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Despite how much I wanted to reach down there and remove Kosas’s head from his body, I had a job to do. So, I angled the camera differently, setting the picture up so it looked like Kosas was inviting Mari in.
We were banking on Cash’s hair-trigger with these photos. He needed to believe that his so-called truce was a lie and the allies he’d been banking on were working with the enemy.
Us.
Hopefully this would get the other leaders to pull their heads out of their asses and fight back. We needed an army, and the irony was we had one inside the city limits—they just refused to help.
The time for playing both sides was over. They either helped Mari, or they died. There was no way they could sit back and watch it happen after this. Not if they wanted to remain in power.
“I just don’t want this to come back and bite us in the ass later. It’s becoming a bad habit.” Too many times in the last few months, history and other people’s choices had made things worse. With the fuse this close to lighting, we couldn’t afford another screwup.
Kosas threw his hands up and stormed back inside, slamming the door so hard we could see it tremble from where we were perched, while Mari and Grey walked back to the car. They’d drive around for a while, brushing off whatever tail had most likely watched them walk onto the Sideris compound, before circling back for us.
We stayed silent and alert as they made their way through the guards and to their car. Only when they’d driven off did we pull back and start packing everything up.
It was comfortably quiet for a few minutes before Nate cleared his throat. “I want you to know, I didn’t hide Cameron to hurt Mari or any of you. I didn’t want it to bite us in the ass.”
Shit. I hadn’t meant that to be a dig, but he’d obviously taken it as one. Sighing, I sat back against the wall of the roof, the camera bag between my legs. “I wasn’t talking about you.”
“You should’ve been. The things I hid, they had consequences.”
“Everything does,” I countered. “Look at why we’re up here. Those idiots made a decision, and now one’s going to pay with his life. That’s how it goes.”
“I know, I just—I needed to say that.”
But it didn’t seem to make him feel any better. “You know, I watched you while we visited Ace. I saw how you tried to warn her, and it wasn’t the first time. Mari made the decision not to ask. Even though I wish you’d told her, you were respecting her wishes. I can’t fault that.”
“I do. I should’ve pushed her.”
Smirking, I asked, “Since when does our woman do anything she doesn’t want to do?”
He laughed a little. “True.”
“You did the right thing, Nate. You keep doing the right thing.” It was uncomfortable to say it, but that didn’t make it less true. Since he’d come back to Mari, he’d done everything in his power to be good for her and make up for his deceit. I couldn’t fault him for that.
“I’m trying.” He stared at me for a long time before turning to look at the sky. “But you still don’t forgive me, do you?”
Did I?
No, I didn’t, but the longer he was back, the more I understood why he’d kept his secrets. I just didn’t like it. Life was all about doing things you didn’t want to do, though, and I’d already decided to forgive Nate. Mari was my family, and he was part of hers. If I wanted the future I was hoping for, I had to let go of my own feelings about Nate. I had to move on.
He’d hurt her. He’d hurt all of us, but he’d hurt himself most, and that was always going to be punishment enough.
“Maybe someday,” I said eventually, getting up when my phone went off. “They’re on the way back. Let’s go.”
I offered Nate a hand up, and even though he didn’t need it, he took it gladly. “I’m going to make it up to you.”
As long as he kept making Mari happy, we’d be square. “I know you will, kid. For now, let’s just get through this shitstorm.”
Chapter Fourteen
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.
