Page 148 of Jagger's Remorse
"Based on her escalation pattern? Two weeks. Maybe less." I smile. "Digger will have her wrapped around his finger by then. Or in his basement. Depends on how it plays out."
"You're enjoying this."
"I'm enjoying winning." I turn to face him. "For five years, I've been reactive. Responding to others' moves. Now? Now I'm ten steps ahead."
"And if someone catches up?"
"Then I'll be twenty steps ahead." I touch my belly again. "I have more to protect now."
We go inside, where our family—because that's what Iron Veins is now—celebrates our new reality.
Music pounds. Beer flows. Stories about how the club is changing moves through the room.
Raven approaches, sets a shot of tequila in front of me.
"Can't," I tell her. "Remember? Baby on board."
She replaces it with water. "Never thought I'd see the day. You, domestic."
"I'm running a cartel and planning federal crimes. That's domestic?"
"You know what I mean." She sits beside me. "You're settling. Building instead of burning."
"For now."
"And when that changes?"
"Then I'll burn prettier things." I watch Hammer, eyes glued down to his phone. “Starting with one ambitious prosecutor."
My hand drifts to my stomach, still flat but holding our future.
What kind of mother will I be?
The kind who teaches her child to load a gun before they can write their name?
Who shows them how to read people's weaknesses like other parents teach the alphabet?
My own mother sang lullabies and painted sunflowers.
I orchestrate deaths and rule through fear. The comparison makes something inside me ache.
"Digger’s going to destroy her," Raven observes.
"Or she'll destroy him. Either way, it'll be great."
"You're cold."
"I'm ice, Raven. She declared war on the club."
Raven nods slowly. "The queen protects the kingdom."
"Always."
As the party continues around us, I feel it—the shift from surviving to thriving. From revenge to building. From princess to queen.
My father wanted me to use law to help our people.
My mother wanted me to create beautiful things.
