and giggles until someone’s throat gets slit.”

“You’d know all about that, wouldn’t you, Mr. Ironside?” she hissed.

“Yeah,” he told her. “I would.”

He said that, and then he walked right out.

He took the stairs, fifteen floors. He did it because it gave him time, not with Knight and Rhashan, to make his call.

Tack answered on the first ring with, “Message delivered?”

“It’s Chew,” Hound told his brother, jogging down the stairs.

“How’d she handle it?”

“Shook her shit.”

“Knight offer parlay?” Tack asked.

“Yup,” Hound answered.

“You get anything else?”

“She knows I took out Black’s killer.”

“Fuck,” Tack clipped. “Chew was out of Chaos by then. Only men who knew were in the room, and not a one of them would say dick.”

“A room Chew knew existed,” Hound pointed out.

“Surveillance?” Tack asked.

“He was a little weasel, obviously still is a little weasel. Coulda been watching. Coulda set up cameras.”

“Could have cameras still there,” Tack noted.

“Best get boys out there, Tack,” Hound advised. “Send Dutch with whatever brother goes. He needs to learn how to find shit like that.”

It was too bad Jagger was at school. He needed to learn that too.

“On it,” Tack said then went on, “At least we know one thing.”

Hound gave him that one thing. “The old ladies are safe.”

“Yeah,” Tack agreed. “That’s a line Valenzuela would cross, but Chew would not.”