MAISIE STRUGGLED AGAINST the arm gripping her waist. She bit the hand over her mouth.
“Ow! Dammit, Maisie!” Declan yelled.
She bucked against him, but he held firm. They were on the floor of the SUV, just in front of the door.
They started to pick up speed. He released her and moved to sit in one of the seats.
She dove for the door. It was locked from the inside.
She took in a slow breath before turning around. The inside of the SUV was dark, and he reached up and flipped the overhead light on. She wished he’d kept it off, so she didn’t have to see his smug face.
At least he looked terrible. That made her feel a little better. His nose was swollen, and a black eye was forming from Lennon’s headbutt.
“What the hell are you doing?” She tried to keep her voice steady and didn’t move from the floor. Sitting next to him felt like admitting defeat.
“I’m taking you back south. Or, Vic is.” Declan pointed to the driver. “I’ve got business to finish up here.”
She frowned at him. “Beto told us all about your plan to kill Jonathan Spencer.”
Declan sighed, leaning against the side of the van. “I knew I shouldn’t have brought that asshole. He was so insistent, promising that he’d convince all the Lopezes to unite behind me. Told me I was the best man for the job.”
She rolled her eyes. Declan would believe anything if you stroked his ego enough.
“But, yeah, I guess it’s not a secret now. I’m going to kill him and his guys, take the shipment, and head back south.”
She opened her mouth. Shut it. Clearly Declan hadn’t known why they were on that road. Lennon and Queso should have been almost to them with the truck, but she hadn’t seen them as Declan shoved her in the SUV. Clearly, he hadn’t either, and had no idea that they’d already taken the shipment back.
“You’ll start a war,” she said slowly.
“Obviously.”
“Only an idiot starts a war on purpose.”
“I think pretty much every war in the history of mankind has been started on purpose.”
“Exactly my point.”
He laughed, leaning his head back. “I swear to god, Maisie, it’s so hard to stay mad at you.”
“I don’t share that feeling.”
A smile slid across his face that made her want to punch him.
“Just let me out, Declan.” She was starting to get nervous. They were getting so far from Lennon and Beto and the Vals.
“No.”
“I promised Lennon I’d get him to the gate! And if I think I can get the shipment without killing anyone I should—”
“Again, no,” he said, with more than a little condescension. “I don’t know how you’re planning to get the shipment without killing people, but it won’t work.”
“How do you know my plan won’t work if you haven’t even heard it?”
“Because it can’t be done.”
“Sure, since you haven’t thought of it, that must mean it can’t be done.”
He sighed. “I don’t want one shipment. I want to control all of them. So, frankly, I don’t care if you can get one stupid shipment without killing people.”
“That is not—”
“Maisie. I know what I’m talking about, okay? And you should be thanking me for—”
“Thanking you?”
“Yes, thanking me! I just saved your life by kidnapping you. That little shithead can get himself to the gate if he wants out that badly, I don’t care anymore.” He snorted. “I wish him luck with that.”
“You were trying to grab him a few hours ago.”
“I was trying to grab both of you. I decided I didn’t need him. I’m not sure how helpful the son of the president will be in here, anyway.”
“I still think we should have kept him to help convince the Americans not to blow us up,” Vic called from the front seat. “The president won’t order a hit if his own son is in here.”
“Yeah, well, the brat has proved difficult to kidnap,” Declan muttered.
Maisie almost laughed. Lennon would be so thrilled to hear that he was difficult to kidnap.
“And I can’t waste my time on him,” Declan continued. “You and Jonathan Spencer are my priority. Now you’re safe, so we’re on track.”
“You have a weird definition of safe.”
“How are you not safe right now?”
“You just grabbed me against my will!”
“For your own good!”
“Declan.” Maisie tried to make her voice gentle. He wouldn’t listen if she got mad. He was smart enough not to accuse her of being “hysterical,” but he usually stopped listening to her if she got even a little bit upset and would just start kissing her instead.
He looked up at her. His expression was guarded, and she was reminded of the night they first got together. He’d been leaning against the wall of the shop, trying to hide the fact that he’d just been checking her out. She’d thought his expression was sort of endearing.
There was nothing endearing about it anymore.
“What if…” She took a breath, choosing her words carefully. “What if we get the shipment, and I agree not to fight you on leading the south? I won’t tell anyone what you were going to do up here. I’ll give you credit for getting the shipment.”
“I don’t need you to give me credit.” Declan shifted, adjusting his gun. “And I told you, I don’t want one shipment. I want to control them all so this doesn’t keep happening.”
“We can negotiate—”
“Would you give it a rest? It won’t work. Stop being naive.”
She could tell he saw the irritation flicker across her face.
“It’s true, Maisie. I know that you think you can do everything by charming people, but the world doesn’t work like that.”
“It’s gotten me this far. And neither of us has any idea how the world works.”
He frowned. “What?”
“All we know is what’s inside these walls. We’re part of a much bigger world that we knew nothing about.”
“I’m fine with that.”
“Are you?”
“Yes. That world out there…that world belonged to our parents, not us. We’ll never get out of here. Nothing on the other side of the wall matters.”
“Of course it does. What we do matters. How we handle this shipment—this conflict—matters out there. And not just because Lennon can tell them. They know what we do in here. Not only through surveillance. The Spencers communicate with them.”
“I look forward to putting a stop to that when I take over Spencer territory.”
“The solution to our problems is more communication, not less, Declan. As much as I respected Lopez, he was wrong to isolate us like this.”
“That’s one of the few things I agreed with Lopez about, actually.”
Her father had agreed as well. In fact, he may have been the one to push hard to cut off the Q from the rest of the world. We take care of our own, Maisie. He’d always say that, pretending that whatever he wanted was for the best for everyone. There was no negotiation, no changing his mind.
Declan was watching her, clearly waiting for her to keep arguing, but she just leaned back with a sigh. Like her father, there was no use arguing with him.
Maybe she’d liked that about Declan at first, that he reminded her of the father she’d just lost. It was easier to just try to be what they wanted, instead of carving out her own path.
Lennon had been right, when he said that she had gotten here by doing her own thing. By going against Declan, and the path her father would have wanted. She already had the shipment that Declan claimed she couldn’t get. She had the help of Val, and of Queso. Those were two more allies than Declan had ever made.
“Hey, Declan?” Vic said, looking over his shoulder.
“What?”
“We have a tail.”