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“Because I never asked you to protect me!” Christ, why didn’t he understand? How many different ways did I need to explain it so it would penetrate his thick-ass skull? “I don’t need it, Dominic. I need you to be my friend. To have my back. To support me instead of walking around like I just killed your fucking puppy. That’s what I need, but you can’t do it because you’re stuck on a girl who’s been long gone for years, aren’t you? You can’t be what I need because I’m not the one you want. She is. Right?”
Silence was my only answer yet again, and I was just so fucking sick of it all. There was no right time, and despite the countdown toward another shootout, I couldn’t let it continue. If I didn’t make it past dawn, I wanted to know I’d said what I needed to say before I went.
We had so much unsaid, and unlike with Nate, I had no hope for Dominic and me. Not anymore. The damage was done, and it was too extensive to fix. Best to cauterize the wound and hope for better healing down the line.
“We’re done, Dominic. Whatever this is or could’ve been, we’re done. You obviously can’t accept me for who I am, and I’m going to respect that.”
His brittle voice nearly broke me. “Mariposa?—”
“It’s Mari. Just Mari. Your little mariposa is gone.” Dominic’s face fell, echoing the ache in my chest. He opened his mouth, only to close it again, swallowing thickly. Finally, he nodded, and it felt like I’d taken another bullet to the vest. Cracked ribs, cracked chest, cracked heart.
It was over, and I wished with everything it hadn’t had to end like that.
“I’m going to check on Grey,” I told him, needing space. “Get your head on right, and meet us in the car in ten.”
With every step past him, I put all my feelings for Dominic away. We’d had our time together as children, and that had to be enough. We didn’t work as adults. Not the way we were now. The past needed to stay where it belonged for us to have any sort of future at all.
I knew we would find a way to work together eventually because the family needed us more than we needed to soothe our hurt feelings. And no matter what, family always came first.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Mari
While I’d broken up with Dominic, Greyson had searched the cameras in the city, following the convoy with the stolen painting. They tried to throw off the trail a few times, but he always caught them a few minutes later. Eventually, he got a perfect clip of them parking three blocks east of the abandoned ferry terminal in front of a two-story factory. The entire ride there, I was practically vibrating with adrenaline.
We hadn’t had a stealth mission in a long time, and I was surprised by how excited I was at the prospect. Knowing it would piss Cash off that we’d taken something back from under his nose was icing on the cake. I only wished I weren’t already hurt; I wanted to enjoy it more.
Grey pulled my hand onto his lap and dropped two pills into my palm, the mind reader.
“It’s an extra-strength pain reliever,” he said before I could object. The prescription drugs Doc gave me were not a good option to take when wielding a semiautomatic weapon.
I’d been ignoring the pain of the cracked ribs, but the more I thought about it, the more they hurt. Even after wrapping them and the initial pain pill earlier, I didn’t think twice about taking the meds. They’d keep the edge off until we got home and I could medicate properly.
We hopped out of the truck and surveyed the area while we waited for the rest of our group. The Irish lived closer than us, so I was surprised they hadn’t already arrived, but maybe O’Bannon wanted to play hero. If so, he’d show up fashionably late just to irritate the shit out of me.
Following the GPS in our SUV, Tennessee, Moore, and their small retinue of guards showed up not long after us, and we quickly dug into the trunk, strapping ourselves with weapons. I personally handed Dominic his vest to make sure he wore it because, despite everything, I didn’t want him dead.
Though I did ignore the obvious look he gave me.
“What’s the plan?” Moore asked when we were all locked and loaded.
“We get in and get out.” When he kept staring at me, I shrugged. “There’s no way to know what the hell we’re walking into, so be on your toes and don’t fuck off. We’re winging this one.”
Suddenly, he grinned. “My favorite.”
I checked the time and looked around, hoping for a sign that the rest of our entourage was going to show up, but the streets were silent. Nothing.
I peeked at Grey, and he shook his head. No word from O’Bannon. Shit.
Where the hell were the Irish?
With a resigned breath, I motioned us forward. “Let’s go.”
Dominic caught my arm. “We’re going in alone?”
It was still night, but dawn was coming, and that was a problem in and of itself. The terminal was a popular tourist destination, and the last thing we needed was a bunch of outsiders getting caught in the middle of a firefight if it came down to it. The longer we waited, the more prepared Cash could be for us. I wasn’t willing to take that risk.
“Looks like it. We can’t wait on them, or we lose our advantage.”
