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All four of us stiffened.
Holy shit. I knew having eyes on us would be bad for everyone, but the government locking us in with Cash on a rampage would mean astronomical levels of destruction. You didn’t cage a sick, feral bear; you put it down before it killed everyone it saw.
“Jesus,” Grey muttered.
“Giving Cash a captive audience will only make things worse,” Nate said harshly.
“I know that and you know that, but it’s all about optics to them. With the way things look now, they don’t care how we fix it, only that it gets done.”
“Well, make them care!” Mari snapped.
Two-Bit threw his arms out. “I can’t do any more than I’ve already done, Mari. The truth is, Cash is outside of all of our wheelhouses without bringing a literal army into the city. He is unhinged to the point of insanity, and this type of chaos grows roots and spreads. As long as this continues, the rest of the world will see it as a weakness. A way to get at us. Your little upstart is becoming a national security problem. This needs to end, and it needs to end now.”
Mari stood, toe-to-toe with her cousin, growling, “And how do you expect me to do that? You and the others are cowards. You gave him the truce. You gave him a leg up in this city. You did this. Why is it that I’m supposed to take care of your problem now that it’s gotten out of your hands?”
“Because he came here for you. Because you should’ve stopped it sooner. Take your pick, Mari, but either way, you need to act. This is what being queen is. Sometimes your job is to clean up the messes that other people make. It may be fucked, but that’s the role you chose to take on when you took over for your brother. So, own it. Live it, breathe it, and kill for it before Cash destroys us all.”
“And will you be helping her, or is she risking her neck for your fucking gratitude?” Nate stood at her shoulder with barely contained fury. Griz straightened from his slouch, eyes alert even if he didn’t move closer.
“I’m here, aren’t I?” Two-Bit said. The two men stared at each other until, finally, he turned to Mari. “What’s your plan?”
“Just because you’re here doesn’t mean the others will back us. Going after Cash right now is suicide.”
“They’re cowards who care more about the bottom line than the lives we’re losing. Until it affects them, they won’t raise a finger,” Griz muttered. There was obviously no love lost between him and the other leaders. Bet he struggled to hold his tongue in those meetings too.
Mari tapped her fingers against her thigh, brows furrowed as she tried to find a solution to this fucked-up problem. When she finally settled, it wasn’t happily.
“Then we force their hand.”
Four hours later, Nate and I watched from a nearby rooftop as Mari knocked on the door with Greyson at her side. We’d been up there for so long, the cold had officially seeped into my bones, but I didn’t waver. Not when my girl was in danger. Looking at Nate, I knew he felt the same.
“Why the fuck is he taking so long to answer?” Nate hissed.
We were both flat on our stomachs as we watched—Nate through his rifle scope and me through the long-range camera lens. He was the only real protection Mari had. We’d left Tennessee and Moore at the Celestine, still working with Killer to uncover how far Cameron’s deceit went. The kid was doing better than even I’d expected. He’d given the security team three leads already, men who were more loyal to Cameron than Mari. Considering how fast he’d obtained them, I was even more grateful we’d gotten him out. He was a good man and an incredible asset so far.
“He’s making her sweat.” I tried staying calm, but I didn’t like this plan. There were too many variables we couldn’t control, and all of us were too exposed.
“What an asshole,” he muttered, settling closer to the ground.
Finally, the door opened. It wasn’t the housekeeper like we expected but the big man himself. Kosas glared down at Mari, arms crossed and eyes everywhere. Mari and Grey were armed, but if he notified Cash before we got them out, it was going to be a bloodbath.
Nate made a minor adjustment to the gun, humming in satisfaction when he got a clear shot. Meanwhile, I took as many photos as I could. We’d need them.
We didn’t have any earpieces this time, so we couldn’t hear what was being said, but I could see the smallest tension in Grey’s back as Kosas and Mari talked. “He’s baiting them.”
Nate snorted. “He thinks Greyson’s too whipped to move without Mari’s say, I’m sure.”
That got a smile out of me. He’d always been her steady protector, but marrying Mari had altered something fundamental in Grey. He held her a little tighter, shielded her a little more, and had a far shorter fuse than he’d possessed before. I had no doubt that if Kosas twitched the wrong way, he’d be dead before Nate took the shot. Greyson would take pleasure in eviscerating him for his wife.
Mari’s shoulders relaxed, and she said something that changed everything. Kosas grew red, his shoulders shaking, hands clenched at his sides. He stepped forward, towering over Mari, and I didn’t like it one bit.
Nate stiffened, and I saw his finger inch toward the trigger. “What the fuck is he doing?”
“I don’t know.” My fingers tightened around the camera as Kosas got in my girl’s face. She stood there taking it as he yelled hard enough to spit in her face. It was fucking torture. “She better get what she needs from this.”
Because if Grey didn’t kill Kosas, I was going to.
“It’ll work.” Nate’s low voice was deathly cold, and I knew he was as pissed as I was. No one disrespected our woman.
