PHOEBE'S POV

I led him back to his room and he sat down on the mattress. I walked over to the mattress and straddled him, putting his forehead against mine. He tried to go for a kiss but I put up one finger and stopped his lips. "I'll be back later tonight. Then maybe we can finish what we started…" I gave him a seductive smile and ran my finger down from his lips and down his chest. "I can't wait" Jason winked at me. I got off his lap and went back out the door, clicking the lock behind me.

JASON'S POV

I heard Phoebe walk back down the hallway and I laid back on the cold mattress. I couldn't believe myself; I was supposed to hate this girl, blow up her car, and walk away. But instead I was stuck here with her…but I didn't want to leave. I didn't even want her to leave the room a minute ago. I guess I just had to get the thought thru my head; I LIKE HER. SHE LIKES ME. And I didn't want to let her go. Ever. She was the greatest girl I had ever met. She understood me, and knew how to make me happy. Girls in the past broke up with me because they "didn't agree with the business I was in." And I let them go. I didn't care. If they didn't want me and wanted to leave because of the business, then I'd let them leave; because I knew they didn't love the real me. Sure, I've loved girls; but I've never been in love with one. I had feelings with Phoebe that I never had with any other girl…was it true? Was I actually in love with…PHOEBE? The thoughts clouded my head and I drifted off to sleep.

PHOEBE'S POV

I walked to my room to change clothes. I put on a light-pink button-up shirt, a red suit vest, my black pant-suit with thin white stripes, red Brash heels, and a black fedora. I went to my vanity and touched up my eyeliner and mascara, and put on some red lip gloss. I looked at my watch—almost 3 o'clock. I walked downstairs to find more guys showed up and were sitting around talking. I saw there were about 20 guys here, and I stood at the bottom of the stairs; "HEY!" The room fell silent and all eyes were on me. "Everyone, meeting room, five minutes." I walked toward the bar and all the boys got up and headed toward the back of the house where our meeting room was. I walked over to Lanzo who was already making me my Shirley Temple. "I heard about the phone call…You gonna start somethin' today?" Lanzo asked.

"Nothing major right now; just going over some plans and procedures with the boys. Now that Nick wants my blood."

"He's always wanted it." Lanzo laughed a bit and placed the drink in front of me.

"But now that I have one of his prized possessions…" I took a sip. "He's out for more than just my blood." I picked up my drink and Lanzo followed me as I walked toward the back of the house to the meeting room.

Both the guys and girls were gathered in our big meeting room. There was a long, rectangular table in the middle of the room with 10 chairs for my best guys; everyone else stood against the wall, sat on the floor, or sat in a spare chair. The girls were in their usually place; sitting on a few of the guys' laps. I approached my chair and one of the standing boys pulled it out for me. I thanked him, put my drink on the table, and sat down to start the meeting. The voices died down and I had everyone's attention.

"Ok, let's get right to business. As you may know, the Detonators have been out to get us for a while now…" I sipped my drink. "And now Nick is out for blood. We have something he needs; something his gang can't function without. Without Jason, they can't use specialty weapons. So for now, we don't have to worry about any bombs…but we all know that Nick and his crew know how to handle bullets. I told Nick that if he makes one wrong move, Jason could get hurt. But let's face it, Nick won't take us seriously until something happens. So if force is needed, take any action in order to stay safe…" I stood up from my chair and started to walk toward the other end of the table. "You know I don't want to see any of you hurt; that's not what this crew is about…" I stopped at the end opposite my chair where Blake was sitting. I put my hand on his shoulder. "We're a family here…and we do whatever it takes to protect family." I smiled at Blake and took my hand off him and opened my jacket. I turned in a slow circle as I addressed everyone, displaying the Nine inside my jacket. "Everyone is armed, correct?" They all opened their jackets, flashing their firearms. "Good…as always be prepared for ANYTHING. If Nick gets the chance, he'll test our limits; and he WILL NOT hesitate to pop a cap into one of yall." I closed my jacket. "You can finish things up here, can't you Blake?"

Blake nodded, "No problem, boss." I smiled and walked out of the meeting room to go out and do some errands.

BLAKE'S POV:

Phoebe walked out of the meeting room and I heard her heels click against the floor as she headed towards the front of the house. I heard her grab her keys and heard the front door shut as she left the house. I looked at everyone else.

"So everyone's down with Phoebe's plans, right?" They all nodded. "Good; well now that all that stuff is clear, I think there's some other business we need to talk about." Everyone looked confused.

Victor gave me a puzzled look, "What other business?"

"Regarding Phoebe and the boy upstairs."

"What about them?"

"The fact that she's lost her fucking mind!"

"Why? What happened?" Victor asked me. Everyone else gave their attention, wondering about the same thing. I went ahead and told them about what happened earlier.

"I went to give Phoebe the cell phone so she could talk to Nick, and Jason was on top of her!"

Andre cut in, "Was he trying to hurt her or something?"

"Dude, they were totally sucking-face on her bed…she's gone completely mental!"

"Well, what do you suggest we do? We can't just tell her to stop; you know how she is. She gets lonely, and it seems to me like she's not letting this one go."

"Someone needs to talk to her about it; ask her if she's seriously or if it's just a game she's playing to, ya know…get on Nick's nerves…"

"Blake, you talk to her, bro. I ain't gonna try and touch that subject."

"What? Why do I have to do it?"

"She tells you everything, man. And you've known her the longest; unlike us, you can talk to her about stuff like that without her chopping your dick off."

I sighed. "Fine…" I said, standing up to leave. I turned to Andre, "But if I leave that conversation minus a dick, it'll be your fault." Andre laughed a bit. "Andre, Lanzo, Victor, Jimmy-c'mon; we're first to go into battle." They got up from their chairs and left the room. I started to follow them but turned back for a second. "Meeting adjourned," I said and everyone left the room to go back to the lounge.

Me and the other 4 guys piled into one of our black vans outside. Jimmy got in the driver's seat and started the engine, "So what exactly are we doing?"

I addressed everyone in the van, "Phoebe said that Nick owes her some money; he called back after she gave me back the phone and I told him to bring the money to the empty lot a couple miles away from town. We're going there to pick up part of his payment."

They all nodded and Jimmy drove down the street, heading toward our destination.