Chapter 12 – Mari
Two days later, my presence was requested in a meeting. While I wasn’t sure who’d called it, it was obvious the session was about O’Bannon’s untimely demise. We’d prepared for exactly this situation, but the real surprise was what waited for me when I got there.
They’d added a chair to my table.
A glance at where I normally sat showed Cash cozied up next to the other leaders as if he had every right to be there. In my seat. At my fucking table.
“Patience,” Nate whispered, squeezing my hand where no one could see.
“I hope you’re ready to be an only child,” Dominic said back. They joked behind me, but I didn’t let my expression change.
Cash wasn’t going to ruin my plans.
The atmosphere was tense, no one wanting to be in the powder keg with Cash and me when it blew. Yet, Ajilon smiled as I walked toward the only empty seat. Warily, I sat, waiting for them to turn on me. That’s what this whole meeting was, right?
Kieran nodded respectfully at me, waiting until I took the chair across the table from Cash to begin. “Thank you all for coming. I know it was last minute.”
“What is it, boy? We don’t have time for games.” Kosas grunted from where he leaned back, hands crossed over his belly. Next to him, Haru nodded, though he never took his eyes off Cash.
“No games,” Kieran promised, looking around the table. “I’m here to tell you that my father is dead.”
I took a sick amount of pleasure in the shock that crossed Cash’s face. He hadn’t been expecting that, and neither had I. I’d thought Kieran would call the other leaders the moment we left to tell them the bad news. Getting to watch it play out in front of me was better than I’d dreamed.
“What do you mean?” Cash’s suspicious eyes were trained on me, and I gave him a sweet grin.
“For someone so well acquainted with death, I’m shocked you don’t already know. He means Sean’s gone. Sleeping the eternal sleep. Hanging with the fishes. Never to return.”
Cash looked like he was about to have a coronary, and the petty part of me was entertained by that too.
“How did he die?” Ajilon finally asked.
Kieran glanced at me, and I nodded, a smug smirk trying to break free. “He was murdered at home.”
Another glance at me, and it was obvious what Kieran wasn’t saying. She did it.
Ajilon sat back in his seat, looking shocked. “I see.”
The tension in the room grew thick and heavy, but I was too busy watching Cash lose his fucking mind to care.
“I didn’t realize his neck would get so purple,” I whispered to Nate, who smothered a laugh.
“He gets it from Ace,” he whispered back, and I snorted.
“What reason did you have for killing him?”
“He was working with my enemy.”
“We are all working with your enemy,” Kosas said stiffly.
“I know.” I smiled, loving the flinch he tried to hide. I decided then and there that my favorite part of running my own crime outfit was watching grown men shit themselves in front of me.
Cash had finally shaken off the surprise and smiled with that affable ease he’d perfected. “I wasn’t aware that your current leader was so unstable.”
That drew a laugh out of me. “Any instability you find is instability you’ve caused. Besides, I’m not the one who slaughtered half a hospital on camera.” Like clockwork, Cash’s eyes darted to Nate’s, and the hate in them chilled me to the bone.
If Cash got ahold of him, Nate was dead.
“The others have already dealt with me for that.”
“Yes, a truce to let you run amok in my city absolutely weighs the same as the loss of life you inflicted.”
As usual, Cash didn’t defend his actions with anything more than a shrug. “If you cared that much, you wouldn’t have sent your decoys to trick me.”
“The fact that I had to trick you at all is the issue here.”
“Family is everything,” Kosas interrupted. “While we don’t condone the way Cash handled it, we do understand. Losing a brother…it had to be repaid.”
“Maybe if I’d killed him, sure. But Nate chose to leave. He chose me. That doesn’t require retribution.”
Kosas waved his hand, brushing my thought away like a gnat he wanted dead. I should’ve known better than to argue with him in front of Cash. He and the others were too scared to act against Cash now that they had a truce going.
Cash grinned at the blatant irritation on my face, leaning back like he’d stolen the advantage I had in killing O’Bannon. “Are you going to allow her to run free, knowing that any minute she could turn on you next? We could put a bounty on her head. Hunt her down for sport.”
When he turned to convince the others, I saw the sickness in him. The way his eyes glimmered at the thought of my death, and I wasn’t the only one. My men were tense around me, but I wasn’t. The not-so-subtle suggestion to annihilate me was expected, though I hadn’t planned on it coming from Cash. We knew there would be consequences for O’Bannon. The others were as old-school as my uncles and wouldn’t appreciate me going off book.
