Chapter 14 – Mari
After our impromptu meeting with Kosas—which was as awful as I expected it to be—we went home and hunkered down for the night. I knew that our days of peace were numbered, and it was important to me to enjoy as much time with my men as possible. Not that I was complaining. I loved being with them all the time, but these relaxing moments were the ones I cherished when things got hard. They were the seconds I fought for.
Cash wanted us dead, but I wanted to live—for them and for me.
So when they woke me up the next morning with eager faces and breakfast ready, I was both elated and suspicious. They rarely ever ganged up on me, but when they did, it was usually for my benefit.
Only, when I raised a come back to bed eyebrow, they laughed.
Grey slid over me, pressing barely there kisses along my skin until I was writhing. Then he slapped my thigh and slipped away. “Up, wife.”
What the fuck?
Grumbling—okay, pouting—my way through a shower that no one joined me in, I came out to find clothes on the bed and breakfast made.
It wasn’t until I was stuffed—and not in the good way—clothed, and shoved into the SUV that they finally let me ask, “What are you three up to?”
Dominic grinned from the driver’s seat, the crooked smile that was just for me making my heart race. “We’re taking you out.”
“Out?” Considering what we’d done yesterday, I didn’t think leaving the penthouse was a smart decision. “Is that a good idea?”
“We’ll take care of you,” Nate promised.
Dominic nodded. “It’s time we had a little bit of fun.”
Warmth spread through me at the reminder of just how fun they could be. Greyson, who sat next to me, laughed under his breath.
“Don’t get your hopes up for that,” he whispered. “You’ll be disappointed.”
“It’s your fault I’m so horny,” I hissed, but I relented when he pressed the world’s softest kisses on my knuckles. “Whatever happens, I don’t think I could ever be disappointed with the three of you.”
“I want that in writing for the next time I fuck up,” Nate joked, and even Dominic laughed.
Greyson’s smile brightened his whole face, and he slid his hand onto my thigh, letting it rest there. As we drove, I watched the city I loved.
There were hints of Cash everywhere. Boarded-up windows and people rushing to get inside, but I was stamped all over the city too. My businesses and men patrolling the streets, the faint hints of my family crest in bricks and cement sidewalks. But the biggest indication that Seattle was still mine was the hope. For every person rushing into their home, there were ten more walking casually on the street, trusting that I’d keep them safe.
Knowing I’d die to do so.
No matter where we were going, if all I got out of the day was that desperately needed reminder, I’d be pleased.
It wasn’t until we pulled past the copse of evergreens that I realized where we were, and adrenaline rushed through me.
Grey and I didn’t take vacations, but when the city got too loud, the cabin was where we went. It wasn’t a safe house per se, but it was as close to off the grid as we could allow it to be. We hadn’t been in months, despite how much we could’ve used it.
The cabin was big enough to house all of us, though it was definitely rustic. We hadn’t wanted to do more than basic renovations to it. After all, we’d purchased it under more than a few layers of protection, so no one knew it was ours. Bringing contractors out would’ve ruined that.
I’d thought about what it would be like to have all of us here, to spend a week connecting in whatever way we needed—mostly, naked. It made me nervous that we’d come to our little hidey-hole right now, though.
“Has something happened?”
“No, reina.” Grey squeezed my thigh in reassurance. “Nothing’s going on.”
“Are you sure?”
Dominic slid out of the car, opening my door and leaning into my space to press a kiss to the corner of my mouth. The click echoed through the car as my seat belt slithered back to its resting position, Dominic’s hands firm on my hips. “I promise everything is okay. Just come with us.”
All I needed was Nate’s hand and I’d be—oh, there it was. He snuck it onto my knee like he knew I needed the connection. Looking between all three of them, I sighed. “Fine, but if you’re lying, I’m not fucking any of you again.”
Dominic threw back his head and laughed. “Whatever you say, baby.”
With another squeeze of my hips, he helped me out of the car, letting me slip under his arm so I was plastered to his side. Being close to my men had become my safe place. Touching them, a balm to the anxiety and stress that Cash’s bullshit forced me to carry. A buoy for the weight of the world on my shoulders.
