Chapter 27 – Greyson
Mari hadn’t stopped moving since Ash got in the car with Paez. He’d given her a day to sort out her affairs before coming back to the house with his entire security team in tow.
We’d all tensed until he explained that he wanted to get Aislynn out of the city before Cash realized he could come for her again. Paez wasn’t going to let her be a target anymore.
I watched the words land hard for Mari, but she didn’t disagree. Instead, she hugged Ash while the rest of us piled her bags into one of the armored SUVs Victor brought.
After giving our own goodbyes, we surrounded Mari, watching somewhat helplessly as Ash was escorted to the car by Victor’s second. She was about to slip inside when he leaned close to whisper something that made Ash’s whole face turn red and not in embarrassment.
She’d snapped back at him so fiercely, Victor himself had separated the two with a stern glare at Maximoff. Apparently, whatever he’d done didn’t sit well with the boss.
The taller man huffed but backed off, circling the car to slide into the driver’s seat while Victor smoothed Ash’s ruffled feathers. While I didn’t like my friend unhappy, I was thrilled to see her fighting back. It was the most fire we’d seen in her in a while.
Unfortunately, it only set off Mari’s protective instincts, and she’d been pacing ever since they turned out of the drive.
“You’re going to wear a groove in the hardwood,” Dominic said before chomping down on an apple.
Mari whirled on him, glaring as if she could wish him to the nine circles of hell. “Is that your way of telling me to calm down? Because my best friend just willingly walked into a cartel’s arms as a hostage. I think I have the right to be upset.”
“Which she chose to do.” When she growled, Nate crossed his arms. “None of us said you couldn’t be upset. We’re just not going to let you hurt yourself in the process.”
“How is walking in the kitchen hurting myself?”
“You haven’t slept since Ash made the deal. Haven’t eaten much either.” It was all booze and caffeine. She was going to pass out soon. I stepped closer, rubbing my hands down her arms. “I’m aware you know this, but we’re in the middle of a war, reina. Ash is safer with Victor Paez than she is with us right now, just like Shara is safer with Christian and Adrien. I know you don’t want to believe it, but it’s the truth.”
She sagged, her mind finally accepting that she couldn’t fight this. “What about Victor’s second? Every other text from Ash is about how they’re arguing already.”
Nate rolled his eyes. “Maximoff’s a dick, but we have to trust Victor to keep him in check. If he can’t, no one’s going to do business with him again. Besides, I gave her a few burner phones so she can call if she needs help.”
He wasn’t wrong. If Victor let something happen to Aislynn, especially by his own men, he’d lose a lot of the power he’d amassed. Hard to trust someone was a strong ally when they couldn’t keep their own men in line. It was why we’d kept Cameron’s involvement with Cash a secret.
“What about when he’s not looking?” Mari asked, and I knew she was calming down, albeit against her will.
I ghosted a kiss over her temple. “We have to trust Ash to keep herself safe. She made the deal. She bears the consequences.”
Nate pressed against Mari’s back, nuzzling her neck. “You can’t take the whole world on your shoulders, angel. It’s not good for you.”
I hummed my agreement, which was apparently not a good idea. She twisted out from between us with a glare, pointing at all three of us. “Don’t gang up on me right now. You’re supposed to be on my side.”
“We are on your side. We’re just trying to take care of you.” Dominic snatched her by the waist and hauled her into his lap, holding her there even when she clawed at him. “Tell us what’s really going on?”
He was so soft with her that it was no surprise when she melted. She popped her lip between her teeth, chewing it anxiously. “What if they snap and kill her? Not Victor, but the rest of them.”
“They’re not going to risk your wrath, and they certainly won’t risk the Osorios’ wrath. Just because he doesn’t like you doesn’t mean that the Wolf wouldn’t go to war for a perceived threat against you. Ash is as safe as she can be with them.”
Mari’s shoulders lost a bit of tension as she realized that was true, but she was still gnawing her lip. “They don’t even know her. What if she needs something or gets sick? Are they going to take her to the doctor?”
I pulled out her bottom lip, swiping it with my thumb. “Victor promised safety, a roof over her head, and money to spend. We have to assume that also includes health care, but I’ll check if you’d like.”
“Please.” She gave me big doe eyes, and I grinned. Didn’t she know I’d do anything for her?
I shot a text to Victor, knowing Mari needed to have it in writing or she’d never relax.
Mari wants to know if Ash will be provided adequate health care while she’s in your custody.
He texted back immediately.
We have an on-site doctor who is a general practitioner and a gynecologist. We’re also close enough to the other islands that a day trip for a different doctor isn’t a problem.
