Page 281 of Redeemed

Wesley runs a finger over the ring he’s wearing. “I’m assuming you have a reason for telling me all of this.”

“We need to take Mark out of his position of leadership, and we need your help. This is a chance for you to get revenge, and a chance to bring the Glass Rooks back to what your father helped build it into.”

“And what exactly was that?”

“A collective that takes care of its own, unwaveringly, as long as its members stay loyal. A society that offers stability and protection. We have each other’s backs. Always.

“My dad has lost sight of the original values of the organization. He’s sacrificing too much in the name of power. Mainly, the wellbeing of his people. Pay is still good, but it’s gone down, mainly because he’s stealing from all of us, and we haven’t even realized it.”

“Damn,” Wesley mutters.

“He’s also planning to cut ties with a few key people—people we need on our side to keep running under the radar like we have been.”

“That sounds like it would affect his bottom line in a pretty bad way. What’s his angle?”

I smile. It’s good that Wesley is asking questions. The more information I can provide him, the easier it’ll be to win over his trust, even if it’s only a small portion of it.

“He wants to cut out the lower-level enforcers entirely. Start using independent contractors instead, or people who’re desperate enough to take on a risky job for a single paycheck.”

“Lower-level enforcers,” Wesley mutters. “That’d be me and the guys.”

“Not quite. You three were an experiment. A way to see if changing the system could work. In Mark’s mind, if you’re caught, it doesn’t matter what happens to you. You’re easy to replace.”

“So he’s already moved on to using independent contractors.” He points to himself.

“That’s right.”

“And if the organization loses their sense of community…”

“Then they lose sight of what’s really important,” I say. “Protection. Security. A safety net of people who’re willing to drop everything and help when needed.”

“Shit,” Wesley murmurs. “There were so many people who helped us after my dad died. They were strangers—not even my mom knew who they were. They gave us meals. Fixed her car when it broke down. Helped her get a new financial advisor when we realized our old one was fucking us over.”

I nod. “We take care of our own. Or, at least, we did. That’s the type of community we need to get back to. My dad has already sown a lot of distrust between members, and it’s led to rifts that could tear us apart. And if that happens, then we all go down.”

Wesley crosses his arms. “So it’s not just about taking care of each other. It’s avoiding mutually assured destruction.”

“That… is another angle of it, yes, but it was never something we had to worry about until now. None of us had a reason to leave, or to snitch. But my dad has made a lot of people unhappy, and that’s going to lead to problems unless we fix it.”

“Which we do… how?”

“By taking over.”

Wesley groans. “I was afraid you were going to say that.”

“Lucas, Xander, and I have that handled. What we need you three for is extra voices in our favor—and extra manpower for if things get messy.”

“All right. We’re in.”

I stare at him in shock. “That’s it? Seriously?”

Wesley shrugs. “We know way less about the jobs we take on a weekly basis, and this one finally gets me some closure on my dad’s death. Of course I’m in.”

“You don’t even need to talk it over with Cal and Kellan? You’re allowed to, you know. I wasn’t expecting an immediate—”

“They’re in,” Wesley says firmly. “I know them well enough to know how they’ll answer.”

“Fair. I’ll let you know when we need you?”

---