He shakes his head and reaches for my hand. “Things aren’t always what they seem on the surface,” he warns, but I tear my hand away and stand up so he can’t see the tears shining in my eyes.
“Don’t. Don’t give me reasons or excuses. I don’t want to hear them. As far as I’m concerned, they could have told me at any stage, and I would have done everything in my power to help them get free of him.”
I now know the truth and understand why they didn’t want to share it, but it still hurts. We are muddling through it a little bit at a time, though, working out how our relationship will develop now that all the lies and secrets are out in the open.
I put my coffee cup down on the table. The shouting from upstairs has calmed, and I guess everyone will rejoin us shortly.
“While we’re here, I need you to talk to the guys about Mario’s winery. That’s where the reception is being held, and they will be able to tell you the best way to blow it up.”
Mickey winces. “Can’t we just poison the catering? Less messy than an explosion, and I saw that place once, when Stefano and I had business there. It’s beautiful. It would be a damn shame to destroy it, and that family is going to need somewhere to lick their wounds.”
“She invited over two hundred guests. That’s a lot of people to kill,” I point out, and Maeve grimaces.
“Do we really want to kill all of them? I mean, there are going to be people there who have nothing to do with the family. I managed to get hold of the guest list when we hacked the mansion network. The mayor and his family are going to be there, as well as a few local celebrities and businessmen. Most of them are guilty of nothing but being caught up in his web.”
I think about it. “Maybe a few well-placed words of caution could be whispered in their ears, encouraging them to leave the reception early. Maybe we wait until after cutting the cake.Any family members who leave early could be taken out by a team around the perimeter, and there are no children invited to the wedding. Stacey completely banned them, which isn’t a bad thing.”
Mickey grimaces. “Unless all those children grow up to want revenge on the people who took out their parents.”
Maeve shakes her head. “We can spin the narrative. You already used the cartel excuse once. If we make it a bloody affair, we could use them again,” she suggests.
“And when none of us sustain any injuries?” I point out, and we mull it over.
“We could say we were called away to an emergency at the hotel,” Xavier suggests as he pushes the screen door open, and everyone exits behind him. I guess they were listening to us plot.
“It could work,” Gio agrees as everyone spreads out amongst the remaining seats—all but Xavier, that is, who lifts me from mine before settling down with me in his lap.
Sage smirks from where he sits snuggled up in a chair with Vienna on his lap and Tristan and Colton on either side. “I guess an annulment is out of the question now?” he teases, and Mickey and Gio grimace, but everyone else laughs.
“Will they buy that Tristan left his new wife on the night of the marriage?” Casey chimes in, her voice a light musical sound. I want to hate her, but I really can’t. Hell, even I can see why Gio fell in love with her. She’s all softness and light as she sits with Addi talking quietly to her belly. I guess she knows she’s getting a cousin.
Tristan shrugs. “Who cares? If they don’t, I will tell them I was having a blazing affair with Tori, and that I married Stacey to keep Mario happy, but we couldn’t fight our love anymore, and so we ran away from the wedding, and I was planning on getting an annulment.”
“I mean, it isn’t a lie,” Colton agrees.
“But it also means we can’t be in the house when the attack happens, and it’s going to have to be a lot bloodier than poison and less explosive than dynamite,” I argue, and Mickey sits up, rubbing his hands.
“Don’t you worry about a thing. We have a score to settle.” He points at Gio, Sage, and himself. “We will make sure it’s suitably violent enough to look like the cartel took their revenge after the drug bust gone wrong.”
“Isn’t the cartel in prison after the raid?” Vienna asks, biting her lip.
“They were just low value members of the cartel, none that were going to be missed if anything went balls up,” Xavier explains, “but a betrayal such as what just happened will call for some of the top players in the Nuevo Dios to come out and punish the perpetrators, so everyone knows what happens when you betray them. The FBI will basically sweep it all under the rug, one less crime family for them to worry about on the West Coast. It’s kind of perfect, especially after you made the safe house where Addi was being kept look like it was them as well.”
“So we have a plan?” I ask, and everyone is in agreement. “After the wedding cake is cut and the dessert is being handed out, we will take our leave after a fake call from the casino. Maybe we can tell them the Russo family is fighting back, and I’m needed to talk them down. Once we and all the innocent guests have taken their leave, you three and a team will go in and take out the trash.”
“And get some well deserved payback,” Mickey says darkly. “Mario is mine. I owe him for Carla and Stefano.”
“Be my guest, but Stacey is mine to play with.” Gio smiles darkly and looks at me. “I promise I will make her suffer for everything she did to you.”
I pout for a moment. “Fuck. I really wanted to look into her eyes as she bled out, realizing that all of her scheming failed, and I was the one who rose from the ashes and snuffed her out.”
“I’ll record it on my phone for you,” Sage offers, and I grin. He really gets me.
“Best present ever,” I reply, and everyone chuckles. Thankfully, Addi hasn’t been paying any attention to our conversation and is still singing to Casey’s tummy.
“I’m going to be the best big cousin ever. I promise,” she whispers loud enough for us to hear.
“Hmm, maybe after all this is done, you should work on giving her a little brother or sister,” Maeve says casually, looking between Vienna and me.