Ajilon shifted, obviously uncomfortable, as did Haru. Two-Bit, who’d been silent the whole time, just watched the interaction go down. Good to know he’s willing to stick his neck out for me.
“I’m not of a mind to approve a manhunt just yet. Not until she gives us the reason she slaughtered one of our own in his bed.”
“Technically, it was in his bedroom, and I’ll tell you everything you need to know, but not with him in the room.” I leveled one red-tipped nail at Cash, who glowered at me.
“Agreed.” Ajilon practically jumped on the chance to understand, and I felt bad for worrying him. He’d been the closest thing to a real ally for ages, but he was a pacifist when possible. This situation was no longer one we could sit back and avoid confrontation on. We had to work together to take Cash down before he turned on them too.
“Remember our deal.” Cash’s glare burned my cheek as he stood, straightened his clothes, and walked out. The door slammed closed behind him, and everyone seemed to take a breath as he took that volatile energy with him.
Kosas leveled me with a glare that reminded me of parents and misbehaving children. “Explain.”
“I suggest you check yourself, Sideris. I’m not yours to command.”
“You can’t even command yourself, it seems.”
Instead of baring my teeth like I wanted, I sat back with a demure smile. “You have a rat.”
He scoffed, rolling his eyes and looking at the others as if to say can you believe her?
The thump of files dropping to the table ended that soon enough.
Each leader got a massive stack of pages in front of them, the covers firmly closed to the others. Ajilon, Kosas, and Two-Bit ignored them, while Haru and Kieran brought theirs close and flipped through them. Kieran’s agitated curses grew louder with every page, and the normally flappable Haru looked annoyed.
“Where did you get these?” he finally asked, pushing the file away with disgust.
“Our little Irish friend gave me a lesson before he died.” It was a lie. The information came from Nate, but I wasn’t going to let him become a target for the leaders and his brother.
“And you killed him for it?”
“I killed him because he was working with Cash long before your little truce. I killed him because he nearly killed his own daughter—twice. O’Bannon was a spineless fuck who didn’t care who he allied with as long as he thought he’d survive in the end. He was a fucking cockroach, and I exterminated him like one.”
Kieran shifted in his chair, clearing his throat. “I agree with Mari. My father wasn’t an honorable man, and while I wish he’d gone differently, I’m not sorry he’s dead.”
“That doesn’t change the facts,” Kosas said, shoving the file away. “You killed another member of this order. There has to be some punishment.”
“Correction, I killed a member of your order. This little tribunal of ours is a formality. I am the defining power in the city. I am the leader, regardless of what that psychotic asshole thinks. These meetings of ours are a courtesy, one I’ve let go too long if this is how you respect me. Making treaties behind my back.” I spat on the floor, the ultimate disrespect.
Kosas’s face reddened, but Ajilon was the one who stood, facing off with a weariness I knew all too well. “We did make a treaty, and regardless of your reasoning, it stands. Go after Cash, and you do it alone. We won’t offer any aid.”
I knew they wouldn’t, but it still pissed me off. Kosas decided to push the issue. “You let this go on too long, and look what happened. You should have removed the upstart the second you heard about him.”
“Says the man who gave him a seat at the table,” I growled.
He shrugged like it wasn’t the ultimate betrayal. “We did what was necessary to survive.”
“And I didn’t?”
“Does it really matter?” Haru asked. “Our answer won’t change, no matter how much you defend yourself to us.”
“That’s just it. I don’t have to defend shit. I’m going to take back my city with or without you, and the second I do, I’ll come for you too.”
“That’s exactly the kind of talk that gets you killed,” Ajilon warned softly.
“Bring it on. If I’m fighting a war, I might as well deal with all my enemies at once.”
Kosas scoffed again. “Your youth is showing, Mari. Don’t pick a battle you can’t win.”
“I’m not. I’m picking a war I intend to dominate. Hope you’re ready for the outcome.” I stood, nodding to the folders on the table with a smug smile. “Enjoy your rodents.”
I was still seething hours later. The second we got back to the Celestine, I headed straight for the private gym, and the guys settled at the wall, watching me work out my frustrations.
The rhythmic thump of the punching bag didn’t help. Neither did lifting weights or running.
