AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“The Wolf won’t help you, Mari. Not unless you back him into a corner, and I wouldn’t suggest that. Regardless of his motives, Paez would be a good ally to have.”
“Will it make more problems for you if I do align with him?”
“I’m not sure it matters. You’re not an Osorio. Right now, that’s a blessing.”
Again, I got the sense that he was fighting more battles than one. Two-Bit’s warning flashed in my mind, and I decided to repeat it. “Careful, Uncle. That sounds a lot like treason to me.”
“Maybe that could be a good thing, too.”
Hope and caution warred inside me. I wanted to believe that Rafael was changing his mind, but I knew I couldn’t count on him. Not yet.
Aislynn came back with her purse and a blank face that made my chest tight. Turning back to Rafael, I smiled grimly. “Let me know what you decide. In the meantime, I expect your son to keep Shara safe.”
“She’ll be well cared for with Christian and Adrien,” he promised.
“Good. We’ll speak soon.”
“Sí, tesorita. We’ll speak soon.”
With Dominic and Greyson guarding Ash, Nate took his place at my side. Just like Kosas, he was steering clear in case Ash placed Cash’s sins at his feet, and I appreciated it, even if it killed me to see him do it.
“Where are we going now?” he asked.
“We’ve got a rat trap to construct.”
Chapter Twenty
Mari
Knowing the only way we could keep our advantage was to bring Cameron to us, I used makeup to enhance Aislynn’s bruises from the attack, making it look worse than it was before we took her to a random apartment in the Celestine, careful not to let anyone see us.
The room had to look as unidentifiable as possible, so we chose an empty unit and stuck her in the closet, tying her up before we took a ton of pictures.
After we snuck Ash into the shower at our place and back to her apartment with a warning that we would keep one of our closest people nearby if she needed help, we waited. It took a few days to find the right place for the showdown. The night before, we pulled a silent, angry Ash out of the house for an “all-nighter at work” and set the first leg of the trap.
The second happened the next day. We waited to send the text until we were in place, making sure there was no possible way Cameron could ambush us.
I stared down at the clone of Cash’s phone, the picture of a wide-eyed Ash making me anxious, even knowing it wasn’t real. “Are we sure this is a good idea?”
“It’s what Cash would do,” Nate promised.
I knew that. I really did. Maybe a part of me was still rebelling against the idea that someone I trusted could have betrayed me like this, or the reality that I’d put Ash in harm’s way. Either way, I felt uneasy about the whole situation, but as with everything else Cash started, I knew the only way it ended was if I finished it.
So, I clicked send.
And we waited.
Not for the first time since this godforsaken war had started, I found myself praying. Please reach out. Call me. Tell me she’s missing. Ask for my help. Please don’t let this be how we end.
As the minutes dragged on, the silence of my phone was too much, my heartbeat too loud. Call me. Call me. Call me.
When the phone finally buzzed, it wasn’t mine. It was Cameron.
I’ll be there. If she’s hurt, I’m going to make you pay, Cash.
The confirmation that he knew the number killed me. But what was worse? My phone never went off.
Every minute felt like torture as we waited. But as each one passed, something in me shifted. This trap wasn’t to convince me anymore. The moment he decided not to let me in on his plans was the moment I realized he’d really done it.