It was like being in their presence made everything better. I never wanted that to change.
Fuck, I’m a sap for these men. Gross.
Dominic towed me to the back of the car, where Greyson and Nate opened the liftgate, pulling out case after case.
Unexpected joy shot through me when I saw what they were. “Wait. Are we shooting?”
Nate’s easy smile told me I was right, and I tried not to squeal with joy. I was a mafia queen.
I did not squeal.
How long had it been since I’d gone to the shooting range, not just to keep my skills up, but because I wanted to? I used to go all the time. It was a good stress-reliever on days when I couldn’t handle my body being hurt any more, but I hadn’t been since—fuck, how long had it really been?
The last time I remembered was when…Rey was alive.
The answer came to me with a sad pang of loss. Too long, then.
I missed him so much in that moment that I couldn’t breathe. Then I thought of what he’d say to the three men who walked with me to the range we’d set up farther into the woods.
He’d love them.
He’d already been a huge fan of Greyson’s, constantly telling me to wife that man up, and I remembered the long looks he’d give Dominic when no one was looking. He was the first to realize we’d been something to each other when we were young.
Then there was Nate. I wasn’t sure how Rey would react to his family, but Nate himself was a shoo-in. My cousin had been a sucker for men devoted to their partners, and it was clear that Nate was mine in every way. All Rey ever wanted for me was happiness. Joy. Love. All things I didn’t think I’d ever get. All things my men gave me in spades.
So yeah, Rey would’ve loved them, and in turn, that made me love them more.
Dominic bumped me with his hip. “I hope you don’t mind, but we figured the four of us could all use the time away.”
He had no idea.
I leaned up to press a kiss to the underside of his jaw. “I couldn’t have asked for a better day.”
“Don’t say that quite yet.” He squeezed my shoulder, pressing a kiss to my temple before shooting a wicked grin at the other two. “I thought we’d make it interesting.”
“We are not having sex with guns,” I said clearly.
Look, I didn’t yuck anyone’s yums. I knew better than most that the underworld was full of people willing to do lots of things, but that was one I couldn’t get behind. Gun safety had been drilled into my head too early in life to think of them as anything more than a weapon. Kudos to those who could, though. They were living on the wild side.
I just wasn’t willing to use a sex toy that could end me before I came.
Nate grunted. “I don’t love the idea of sex around so many weapons either.”
“Agreed,” Dominic said easily. “Though I’d be willing to try anything once.”
He dipped his head again to whisper ideas against my throat, and I couldn’t tell if it was what he said that turned me on or just having him so damn close. I pushed him away with an exaggerated eye roll, though I was smiling when he reeled me back into his grasp.
“I was actually thinking about a little wager with our newest companion.”
“Me?” Nate’s wide eyes looked confused and honored at the same time.
Fucking adorable.
“Yeah, you. I was thinking we’d have a shooting contest. You win, you choose the tattoo I get. I win, I choose the tattoo you get.”
“You want me to give you my tattoo virginity?”
Dominic’s face twisted so hard I bit into his chest to hide my laughter. He yelped and bit back, snagging my neck with a quick nip that stung so good. “Not like that, you asshole. I just think if you’re going to be part of the Mari Marcosa fan club, you should have a bit of ink.”
My heart skipped at how casually he said it, like he wasn’t offering Nate the biggest fucking olive branch after everything. The sheen in Nate’s eyes said he knew exactly what was happening and that it meant so much to him.
“You don’t have to do this,” I told Nate. “I’ll still love you even if you never get a single tattoo.”
He looked down at his arm with a frown. “It’s not that I don’t want one. I’ve just never had anything I wanted to get.”
“Then don’t take the bet,” I said with a shrug. “No one deserves to take any part of you that you’re not willing to give them.”
For a moment, his eyes were so utterly devastated that I wanted to take back what I’d said, until he reeled me in and kissed me. “I love you.”
“Love you too.”
When he smiled again, it was the real deal, and when he looked at Dominic, I saw the gratitude. “I trust you.”
Grey laughed. “With this, I probably wouldn’t.”
“Rude.” Dominic turned back to Nate with an admittedly feral grin. “Best two out of three.”
“Deal.”
