The Reclamation (The Club Trilogy Book 2) by Lauren Rowe
Authors: Lauren Rowe
Tags: trilogy
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us—”
“No, I don’t want Sarah involved in any of this. This is just gonna be you and me.”
“Bro.” Josh looks at me like I’m an idiot. “She worked for them and she’s super smart. She’s bound to have an idea or two—”
“I don’t want Sarah involved.”
Josh throws up his hands. “I’m not talking about asking her to do anything. I’m just saying let’s ask her for input .”
“No.” It comes out louder than intended. I take another deep breath and collect myself. “You don’t know Sarah like I do. If we ask her for input , she’ll immediately start doing something—surveillance or research or snooping around or God knows what. She’s not a sit-on-the-sidelines kind of girl. She’s the one who emailed me in the first place, remember?”
Josh smiles broadly.
“Yes, granted, that part worked out well,” I concede, stifling a smile of my own. That’s the understatement of the year. “But the point is, she doesn’t sit around thinking, ‘golly gosh, wouldn’t it be nice to know x y z,’ she gets out there and does whatever the fuck she has to do to figure out x y z.”
Josh sighs in exasperation. “Yeah, but—”
“When she had a question about this friend of mine—remember the time you invited that little league team to our box seats at the Mariners’ game?”
Josh nods. “Of course.”
“Well, after that, I became friendly with one of the kids and—”
Josh’s face contorts in complete surprise.
“It’s a long story—totally irrelevant. But when Sarah was curious about my friendship with the kid, what did she do? She paid a visit to his mom at her work and got all the information she wanted.” I smile. “She’s such a lawyer-in-training, I swear to God. The girl is so fucking snoopy.”
Josh gives me his patented laughing-at-me-with-his-eyes look.
“And before she ever agreed to meet me in person, she spied on me at my Club check-in—I told you about that, right? That’s when I hooked up with that Purple who showed up a week later at some other guy’s check-in as a fucking Yellow?”
Josh grimaces in disgust. “Yeah, you told me about that.”
“And that’s how the shit hit the fan in the first place—Sarah spied on me and the yellow guy, too—just because her curiosity got the best of her both times—and that’s how Stacy the Prostitute put two and two together and ratted her out.”
Josh nods.
“You see? That’s Sarah. She gets curious —and when she does, she doesn’t hesitate to do whatever the fuck she has to do to satisfy that curiosity. You don’t know her like I do, man. She’s a force of nature, that woman. When she sets her mind to something... I don’t want her taking charge and hijacking things and unwittingly doing something that puts her on The Club’s radar screen any more than she already is. The next time they come after her might not be a simple break-in.”
“I get it. I really do, man. Okay? Don’t freak out on me—I’m on board. But if we’re looking for a place to start connecting the dots, I’m just saying Sarah would know better than anyone what our first dots should be. We should at least ask her.”
“No. It’s non-negotiable, Josh. I don’t want Sarah involved. I’m gonna keep her safe through any means necessary, even if that means benching her from the game.”
Josh sighs. “Jonas.”
“No. I’m keeping her out of harm’s way, both physical and emotional.” I lower my voice. “She had a rough childhood, Josh. Her father was a bastard—an abuser.” I take a measured breath, trying to calm the raging beast welling up inside of me. “Sarah said she and her mom ‘escaped’ him. Fucking bastard. If he were here right now, I’d tear him limb from limb.”
Josh looks anguished.
“She’s been scared enough times in her life. She doesn’t need to deal with this kind of bullshit. She doesn’t need to be scared. I just want to keep her out of it.”
Josh rubs his face and exhales. He
“No, I don’t want Sarah involved in any of this. This is just gonna be you and me.”
“Bro.” Josh looks at me like I’m an idiot. “She worked for them and she’s super smart. She’s bound to have an idea or two—”
“I don’t want Sarah involved.”
Josh throws up his hands. “I’m not talking about asking her to do anything. I’m just saying let’s ask her for input .”
“No.” It comes out louder than intended. I take another deep breath and collect myself. “You don’t know Sarah like I do. If we ask her for input , she’ll immediately start doing something—surveillance or research or snooping around or God knows what. She’s not a sit-on-the-sidelines kind of girl. She’s the one who emailed me in the first place, remember?”
Josh smiles broadly.
“Yes, granted, that part worked out well,” I concede, stifling a smile of my own. That’s the understatement of the year. “But the point is, she doesn’t sit around thinking, ‘golly gosh, wouldn’t it be nice to know x y z,’ she gets out there and does whatever the fuck she has to do to figure out x y z.”
Josh sighs in exasperation. “Yeah, but—”
“When she had a question about this friend of mine—remember the time you invited that little league team to our box seats at the Mariners’ game?”
Josh nods. “Of course.”
“Well, after that, I became friendly with one of the kids and—”
Josh’s face contorts in complete surprise.
“It’s a long story—totally irrelevant. But when Sarah was curious about my friendship with the kid, what did she do? She paid a visit to his mom at her work and got all the information she wanted.” I smile. “She’s such a lawyer-in-training, I swear to God. The girl is so fucking snoopy.”
Josh gives me his patented laughing-at-me-with-his-eyes look.
“And before she ever agreed to meet me in person, she spied on me at my Club check-in—I told you about that, right? That’s when I hooked up with that Purple who showed up a week later at some other guy’s check-in as a fucking Yellow?”
Josh grimaces in disgust. “Yeah, you told me about that.”
“And that’s how the shit hit the fan in the first place—Sarah spied on me and the yellow guy, too—just because her curiosity got the best of her both times—and that’s how Stacy the Prostitute put two and two together and ratted her out.”
Josh nods.
“You see? That’s Sarah. She gets curious —and when she does, she doesn’t hesitate to do whatever the fuck she has to do to satisfy that curiosity. You don’t know her like I do, man. She’s a force of nature, that woman. When she sets her mind to something... I don’t want her taking charge and hijacking things and unwittingly doing something that puts her on The Club’s radar screen any more than she already is. The next time they come after her might not be a simple break-in.”
“I get it. I really do, man. Okay? Don’t freak out on me—I’m on board. But if we’re looking for a place to start connecting the dots, I’m just saying Sarah would know better than anyone what our first dots should be. We should at least ask her.”
“No. It’s non-negotiable, Josh. I don’t want Sarah involved. I’m gonna keep her safe through any means necessary, even if that means benching her from the game.”
Josh sighs. “Jonas.”
“No. I’m keeping her out of harm’s way, both physical and emotional.” I lower my voice. “She had a rough childhood, Josh. Her father was a bastard—an abuser.” I take a measured breath, trying to calm the raging beast welling up inside of me. “Sarah said she and her mom ‘escaped’ him. Fucking bastard. If he were here right now, I’d tear him limb from limb.”
Josh looks anguished.
“She’s been scared enough times in her life. She doesn’t need to deal with this kind of bullshit. She doesn’t need to be scared. I just want to keep her out of it.”
Josh rubs his face and exhales. He