After who knew how long, Dominic finally dragged me into the ring with a curt, “You need to hit something.”
He was right.
I rushed him, diving for his legs and twisting in time to catch him behind the knee. I pulled the punch, not wanting to hurt him, but he still went down. Before I could jump on top of him, he was up again, launching his own attack that I barely escaped. We parried back and forth, throwing punches and dodging grabs until my chest was on fire and every breath hurt. My cheek throbbed from a right hook he’d managed to land, and his lips and eyebrow were sliced and bleeding.
We looked like we’d gone through the wringer already, yet neither of us bowed out.
“Feeling better, mariposa?”
“Why? You ready to quit, old man?”
Dominic’s eyes glinted with mischief. He dove for my legs. I jumped, but he caught my ankle in midair and, with a single jerk, dropped me to my stomach. Air whooshed out of my lungs, and I struggled to suck it back in while my body screamed, We’re suffocating!
“Bitch move,” I wheezed, rolling away when he tried to trap me. I didn’t mind Dominic on top, but I wasn’t in the mood to be held down this time.
He grinned at me like he hadn’t just knocked the wind out of me. “We use what we’ve got.”
“Kick his ass, Mari!” Nate yelled.
“He could use a dose of reality,” Grey agreed, sharing his focus between his tablet and us. “His overinflated ego is getting too big to share a bed with.”
“Go sleep in your own room, then,” Dominic challenged, twisting to glare at Greyson.
My husband grinned as I wrapped an arm around Dominic, forcing him off-balance so I could roll us. “Haven’t you learned not to take your eyes off her for a second?”
Dominic panted under me, his playful glare turning molten as I took control of his arms. “How dare I forget.”
With Dominic underneath me, his wrists in my hand, I felt powerful again. A different kind of power, sure, but one all the same. Warmth wrapped around me, and I couldn’t help the slow grind of my hips on his.
“Don’t start something you can’t finish,” he warned, and I licked my lips.
“Who said I can’t finish it?”
“Sadly, I do.” Nate slipped into the ring and hauled me off Dominic, wiggling his phone. “We’ve got a name.”
Surprise and anticipation tingled up my spine. “Already?”
“Apparently, this guy’s as big as your family.” He tapped a few buttons, sharing the info with Greyson’s tablet before shoving his phone back into his pocket. It wasn’t much from what I could see, but it would be enough. It had to be.
Greyson ran over the info, reading it out for the rest of us. “Name’s Victor Paez. He runs a cartel out of Colombia, close to the Venezuelan border. Been in a turf war with the Osorios for the last decade.”
“Why?”
“Why else? Money. Power. Prestige. Take your pick.” Nate shrugged, turning to Greyson. “There’s a number here, but can you obtain the rest of his info?”
“If not, I know who can.” Moore and Tennessee were the best people to dig up information people didn’t want found, so I had no doubt he’d pass the job to them if necessary, but we all wanted to give them some space. Besides, ferreting out my cousin’s helpers was more important than deep-diving into a cartel leader.
For a moment, I considered asking Rafael for his assistance, but I hadn’t heard from my uncle in a while, and I was still pissed off at him for refusing to help. Was it fair? Probably not, but I felt what I felt.
“What do you want to do, Mari?”
I walked over to Nate, slipping my hand into his pocket to grab the burner phone from it. “I’m going to send him a message.”
He hauled me into his body, pressing himself against my back when I twisted to face the others. “Will he answer?”
“No.” Not now, anyway. We needed more incentive to coax his attention to Seattle, but we’d find it. For now, I just needed him curious. In seconds, I had the number typed in and the message delivered.
I heard we have a mutual friend. I’d love to talk green when you have a chance. –Queenie
Short, sweet, and to the point. Hopefully, it would get me what I wanted.
“Will he know it’s you?” Nate asked, reading it over my shoulder.
“She’s the only queen on this side of the world. He’ll know,” Greyson answered, snatching the phone for a once-over. He nodded once and tossed it back to Nate.
The moment Nate’s hands left my body, Dominic hauled me over his shoulder, smacked my ass, and rushed toward the door. “Since that’s done, we’re taking a shower. Don’t wait up.”
“Is there room for three? I could use a cooldown, myself!” Nate called. Grey just jogged ahead and opened the door for all of us, and the stark reminder of what I was fighting for was exactly what I needed.
My family. My men. My future.