"Silver," I say as the idea sparks. "Can I talk to you for a second? In private."
Cora is the first to speak up. "Secrets don't make friends."
"These secrets aren't secrets, babe." It's more of a hunch that I could use his advice on but I don't tell her that because I don't want her to think I'm not capable of handling shit on my own.
Silver nods toward the living room, and I follow him over, noting how closed off his body language is.
"What is it?" he says with a hint of annoyance in his tone.
"First of all, thank you for taking care of her when I couldn't."
He raises a grey hair speckled eyebrow at me. "That's what you asked me over here for?"
"No." I flit my gaze back at the group who talk quietly amongst themselves. "Can I trust you with something else?"
Silver sighs. "When have I ever made you feel like you couldn't trust me?"
"Fair enough." I rub my neck and consider the weight of what I'm about to confess. This isn't just my business information I'm putting on the line, it's Dominic's, too. He's told me to keep it between me and his men, but what if it could somehow help us solve the situation with Ricardo for all of us.
"Get on with it," Silver adds impatiently.
"There's been some issues lately impacting the West Coast sector."
"What kind of issues?"
"Shipments have gone missing, some being turned over to police, you know, typical turf shit."
"What does this have to do with anything? Do you need me to figure out who's behind it?"
"I think I know who's behind it."
Silver stares back and forth between my eyes as the realization hits him. "Ricardo?"
I nod and keep my voice low. "Yeah. Seems we have a common enemy. I haven't been able to prove it yet, but he approached me the other day with information he shouldn't have had unless he's in on it."
"Okay."
"That's it? Okay?"
Silver scratches his beard. "This gives me more to go on. I'll see what I can do about proving it and figure out a way to discredit him. Once we get all the pieces in place, we kill him."
"I thought Cora told us not to do anything," I say even though there's no way in hell I'm going to be able to stick to my word.
Silver looks directly into my eyes when he says, "I'd rather die than let something happen to her."
He and I may be two very different men, but at least we can agree on one thing—we will sacrifice ourselves to save the girl we love.
28
CORA
Somehow, I convince the guys to let me go back to Ricardo's with London.
It's probably a stupid idea, but the sooner I get a handle on the situation, the better.
My phone had been blowing up non-stop since Miller stormed in and shot Ricardo, and if I didn't make amends soon, there was no telling how bad things would get—for me, and for London.
My injured arm stays at my side as I walk through the door and into his mansion, my stomach coiling with regret the second I'm inside. I breathe and remind myself that everything will be okay, that with the support of London and my guy friends, I will survive this.
