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Zander’s voice lowered to a whisper as he said, “Miguel wants to kill them all. All of them. Shay, Atticus, the twins, Nixon, the Palmers, even Luca. All of them.”
“He said this to Anthony?” Cade asked.
“No, I heard him say it to Gianna. You know, his new, pregnant fiancé? He said he’s doing this for her, so their son has an empire to rule once he’s born—and, I guess, older. She tried to say she doesn’t think any of it is a good idea, but, well, Miguel didn’t give a shit. He warned her that if she tried to go to anybody, he’d make her life hell.”
I had to roll my eyes at that. Miguel lying and saying this was all for his unborn son was such a ridiculous thing. Miguel never did anything for anyone else. And once that son was born? That boy would be molded into Miguel’s own image.
But, of course, Miguel wasn’t going to be around for the birth.
It was interesting, however, to learn that Gianna did not support his schemes.
“Do we know when Miguel is planning on having Anthony release him?” Cade asked.
“Tomorrow. I guess Nixon usually hangs out with Shay in the afternoons? That’s when Anthony’s posted at the house.” Zander’s answer came quick, which told me it wasn’t something he pulled out of his ass—and that told me everything he’d said during this phone call was true.
Fuck. Tomorrow. We didn’t have much time.
“Thanks for the intel,” Cade said, and his finger hovered over the end call button on the screen.
“Wait! Aren’t we going to, I don’t know, do something about it? I mean, we can’t let Miguel actually get the Cobra. If he does, the Black Hand is dead—”
“I’ll pass the information along.”
“But—” Zander wasn’t able to say anything else, or maybe he did, and we just didn’t hear him because Cade ended the call.
Cade took the chair Shay had vacated, and he carefully set the phone on the table between us, a conflicted look on his handsome face. “Shit. Guess that means I need to run out now and get some dye. Don’t suppose you’d help me with that, would you?”
“Of course,” I told him. Zander had called and told us everything he’d found out. He did not say anything about Tristan Arrowwood, though, so I assumed that much hadn’t been a part of Miguel’s conversation with Gianna.
I couldn’t help but wonder just how long Gianna had known Miguel planned on doing all of this. Did she know what he did to me, or had he kept her in the dark about that part?
“I’ll go now. You’ll talk to Shay?”
I nodded and got up with Cade, following him to the front door. Hopefully Shay was still on the phone with Atticus. Whatever they were planning on doing with the Cobra, they better speed it up.
We didn’t have a minute to waste.
Chapter Fifteen – Cade
Shay and Giselle got everything ready, so by the time midnight rolled around, we were ready. Nixon came to the house and picked me up—I’d leave my car at the house, keys included, so if Giselle needed to go anywhere, she didn’t have to rely on Damian to do it. My hair was now a warm brown color, and I looked nothing like myself.
It was bizarre how different someone looked with dyed hair. I’d learned that from Giselle, and it was only reinforced when I stared at my new self in the mirror. My yellow hair was covered with a golden brownish color. Honestly, I hated it, and I couldn’t wait until we could wash our hands of this whole matter and be done with it.
It felt like this was a stupid plan, but the girls were on board together. It was our only plan right now. A total bait and switch.
I sat in the back of Nixon’s car, my figure slumped over so no one could see me—even though the windows in the car were all tinted, you couldn’t be too careful. He’d brought me a change of clothes, the same clothes he gave the Cobra to wear. All black, of course, because even though he was a prisoner, you had to look the part.
Nixon also brought me something else, something heavy and metal and cold, and that something currently sat on my lap, staring up at me, an echo of its previous owner’s past sins.
The Cobra’s mask. A literal cobra’s face, frills and all, etched into steel. In the daylight it might look silly, but in the shadows—and here right now—it only looked ominous, almost as if this mask itself had been what had driven Tristan Arrowwood to madness.
Only that wasn’t true. We knew Tristan had lost it long before getting this mask for himself.
I was not one who needed to talk to fill the silence, but I found myself saying to Nixon, “I hear the others aren’t too thrilled after finding out you guys kept the Cobra alive.” Frankly, I didn’t understand why Nixon himself would agree to keep him alive. Couldn’t unsee that thick scar on his neck, more evidence of the Cobra’s crimes.
But maybe the reason Nixon was doing all of this was the same reason I was: for a girl. Because we loved and would do anything for our girl. Nixon had Shay, and I had Giselle.
“No,” Nixon whispered, his voice low. “They’re not. I always told Shay we wouldn’t be able to keep it a secret forever, but I think she assumed that’d be a problem for the future.”