After repeating the messages to Mari, I raised the phone. “Anything else you want to know?”
She gnawed on her lip again, sagging a little deeper into Dominic’s arms so he was holding instead of restraining. “I just want her to be comfortable.”
Reaching over, I brushed the hair out of her face, cupping her cheek. “I’ll make sure it happens.”
Since I’m sure Ash is going to try to be as unobtrusive as possible, here are some things you should know. She loves breakfast foods but won’t eat them in the morning. Her favorite candies are those butter mints you get at restaurants sometimes. She hates olives but will eat tomatoes like apples if they’re ripe enough. She always sleeps with the window open but likes three blankets on top of her, no matter what the temperature outside is. If allowed, she’ll fall asleep at her sewing desk—which I highly recommend you build for her so she’s occupied while she’s there. An entire room would be better, but I’m not sure what your space situation looks like.
With the text sent, I checked my email, letting Dominic and Nate soothe Mari on their own. I’d check in with her later, but I knew they were on edge about her right now.
As I went to put my phone down, it vibrated with a call. Waving the device at Dominic so he knew where I was going, I stepped through the French doors at the rear of the kitchen and onto the back porch.
Rain poured across the yard with a sudden storm, and I slipped into the corner where everything was quieter. I could’ve taken the call inside, but I didn’t want Mari to be concerned when we’d finally gotten her to breathe. “Paez.”
“I just got your list.”
He sounded…abrasive. I didn’t know Victor well enough to know what kind of mood he was in, so I kept my tone neutral. “Mari suggested I send you some things to make sure Aislynn is comfortable during her stay.”
“So, this came from her?”
“The list itself or the specifics?”
“The specifics.”
“No, those came from me.”
“How do you know so much about Aislynn?” he asked tightly. I probably would have assumed it was a casual question if Mari hadn’t told me all about how he’d looked at Ash during their little chat. Suddenly, the abrasiveness made sense. The whole conversation screamed jealousy. My phone beeped with a notification, and I debated checking it, but I figured a text from one of our men could wait. Mari needed this reassurance. Another followed right after, but I left that too.
“Greyson.” Victor’s voice pulled me back to the conversation.
“We grew up with Aislynn,” I finally said, curbing the shit-eating grin that tried to cross my lips.
“Is that so?” Again, he tried to sound relaxed when he was anything but, and I couldn’t help myself.
“It is. There was talk of an arranged marriage at one point, but Aislynn married Cameron instead.”
By now, I was taunting him, but it was too fun not to. It gave me an immense sort of pride to hear the way he ground his teeth as he asked, “Did that bother you?”
I could kind of understand why Dominic liked fucking with people so much.
“No,” I said sincerely. I could practically feel his frustration through the phone, so I decided to let him off the hook. We didn’t need him taking his frustrations out on Ash. “I’m married to Mari, and even if I weren’t, my soul’s always been hers. Aislynn was never even an option in my mind.”
“I see.” Victor blew out a breath. “Thank you for the list. I promise to make her as comfortable and safe as possible while she’s in my care.”
“Please do. Mari is protective of her friends, and I would hate to see what happens if anything goes wrong.”
His grunt made it clear he understood the implied threat.
The thought of letting it go was swiftly beaten out by my need to meddle. Fuck, Dominic really was rubbing off on me. Gross. “Whatever happens between you and Ash stays between the two of you, but when I tell you that woman deserves to be treated like a queen, I mean it. Listen to her always, and fight for her every chance you get.”
“I already said I’d treat her with the utmost care. Why are you telling me this?”
For so many reasons, none of which were my place to tell him. As a man loving a powerful, independent woman in a world that didn’t like them, I needed him to know that Aislynn wouldn’t be easy.
She was a mafia princess—and a damaged one at that. If he wasn’t ready for that, he’d better not start anything with her. She deserved better.
“I have no doubt, but what will you do when your desire to care for her contradicts what she says she wants for herself? Will you be there for her even when she says she doesn’t want you? Because she will. A man’s pride can only take so many hits before it falters. How long will yours hold out?”
Paez said nothing, though I wasn’t expecting him to. As long as he heard me, really heard me, that was what mattered. “Let us know when you need us.”
The beep of a dropped call came before I could respond. Slipping the phone into my pocket, I decided to take some time on the porch. The smell of rain and fresh beginnings seeped deep into my body, reinvigorating me. It’d been a long few days and an even longer few months. War was on the horizon, and I needed every bit of strength and fortitude I had to ride it out with Mari.
One day soon, Cash was going to die, and our family would finally be safe. I knew it.
We just had to hang in a little longer.
