Page 72 of Deadly Little Hearts

“Exactly!”Mia agrees.

“We can’t tell them, though.Otherwise, they won’t let us go.They are already busy enough, arming up, planning, and gathering the men.”I slide off my bed, shoving my phone into the pocket of my pants.

“We gotta go now.Everyone is out back.”Mia heads out the door, and I follow closely behind.

Hazen and Gage will be pissed when they find out, but I need to contribute somehow, and it’s either this or crossing the tracks to negotiate with Kai—and I’m pretty sure they’ll like this plan better.

We walk through the front door, and one of the new guards standing by the door watches me closely.

“Approved by Hazen and Gage,” I say, and he nods before letting us through.

“Let’s take my car.I parked it down the road,” Mia says, pulling out her keys from her bag.

The drive through Daringville is quick, and before I know it, we’re parked a couple of doors down from my childhood home.My stomach churns with anxiety, a heavy feeling that intensifies as I shut the car door behind me.Maybe we should wait for the guys.But Dominic has fooled us all before.Any intel we can gather will help.We need to do this—for Lucas.

“Where are they going to be?”I ask Mia, and she turns around, taking my hand in hers and pulling me into the backyard of the house next door to mine.

It feels so fucking surreal, being back here and about to go into the house that holds so many good and bad memories for me.Of course, Dominic chose this place.

“The guards will be inside or out back in the garage,” Mia says, and I squeeze her hand back.

I’ve never liked Mia much, but what she’s doing for us gives her a little street cred in my books.She didn’t have to tell us where Dominic was hiding out, but she did—well, with a little side deal.She is getting exactly what she wants in exchange for what she’s doing, and I’d do the same thing if I were in her shoes.

That’s exactly why I currently trust her.

The plan is simple: we’ll check on Dominic, see how many men the guys are going to deal with, and report back to them.They’ll come with the new recruits and get the weapons back and save Lucas, and then we can hopefully sort out some kind of peace agreement between the Hood and the Ville.I hope this works.

“Let’s go,” Mia says, releasing my hand, and she moves through the bushes of the neighbor’s yard.She looks left and right.

Something catches my eye, and I reach out, grabbing her arm, pulling her back into the leafy scrub.A couple of guys walk past us, coming from my old backyard.They are dressed in all black with rifles strapped to their backs, looking like they are ready for war.

“What the fuck?”I hiss, and Mia shakes her head, pressing her finger to her lips.Voices carry through the afternoon air, and Mia moves through the bushes, going deeper into the neighbor’s yard.I peer through the bushes, and all the blood rushes to my ears.

In my old backyard are at least fifty men, all dressed in black.Some are sparring against one another; others are pulling out guns from wooden crates.Holy fucking shit.We knew he’d have men, but this many?It’s next level.He’s creating an army for something.But for what?

“We need to call Hazen and Gage,” I say, and Mia presses her lips together before nodding.

I crawl out of the bushes, but my hand lands on a hard black boot.Fuck.

“Leaving so soon?”a voice that sounds all too familiar asks.My gaze moves from the boot up into Dominic’s blue eyes.

Mia brushes past me, gets to her feet, and runs, but Dominic is faster.He grabs her by the throat, and her eyes widen.

“Don’t hurt her,” I plead.

Dominic scoffs.“Shut the fuck up.Both of you are coming with me.”He nods his head toward Mia.“And you’re a traitorous bitch.”

He grabs my shoulder, forcing me to stand.As he digs his fingers in, tightening his grip, I grit my teeth.

Mia struggles against his hold, and it takes everything in me not to fight back—it’s not worth it.We wanted to talk to him, and now we can, though this isn’t the way I intended.

“This place should be familiar to you, Freya,” Dominic says.

I bite into the inside of my cheek.If I give him anything, it’ll be exactly what he wants.

Dominic shoves Mia inside the house first, then me, and I stumble in.Bracing my hands on my knees, I push myself up and my eyes widen.Everything’s changed, yet everything is the same.The dark floorboards I’ve walked on a million times before.The white walls with light-blue floral wallpaper.The only difference is the swarm of soldiers inside the house, moving around.Some of them look familiar, men I recognize from The Brotherhood, and I know the guys are going to be pissed that they turned on them.

I move toward the living room, clutching the door as memories invade my mind.

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