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Help with… help with what? With choosing who to take his place on the Hand?
Why was he staring at me? I couldn’t…
“Looks like Luca wants your help deciding,” Shay spoke with a slight smile. “Well, Giselle? Have anyone in mind that would fit our misfit family here? Someone you’d trust with your life, with all our lives?”
A nervous chuckle escaped me. They couldn’t seriously be okay with me choosing someone to take Luca’s spot on the Hand. No way. This had to be some kind of weird joke. To give me that kind of power…
I didn’t want it. Not really. I mean, sure, I could think of a few guys who I trusted, men who’d gladly put themselves on the line for me.
Luca didn’t want the position, neither would Cade. Zander would refuse it, too, because the only person he cared about was me. Ezekiel had told me he’d give up everything for me, even walk away from the church; I doubted he’d be happy on the Hand.
Actually, there was only one person I could think of that fit the description.
I was slow to pick up Luca’s refused ring and hold it up to the light. “I might know one guy,” I whispered. “But I should talk to him first, see if he’ll accept.” At this rate, who knew? We might have to run another competition to fill the vacancy.
The meeting was over after that, and Shay pulled me aside as everyone else filed on the elevator. “You sure you wanna do this?” She asked as the doors to the elevator slid shut. “If you don’t want to, you can refuse it like Luca did.”
While it was true I never dreamed of being on the Hand myself, maybe that was a good thing. Maybe, what the Black Hand needed, were not people who would fight tooth and nail for the position, not people who’d scheme and murder for it. Maybe the Black Hand needed new blood.
“I’m sure,” I answered her, meeting her warm brown eyes.
One of Shay’s boots tapped on the floor. “How did Piper seem when she talked to you? That, um, that was the first time I saw her since she found out about my brother.” The only thing that ever made Shay act less confident in herself was when she was talking about her brother. I’d noticed it before. It’d probably always ring true.
The way Piper looked, the tiredness in her blue eyes; she might act okay, but deep down, I could recognize the fact she wasn’t. Piper Lipman was the furthest from okay. Hopefully getting out of Cypress would help her out.
“She was,” I paused, not knowing how to say it, “broken, I think. She doesn’t want anyone to see it. She feels betrayed by you, and she wants to start fresh somewhere else.”
Shay sighed. “I can’t blame her for that. I knew it was always possible for the truth to come out. I just didn’t think it’d happen this soon. We don’t even know how Miguel found out it was Tristan. We took care of the rat guard, but… none of them knew it was my brother in there. He didn’t know what he was guarding before Miguel told him.”
“Unless he just put it together. The timeline, when the secret prisoner first showed up. Miguel had his ways. Where did Atticus take him?” I immediately realized that might not be information Shay wanted to give out, so I quickly added, “You don’t have to tell me. It’s okay—”
To my surprise, Shay told me: “He’s got family a few states away, in the mountains. Someone who might be able to help Tristan find himself again. He’ll never be allowed back in Cypress, but… but even after all he’s done, he’s still my brother. I want him to have a life, even if it means I’ll never see him again.”
“Is he a doctor or something? This family member?”
“Something like that. Never met the man myself, but he sounds… unique. If he’s got any of Nix’s craziness in him, Tristan might just meet his match in him.” Shay let out a loud breath. “Enough of that. You up for a little party later? To celebrate your new position?”
These Black Hand members and their parties. They seemed to throw them often, for any occasion whatsoever. That said, maybe, after everything that transpired, a party was just what the doctor ordered.
I nodded once. “Sure. I could go for a party.”
Shay grinned. “Great. I’ll send you the details later.” Her dark eyes then dropped to my pocket, where I’d put the ring Luca had refused. “Good luck with that.”
“Thanks.” Truth was, I wouldn’t need luck. I had the feeling the person I would offer it to would jump on the chance to be on the Hand. Not because he wanted to be, not because he’d always strived to be above everyone else, but because it was another excuse to remain close to me.
I walked with Shay to the elevator, rode down with her. Once we hit the ground floor, we said our goodbyes, and I contacted Zander. His car pulled up in front of the building after a few minutes; he must’ve been waiting nearby.
As I got into the passenger’s seat, he asked, “How did it go?”
Unsure if that was a trick question or not, I showed him the ring on my hand. The one on my right hand, I should say. He didn’t know what it was, so he didn’t say anything as he merged with traffic.
“Turns out, this whole thing was never about Miguel or any of the others. Piper was never going to give her position on the Hand to one of them,” I told him. “It was about the heirs this entire time.”
Zander did a double take at me, his eyebrows lifting. “Wait. Are you saying—”
“I’m saying you’re looking at the newest member of the Black Hand.”
“Holy shit! Uh, congrats? I think? Or should I not congratulate you, because you don’t want it—” Zander stumbled over his words, quite adorably, I might add.
