Sinner's Revenge (Sinner's Creed MC #2)(72)
Diem is standing in the hall, her eyes swinging to me in surprise. “You looking for me?” I ask, keeping most of my body inside.
She gives me a smile that doesn’t reach her eyes and walks over, glancing nervously back at the other door. “Yeah,” she says, her voice a little too high. She’d once told me she never lied. No f*cking wonder . . . She sucked at it.
“What do you want, Diem?”
“I wanted to go over the plan. Can I come in?”
I shake my head. “You don’t want to go in there. Trust me.” I give her a cocky grin and her back straightens.
“We’ve been here all of ten minutes and already you have someone in your room? Who the f*ck is she? The maid?” she asks, her temper rising as she throws her hands on her hips. She’s so cute when she gets all jealous.
“No. I just took a shit,” I say, deadpan. Relief floods her face along with a little embarrassment. She crosses her arms over her chest, pushing those perky little tits up for me to see.
“Okay. No biggie. I’ll just fill you in when we’re in the car.” Her brows draw together in confusion as she jerks her thumb toward the other door. “Have you seen Rookie?” she asks, trying to be nonchalant.
Damn. Could she be any more obvious? “Probably taking a shower. You need him?”
“No. I was just curious.” Oh for f*ck’s sake.
“Cut the shit, Diem. What do you want with Rookie?” I ask, growing more impatient with every second that passes.
Her eyes widen. “Nothing!”
“Then why can’t you look at me?” She continues to avoid my gaze and I step out into the hall, flipping the latch to catch the door before I do. “Let me give you a little advice, ma’am,” I drawl. “If you want to try and play games or f*ck with someone, make damn sure it ain’t us. We didn’t get where we are by being na?ve. Now, I’ll ask you one more time. What do you want with Rookie?”
“I need him for a job, okay?” she says, her body sagging with relief from finally telling the truth.
“Now, see there?” I coo, like I’m talking to a small child. “How hard was that?”
She gives me the finger and I close the distance between us until her body is a mere inch from mine. “That’s strike one, Diem. Don’t lie to me. At the end of the day, my brothers will choose me over you every time. I will pull the plug on this whole operation. Now that Death Mob is out of the picture, you need us as much as we need you. Don’t f*cking forget that.”
I turn on my heels, pushing open the door and waving my hand for her to come in. Dragging her feet, she gives me the evil eye as she walks through, then looks to Rookie, who’s standing on the other side of the room. “What is this? A sleepover?”
I shut the door, standing in front of it to block her escape. Rookie mirrors my position, his arms crossed and looking just as pissed as I feel. Taking a seat on the bed, Diem puts her head in her hands. We wait for her to speak, which she takes her precious f*cking time doing.
“I need you to take out Clark,” she says, meeting Rookie’s eyes.
He gives a one-shouldered shrug. “All right.”
“And,” Diem starts, pausing to bite her lip. She stands, lifting her chin high and finding her balls. “I need you to take his place.” This time, Rookie looks to me and it’s my turn to shrug. “We have a rat in our family. Until Dorian is sure who it is, you two are the only ones he trusts.” She turns to level me with a look. “After hearing your speech about family, he thought you would protect me to no ends considering I’m Dirk’s sister. I guess he sees me as part of that family you’re willing to give your life to protect.”
“So why not just ask Shady to step in as your second?” Rookie asks, clearly not comfortable with his new job title.
“Because it complicates things,” she snaps, keeping her eyes on me.
“Complicates things how?” His words are deliberately slow, making sure she understands them.
She takes a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “Because some people already know about us. Word is spreading fast and if they think we’re a couple, they’ll look to him for guidance instead of me. I’m the first woman to ever hold this much power in the business. If things were like they used to be, I would have married and my husband would hold the power. Some people still see the Underground that way. It will take some time to adapt. Until then, the rumors about us will just have to stay rumors.”
How f*cking convenient for her. “Well the least you can let me do is handle Clark. I mean no sense in wasting all this talent for nothing,” I say, flexing my arms for her.
She rolls her eyes. “Can’t do that either.”
“And just why the hell not?” I ask, a little offended.
Walking toward me, she smiles. A very pleased look crosses her face when she reaches me. Standing on her toes, she whispers in my ear, “Because you’re the bait.”
Of course I am.
*
I let Rookie and Diem have their little private powwow, while I stay in my room and sulk. I don’t know why she thinks they need privacy. He’s just gonna tell me everything anyway. I’m not jealous that Rookie is getting what I consider a promotion; actually, I’m happy he is. I don’t trust anyone with Diem as much as I trust him. I just hate being out of the loop.