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Ace’s gaze flicked away for a second before returning. “Don’t know. I’ve been in here for over a decade.”
“He’s lying,” I told Dominic.
“Yeah, he is.”
Mari pursed her lips before digging the blade in. She kept her shit sharp, so even that small of an adjustment caused enough pain for Ace to curse. “Okay, fine. I know about them, but I swear it’s not much.”
“Start with the basics. How did Cash get in touch with them?”
“Fate. Cash had been looking for a way into drugs, when the old leader’s son got into some trouble and ended up in gen pop. I helped him out, knowing it would earn us some goodwill. At least enough to set up a meeting.”
“Why them?”
“Because the Osorios wouldn’t touch Seattle. Said it was a family thing but wouldn’t explain. We tried everyone else, but they refused too. Said my boy was too small-time to take a risk pissing off Marcosa. It didn’t stop Cash, though. Only made him more determined.”
As Mari continued questioning my father, I thought about how different he was with Cash. My brother was his pride and joy, while I was a disappointment and always had been.
Why? Because I chose someone outside the two of them to trust? Because I didn’t follow the same rules they did? I was still a murderer, still a man who would kill for my family. They just weren’t in it.
After so many years of wondering if something was wrong with me, I finally understood.
They were two broken, damaged people who found their mirrors in each other. They’d never like me because I was never meant to be like them. I was always meant to be something more, someone better, and that was the real reason they hated me.
For once, it felt really fucking good to be on the outside.
After an hour, Mari sat back, her knife still delicately poised above Ace’s dick, though his pants were cut here and there. He’d decided to fight back on some things, but Mari had eventually gotten what she wanted.
“Is there anything else we need?” she asked.
“No,” Dominic said from behind us. “We’ve got it all.”
“Good. Thank you for your time, Ace.” She carefully moved off him, the knife still in hand. When she was on her feet, she gave him her back, trusting us to watch it while she slammed a hand on the door.
In seconds, the guards piled in. “Ma’am?”
“Put him in the hole.”
“What? No! I helped you!” Ace screamed. Mari turned with the deadliest smile I’d ever seen. I wasn’t sure what it said about me that it turned me on.
“You started this mess. You let Cash blackmail his brother until there was nothing to do but become who you wanted. It’s disgusting that your own son felt so unsafe that he had to resort to killing people just to be free. You and Cash are a plague in my city, one I intend to eradicate. While he’s a little harder to eliminate, you aren’t.”
She stepped closer, smirking at him. “Take a good look around, Ace. From here on out, there’s no light. No sun. No interaction besides a tray getting shoved through a slot. I’m going to keep you so isolated you lose your fucking mind.”
Ace bared his teeth, fighting the guards as they clicked the shackles back on again. “Your cousin’s going to kill you.”
“He’ll have to get in line.”
We left the room to the soundtrack of his belligerent ranting. Warden Michaels waited in the hall, but we strode right past and didn’t stop until we got to the car. After Dominic’s quick check to make sure no one had booby-trapped it, we all climbed in.
The second the doors closed, I reached for Mari in the front seat.
“I’m so sor?—”
“Don’t. Just don’t. We’ll talk about this later.”
She still looked as unfazed as she had in the room with Ace, but her voice was broken glass and desperate pleas. I couldn’t help but obey.
Guilt forced me back to my seat and away from the woman I loved. “Okay, angel. Later.”
