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“Get revenge.”
His head whipped up, eyes blazing as they watched me. “How?”
“Help me convince the others to join us.”
“No. Just us.”
I knew the spirit in him, the vengeance that crawled through his skin like acid, but he had to look beyond it. You couldn’t win a war without using your brain. “You and I aren’t enough to take him down. To be honest, I’m not sure that we’ll be able to oust him even if we all work together. He’s got roots so fucking deep here, I’m not certain we’ll ever get him out, but we have to try.”
“I just want him to pay for what he did to my family.”
“He will, if you help me.”
Kosas sighed, but I could see he was on board. “They won’t agree.”
“Then they’ll die, at my hands or Cash’s. But with you on my side, they’re more likely to listen.”
His sigh was weary and grieving. “I’ll call a meeting.”
“Today.”
“Today,” he agreed as he stood.
Before he turned away, I called out, “I’m sorry for your loss.”
“So am I.” Kosas’s shoulders slumped. “I’ll be in touch.”
When it was just Dominic and me, he wrapped his arm around my shoulder and forced my head to his chest. “You did the right thing, mariposa.”
“I know.”
All was fair in love and war. It didn’t mean I had to like it.
Hours later, I strode into the meeting room with my men at my back.
The last time we’d been there, Cash had been in my seat, playing fake king. It was nice to see my place waiting for me again.
“Gentlemen.”
“If this is a ploy to speak about the truce, you’re wasting our time,” Haru said. Not much of a talker, but he was always quick to get to the heart of things when he did.
“We’re not going to change our minds, Mari,” Ajilon agreed, not unkindly. He seemed tense, eyes darting around. I wondered how much Cash was tormenting him out of view.
“I have.” Everyone’s attention snapped to Kosas. He cleared his throat, staring down at his fingers. “My son and his wife are dead. Cash killed them.”
Two-Bit’s eyes narrowed, and I was struck by how good of an actor he was. “Why?”
“He thought I was meeting with Mari behind his back. Didn’t even ask if it was true, just broke into their home and slaughtered them.”
Ajilon murmured a prayer under his breath while Haru stared at Kosas long and hard. “Were you?”
“No.” There was a world of grief in that one word.
He wished he had been. At least then, his family would’ve died for a good cause. It was always harder when deaths were senseless. Those were the kind you couldn’t come back from.
A tap of my fingers against the table drew everyone’s attention to me. “I went to see Kosas, to try to get him to reconsider the truce. He refused, but it got back to Cash.”
The accusations in their gazes were easy to read.
