Chapter 172 Earned

Chapter 172 Earned
Word traveled fast once Lyra said yes, she hadn't even told anyone outside Cade and Dante yet, but by the time she walked into the clubhouse two days later, the way certain members glanced at her told her everything had already spread.

Rosa caught her at the bar, voice low. "Castillo's been asking questions all morning."

"What kind of questions?"

"The kind that aren't really questions, more like complaints wearing a question's clothes." Rosa wiped down a glass she'd already cleaned twice. "Just be ready. He's not subtle when he's unhappy."

Lyra didn't have to wait long because Castillo found her near the back office before noon, arms crossed, his expression carefully neutral in a way that told her he'd rehearsed this. "Heard congratulations are in order," he said.

"Word travels fast."

"It does when it's news worth talking about." He studied her for a moment. "Director of Operations. That's a real title, real authority."

"That's what Dante offered, yes."

"How long have you been part of this club, exactly?"

Lyra held his gaze steadily. "Since I came to find Cade. A little under a year, if you're counting."

"A little under a year," Castillo repeated, something bitter creeping into his tone despite his attempt at neutrality.

"I've been here nineteen. Started as muscle, worked my way into logistics, spent a decade proving I could be trusted with anything Dante's father needed handled quiet."

"I'm not taking anything from you," Lyra said carefully.

"Aren't you?" Castillo's jaw tightened. "There's men in this club who've given years, real years, waiting for exactly the kind of trust Dante just handed you in months. You think that doesn't sting?"

Lyra was quiet for a moment, choosing her words with care. "I understand it stings. I don't think that means it's wrong."

"Easy to say when you're the one benefiting."

"Is it," Lyra said, something firm entering her own voice now. "You think I haven't thought about exactly what you're saying? I know what it looks like from outside. Me showing up out of nowhere, suddenly running the books, suddenly running more than the books."

Castillo said nothing, letting her continue.

"I didn't come to Dante asking for this," Lyra said. "He came to me. Because of work I actually did. The ledgers that caught Sofia's pattern before anyone else saw it, the warehouse I walked into when nobody else could without being recognized." She held his gaze.

"I'm not saying that erases nineteen years of what you've given this club. I'm saying it's not nothing either."

"Sofia gave this club years," Castillo said quietly, and the room seemed to still around the name.

"Cooked for us. Patched us up. Sat with grieving mothers, and when she finally cracked under the weight of feeling invisible, everyone acted shocked, like it came from nowhere."

Lyra felt something cold settle in her stomach at the comparison. "You think I'm going to end up like her."

"I think this club has a pattern of taking people for granted until they break, or elevating people who haven't earned it yet while ignoring the ones who have," Castillo said.

"I don't know which category you'll fall into. I just know I've watched this exact dynamic play out before, and it didn't end well the last time."

The words landed harder than Lyra expected, sitting uncomfortably close to something she'd already been turning over privately since Sofia's confession weeks earlier.

"That's fair," she admitted slowly. "I've thought about that too, about what it means that I got trusted with real work almost immediately, while someone who gave years felt invisible the entire time."

Castillo's expression shifted slightly, surprise flickering through the practiced neutrality.

"I don't have a clean answer for that," Lyra continued. "I don't think there is one. But I can tell you I'm not interested in repeating whatever pattern let Sofia get to where she got to. If you've got nineteen years of insight into how this club actually works, I want that, not as competition. As help."

Castillo studied her for a long moment, something in his posture easing slightly, though not fully. "You're asking for my help."

"I'm asking," Lyra said plainly. "If Dante's serious about building something legitimate out of this club, that's not going to work if the people who've earned trust the hard way feel pushed aside by someone who came in through a relationship instead of years of proving herself." She paused.

"I don't want to be the reason this club develops another Sofia. I'd rather learn from someone who actually understands what that invisibility feels like before it happens again."

Castillo was quiet for a long moment, clearly not having expected the conversation to turn this direction. "That's not what I expected you to say."

"What did you expect?"

"Defensiveness, maybe. Or an apology that didn't mean anything." He shook his head slightly. "Not someone asking me to actually help."

"I meant it," Lyra said.

Castillo studied her a while longer, some of the tension in his shoulders finally loosening. "I've got opinions," he said eventually. "About how this legitimization thing should actually work. Nobody's asked me for them yet."

"I'm asking now."

"You sure about that? I'm not always diplomatic."

"I've survived worse than undiplomatic this month," Lyra said, and something almost like a smile pulled at the corner of Castillo's mouth despite himself.

"Fine," he said. "Come find me tomorrow. I'll walk you through what I know about the supply contracts nobody younger than me remembers exist. Might save you some headaches building this from scratch."

"Thank you, Castillo."

"Don't thank me yet," he said, already turning to go. "You might hate half of what I have to say."

"I'll take that risk."

He paused at the door, glancing back at her. "For what it's worth," he said, gruffer now, like the admission cost him something, "Sofia deserved better than what she got, even after everything she did. I hope you actually mean what you said about not repeating that."

"I mean it," Lyra said.

Castillo nodded once and left, and Lyra stood there a moment longer, the weight of the conversation settling into something heavier than she'd expected walking in.

Cade found her not long after, having clearly heard secondhand that something had happened. "You okay?"

"I think so." Lyra rubbed her temple slightly. "Castillo had a lot to say."

"I heard he wasn't happy about the announcement."

"He wasn't," Lyra confirmed. "But I think we actually got somewhere by the end of it."

Cade studied her carefully. "What did he say?"

"That he's been here nineteen years and it stings watching someone new get trust that fast." She looked at Cade. "And that Sofia deserved better than what happened to her, even after everything."

Cade was quiet for a moment, absorbing that. "Do you think he's right?"

"I think he's right that it's complicated," Lyra said honestly. "I don't think that means I shouldn't take this position. I think it means I need to be careful never to become someone who forgets what invisibility costs people."

Cade reached for her hand, something proud and thoughtful in his expression. "I think you're already doing that, better than most people would."

"I hope so," Lyra said quietly. "For Castillo's sake and for Sofia's, honestly, even now."