With one final breath of storm air, I slipped back into the kitchen, expecting Mari and finding…no one. Two shirts were on the floor, and I assumed Dominic had taken her upstairs to get her mind off things. My cock stirred as I contemplated joining them, only to die a painful death the second I heard Mari scream.
I snatched my gun from the holster on my waistband and ran for the stairs, grateful that I was still in bare feet so I didn’t slip on the slick floor.
“Security room.” Dominic’s voice stopped me, and in seconds, I’d redirected.
Finding Mari unharmed curbed the initial impulse to start shooting. I took one step inside the door and stopped. It was like I was unable to move farther as I watched the chaos unfold.
One of the walls had a twenty-four-hour feed to the compound just outside of Seattle, where we’d sent the Marcosa families. It was essentially a few neighborhoods locked inside a guarded gate line. The whole area was well-maintained and touted as one of the most exclusive neighborhoods in the suburbs, but no outsiders could get in, regardless of how desperate they were.
Normally, it was just a single screen on the wall, something I checked twice a day to make sure everything was going well. I had daily chats with the men stationed there, and true to their word, they’d fortified the security and added more watch shifts so every square inch was covered. Nothing strange had ever happened on the feed.
Not until now.
“Enlarge the picture and end it here,” I rasped, pointing to the largest single screen I had. Since he was behind the desk, Nate’s fingers flew to do what I asked. Finally, the picture pulled up where I wanted it, and we watched the loop of all the cameras on the property.
Mari stood behind him, one hand clutching her throat and the other shaking over her mouth. Her eyes were wide and darting everywhere.
“What’s happening?” I asked, but I knew.
There was no way to look at the footage and not understand what was taking place.
The first camera in the loop was the front gate, which was nothing more than a pile of rubble with arms and legs askew underneath. Mari made a noise in the back of her throat, and I crept closer even though I didn’t want to.
The next camera was the road leading into the compound. Usually it was empty, with a few cars passing here and there as they went to nearby towns for supplies. Now, there was an entire convoy lined up, every door wide open, leaving no doubt they were empty.
The third, fourth, and fifth cameras showed the main streets of the compound, the barracks, and the medical center. All of which were smoldering husks.
Cash had taken out the strongest members of the compound first—the soldiers—so there was no one left to defend the others.
He was going to slaughter our most defenseless people while we watched.
“The kids,” Mari croaked. “We have to go get the kids.”
“There are escape tunnels,” Dominic promised. “Ones they can automatically detonate once they get to the other side. It’ll be impossible for Cash to follow.”
If they made it to the tunnels at all.
I rushed to one of the other computers and raced through my systems to find what I needed. “Looks like the hatches opened twenty minutes ago.” Typing some more, I heaved out a breath. “That gave them ten minutes before the Aces hit.”
It wasn’t a lot of time, but our men promised they practiced their drills daily. In all likelihood, as long as they were close to a tunnel, most of our people would survive. It was the ones who weren’t that were the problem.
We watched as a team kicked in the door of a house and stormed inside in an uncoordinated jumble. I could practically hear the yelling, cheering, and taunts through the screens, even though there was no audio. I’d never been more grateful for that oversight. The last thing Mari needed was to hear these people scream in her dreams every night.
Even now, she was pacing again, pulling at her hair.
“We have to go. We have to save them.” Her eyes were wild as she looked at us, and I could see her pulse thundering in her neck.
The compound was an hour away by car on a good day. With the weather, it would be double, even if we drove like maniacs. We could’ve gone by helicopter, but flying in the storm would put us in more danger.
“Mari—”
“I know.” She swallowed. “I know.”
There was nothing we could do.
“Well, I don’t. We can’t just sit here.” Nate growled.
“I already called in every reinforcement I had close by, but they won’t make it in time,” Mari said softly, her voice catching in the end. She was trying so hard to keep herself level, but this was too much for any of us. “If we can’t be there to help or join them, the least we can do is bear witness.”
Nate looked so fucking lost that I wasn’t surprised when Mari slipped a hand over his shoulder. He grabbed it immediately, clinging to it like a life raft.
Finally, I stepped all the way into the room. Dominic’s body was so tense, his knuckles were white, and I could see the imprint of his teeth on the outside of his cheek. Nate seemed like he was barely breathing. Mari looked like she was torn between having a breakdown and breaking the world.
“Whatever we do, we do together.” I pressed myself to Mari’s back, wrapping my arms around her shoulders and keeping her close. Dominic gripped one of her hands, while Nate trapped the other over his heart.
Together, we watched as the Aces burned our safety to the ground and prayed for the survivors we hoped we’d find.