Page 102 of Down & Dirty: Reaper

But Reaper keeping his mouth shut was getting more difficult by the minute. In fact, his teeth were clenched so damn hard that he was worried he’d break a few.

“Believe it or fuckin’ not, I did graduate high school. Know Columbus is in Ohio. Why the fuck were you there?” Zeke demanded.

“Graduating at the bottom of your class isn’t anything to be proud of, Zeke,” Vi clapped back.

Wheels hooted and Chaos dropped his head to hide his reaction.

Reaper breathed out a low, “Fuck.”

Vi’s head twitched but otherwise, ignored his response.

“Do you want us to help with the Russos and the Souls or not, Zeke?”

“Stop skirtin’ the fuckin’ question, Vi!” Rage roared. “Why the fuck were you in Ohio?”

“To target the Chens.”

“Who the fuck are the Chens?”

“The Chinese Triad Indie found to use as a scapegoat, remember? We had to put together a new plan since targeting the Russos wasn’t starting the war we wanted. We decided to play both sides to get that war started sooner than later.”

The woman could certainly think on her feet.

Except Rage’s expression darkened and his jaw tightened as he took in that new information.

Reaper braced for the impending explosion.

“You forgot to tell me about the switch in targets. I’m the fuckin’ sergeant at arms, woman. At a goddamn minimum, Zeke, Chill, and me need to be kept in the fuckin’ loop. You fuckin’ know that.”

“You wanted us to handle this shit. That’s what we’re doing. And we don’t need to be micromanaged from you all since none of you have the experience that my team does.”

Damn.

“What d’you hafta say? Or did you lose your fuckin’ balls once you started taggin’ her ass?”

Was the DAMC president asking him a direct question finally?

As much as he had wanted to step in and defend Vi, she was in charge of the Shadows.

While it had been tough keeping his trap shut the whole time, his years in the military taught him not to speak until spoken to and answer only when asked. Even then, sometimes it wasn’t smart to say shit.

“Taggin’ her ass? Since when?” Wheels asked.

“Since none of your damn business.” Vi turned back to Zeke. She released a loud, dramatic sigh. “I don’t know why we came here. I don’t answer to you, cuz.”

“It’s called respect, Vi,” Chill said. “You belong to this club. Maybe not in the way you’d like, but you do. And we’re all fuckin’ family, whether by blood or not. We need to look out for each other no matter what.”

“And that’s why we took on this challenge. To protect our family and the DAMC’s territory. But you’ll get information when we’re ready to give it to you.”

Zeke’s narrowed gaze landed on Reaper. “Still waitin’ on you to answer your goddamn prez.”

Reaper needed to keep his answers as generic as possible. “Got in a jam out there and Vi came out to assist me.”

“Looks like you got in a fuckin’ shootout.”

“We did.”

Zeke cocked an eyebrow. “And who won?”