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Apparently, her husband was about to figure that out.
“Do you really want to see that?”
“I asked, didn’t I?”
“Fine,” he said reluctantly. “You can watch, but you promise to leave if it’s too much.”
Ash laughed, patting his leg with a condescending slap. “Don’t worry your pretty little head about me. I’ll be just fine.”
We shared a small grin that convinced me she was fine more than any test could have.
“Should I be worried here?” Cameron asked in the silence after.
“Yes,” the rest of us answered with laughter that almost covered my cousin’s whispered fuck me.
He had no idea what was coming.
Chapter Fifteen
Dominic
Iwaited until we were home to corner Mari. “It wasn’t your fault.”
She didn’t flinch, didn’t move from her spot against the wall where she watched Cameron carry a sleeping Aislynn to their suite. There was no use asking how my girl was doing. Anyone could see the guilt weighing her down.
“Yeah, it was.” Her voice was rough, ragged. Like she had razor blades carving up her insides. I knew firsthand it probably felt like it too. “Cash went after her because of me.”
“That’s on him, not you.”
She scoffed, staring at the door even after Cameron closed it behind them. “I goaded him into it.”
It killed me seeing her so devastated, and she was. She was heartbroken and angry at herself, doubting if she’d made the right choice. I could relate since that was how I felt every day now.
“From what I’ve seen, Cash Beckstrom is a grown-ass man with a fucked-up mind. He would’ve gone after Aislynn eventually because she’s a weak spot for you, and that’s how he plays. He doesn’t hit you from the front like a man. He snipes at you from the back like a little bitch. That’s not on you, Mari.”
My girl had always been stubborn, so it was no shock that none of my words penetrated, but I couldn’t let her hold on to this. It would eat her alive.
“I should’ve made her get in the car with us when I saw she was alone.”
“Then we all would’ve gotten hit.” Mari narrowed her eyes. “Aislynn knew what she was getting into, baby.”
Irony stabbed my gut with every word. I was the least qualified person to have this conversation with her, considering she’d just had to spell it out to me, but Greyson and Nate were busy. I was all Mari had, and I was determined to rise to the challenge. To prove that I had the guts to support her when shit got bad. She needed me, and she’d have me, even if she didn’t like it.
“No, she didn’t,” Mari argued. “I put her in danger when I should’ve gotten her out, and it nearly got her killed. I did that.”
“No, you didn’t. She chose to stay.”
Mari laughed, loud and forced. “Because I asked her to.”
The Mari in front of me was so like the girl she’d been before that it was painful to look at her. I’d meant it when I said that I was all in with her as she was. I didn’t want the young Mari I’d had before; I wanted this one. Every strong, beautiful, infuriating inch of her.
The urge to keep fighting swelled in me, but I shut it down. Arguing wasn’t getting through to Mari, so I had to change to a new tactic.
“That’s very conceited of you.” I leaned nearby, casual as could be. Pulling on the friendly asshole mask was easier this time since I was doing it for her. I had to rile her up, force her head back into reality instead of letting her get caught up in it. I needed to get her feet back under her before things went south.
If the queen got lost, we were all doomed.
Mari twisted, eyes fierce. “Excuse me?”
