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I draped my arm around Giselle and held her against me. I tried not to think about what was going to happen today, how everything could backfire spectacularly. A sad thing to admit, but I’d rather think about the way Giselle looked while Damian’s face was between her legs.
I guess Giselle wasn’t the only nervous one. She’d be facing down the man who paraded as her father all these years. I’d have to be there in spirit with her, because at the actual ceremony, I’d be watching over Gianna and making sure she didn’t escape to ruin everything.
No. As much as I wanted to be beside Giselle when she finally got what she wanted, I wouldn’t be. I just hoped and prayed that the others would do whatever they could to keep her safe.
Chapter Nineteen – Giselle
I didn’t want to eat that morning, but Damian wouldn’t let us leave the house without eating some eggs and toast. For the protein, he said. We’d need our energy today, our strength. So, after I pulled myself out of the shower, I forced down some eggs, and then it was time to go.
It was early. About nine o’clock. The wedding was at two, but that gave us enough time to get there, make a few switches, and prepare everything we’d need to.
Zander took his car, while I drove with Damian. A quiet car ride; neither one of us spoke much. The radio wasn’t on either, which meant we listened to a lot of silence on our way back to Cypress.
I did not know what would happen to the Black Hand after we rid the world of Miguel. Frankly, I didn’t care. The Hand would be better off as a whole without his schemes. He may have the Palmers fooled, but after today, they would see his lies for what they were: high treachery.
Miguel Santos was not my father. Father Charlie was. It was Miguel who made me into the person I was today, Miguel who made me nearly kill myself, and it was Father Charlie who’d saved me. That was why, beneath my black shirt, I wore that golden cross. I’d been wearing it more often now—it reminded me of what could’ve been, what was lost, and what kind of love and acceptance I wanted.
A hat and sunglasses sat on my lap, ready to be slipped on the moment we arrived. Damian would park the car, and we’d slip into the building where the wedding was being held. Some of his men had already gotten there. They knew their parts. Whatever tattoos they had were covered up with makeup—same with Damian’s. Whoever Miguel had hired to work the wedding would be taken care of, and they’d take their place.
No extra guns for Miguel. No extra backup. When the shit hit the fan, when Miguel showed his true colors, expecting the Cobra and his worker bees to fall in line and massacre everyone in the audience, he’d realize he was alone.
Alone, as he should’ve always been.
As we crossed the city limits and entered Cypress, my thoughts wandered to my mother. There was a time when I thought she loved Miguel, when I thought we were one happy family. But he’d had her killed for cheating… and that made me wonder if she’d never loved him at all. If her marriage to him was a sham, just like my so-called marriage to Luca.
The only difference there was I actually liked Luca, and unlike Miguel, Luca was a good guy.
I knew it as much as anyone. Sometimes women were forced into situations they wouldn’t otherwise put themselves in, all to make a man happy. It must’ve been what happened to my mother, and things ended poorly for her.
With any luck, they wouldn’t end poorly for me, and I’d get revenge for myself, my mother, and my father. My dead parents would be avenged, and Miguel would finally meet his maker and go to hell.
When the venue came in sight, my stomach churned. Damian reached for my hand when he pulled into the building’s parking garage—we weren’t checked, because the man working as the valet was one of his undercover Serpents.
“Everything’s going to work out,” Damian told me. “I know it.” For the first time, he wasn’t wearing his golden chain, instead dressed in all black, the color of the waitstaff. With his tattoos covered up, he looked like a whole different person.
“I hope you’re right,” I muttered, the anxiety in me too overwhelming to ignore.
“Zander should be right behind us. You’ll have an army of people in there who will do anything to make sure you’re safe, Giselle. Trust me, baby girl, none of us will let you get hurt. You’ll get your revenge, and you’ll come out of this day smiling.”
The only reason Zander could come here and park his car with the others was because of the valet situation. Otherwise, Miguel would recognize his car and instantly know something’s up.
I didn’t say anything in response to Damian, but I did try to focus on the way his hand gripped mine and how self-assured he sounded. We could do this. We could take Miguel down and make it a public spectacle. It was the only thing he deserved, the final nail in his coffin.
A minute passed, and Zander’s car pulled into the spot beside ours. That’s when Damian let go of my hand, leaned over the center console, and whispered, “We got this.” He then gave me a quick peck on the cheek before getting out.
We got this.
I had to keep repeating that to myself over and over as I got out. As Damian went around to the trunk, where the bag was with all the bits I’d need to make a good Gianna, I watched as Zander got out of his car.
“Don’t be nervous,” Zander said. “We—”
“We got this, I know,” I muttered. I went to the trunk, and Damian handed me the oversized bag.
Zander reached around me to grab it for me, swinging it over his shoulder like it weighed not a thing. The only reason the bag was so large was because of the extra padding. You know, so I could look pregnant while walking down the aisle.
One thing was for sure: I wasn’t looking forward to wearing all white again.
“Time to get to work,” Damian spoke as he shut his trunk. Together, we walked to the elevator that would take us up to the lobby of the building. I put on my hat and my sunglasses. When we stepped out of the elevator and into the grand lobby of the building, Damian winked at Zander and I and said, “See you on the other side.”