Greyson was unanimously voted to be the judge as he could be trusted to stay neutral, whereas I, apparently, would be easily swayed. My obvious offense, and threat to shoot Dominic for even suggesting it, was another point in their favor.
Before the boys started their competition, we decided to just relax and shoot. Our version of a warm-up. It was only fair since who knew how long it had been since Nate had actually shot a gun. Dominic grumbled about giving him another advantage on top of his training, but he agreed when I reminded him that he was the one who’d decided on a competition with a sharpshooter in the first place.
Hard to argue with that logic.
For a while, there was no conversation, just the muted sounds of our shots behind the earplugs I wore. Every shot, I pictured Cash’s face on the target. The man who had taken my brother and cousin from me, who had threatened my home, my livelihood, my safety, and everyone I loved. Who’d ripped the one ally I’d thought was unreachable from my grasp.
I let myself imagine killing him over and over and over, and even though it wasn’t real, it helped. The ball of anger wound tight in my gut unraveled just a touch, and by the time I was out of ammo, I felt lighter than before. It wasn’t much, but even the smallest change made a big difference.
When we were all warmed up, Greyson walked off to set up the targets for the competition, while Dominic badgered him about making them perfectly even. Meanwhile, Nate pulled me between his legs so we could watch them bicker.
“You okay?” he asked, kissing the side of my neck before laying his head on my shoulder. I liked the ease in it, how right it felt for our bodies to be so close. Leaning in, I let myself just be with him.
No pretenses, no life or death, no trouble around us. Just me and my man.
God, it felt good.
“Yes.”
Nate’s hands, which had been loose on my hips, tightened and pulled me back farther until I could feel every part of him.
“How do you feel?” I asked, grinning when his huffed laugh sounded deliciously pained.
“I think you can feel it for yourself. I’m hard as a rock from watching you,” he admitted. “I’ve thought it since the day we met, but you look so good with a weapon in your hand.”
I admit it, I preened. Compliments were not something I had to work for often, but compliments from my men just hit somewhere different. Namely, between my legs.
As subtly as I could, I ground myself into Nate, and he groaned deep in his throat. “What are you doing?”
“Nothing,” I said innocently.
“Am I supposed to believe that?”
Dominic whistled, gathering our attention, and I gave Nate’s cock one more rub before jumping up. “Believe whatever you want, baby. Don’t you have a competition to win?”
I gave him a flutter of my oh-so-innocent eyelashes. When Nate stood, he moved carefully around me like I was about to explode. “Why do I feel like you’re up to something?”
Because you’re not an idiot.
“I would never.” I didn’t even try for innocent, just grinned and watched that suspicion bloom thick in his eyes.
“Right.”
As my men discussed the rules, I sat by the car, plotting. By the time Greyson sat with me, I knew exactly how I was going to enact my plan.
“I want Dominic to win,” I told Grey.
“Then he better shoot well.” When I said nothing, he looked at me with suspicion. “I’m not going to throw the competition because you want me to.”
What the hell?
“I didn’t ask,” I growled, more than a little affronted.
I was a criminal, yes, but even I believed in fairness. I just happened to believe it was better at my hands than someone else’s.
Grey set his hand on my thigh, squeezing when I refused to look at him in favor of watching Nate and Dominic set up their guns. They’d decided on three rounds, three guns, with the targets moving farther away each time. The last shot required a rifle, which felt like a mistake on Dominic’s part, but since they hadn’t asked my opinion, I didn’t offer it. He’d figure it out himself.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” Grey said softly. “I’m sorry.”
I knew he didn’t, but I wasn’t going to let the chance go by.
“Apologize by helping me.”
I didn’t need his help to enact my plan, but I wanted it. Half because it was payback and half because I still felt his lips on my skin from this morning.
“Nate agreed to this, knowing Dominic could win. He offered up his skin, and I want to see if he’ll really go through with it.” Mostly because I knew Dominic. Whatever tattoo he was planning, I’d like.
“What’s your plan?”
“A little reminder of what’s to come. Mainly, me.”
When Grey looked over at me with a wolfish grin, I knew I’d won. “Come here, wife.”
Hell yes. Nate was going down.