by Ashley Munoz
I leapt down, ending my speech and trying to push past the nerves rattling inside me. My entire life I had avoided this, avoided my father’s footsteps and the life he’d led…but for her, I’d gladly walk it out.
I didn’t watch to see if anyone followed as I entered the armored car I’d be driving in. Hector climbed in next to me.
“You inspire them, primo…we haven’t had that in a long time,” he declared, sounding somber.
The driver of our car started north, merging onto the freeway toward the Mariano compound.
Hector looked over at me, his gun resting in his lap. “Did you ever know our gramps?”
I peered over at him, crushing my brows in question. “My dad’s dad?”
My cousin nodded. “He was the leader back then. I obviously was too young to be in the regiment, but I remember him. I remember my pops talking about how Gramps was a good man. He cared about the things other men in the business didn’t…cared about the weak and helpless. He inspired the men to be great, to do good with their love and devotion to El Peligro. He used this family to keep the streets of his city safe, used his money to feed the widows and orphans. He cared for people, and because of it we had more pledges and people asking to sign on to this life than we ever had before.”
I was silent as the car carried us closer to my girls. My heart thundered rapidly as I heard about this man who shared blood with me…who didn’t sound like a monster. He sounded good, like the kind of man I would hope to be.
“All I’m saying is…it wouldn’t be the worst thing to have that kind of leadership again.”
I glanced away from him, looking back out the window as a knot formed in my throat. I had assumed the men would leave me and I would ruin this thing they had created, but stepping into a legacy my grandfather had originally created didn’t seem to feel like I would be losing a dream. I did love hockey…but I loved it like I loved football or any other sport. I liked playing it, but it wasn’t my dream.
Creating change felt like a dream worth chasing. Being someone who created safe streets and helped in ways other organizations couldn’t sounded like a dream. Knowing what was going on with the black market and human trafficking rings, being able to help…that felt like a noble dream. A small fire lit inside me as I considered what it would be like to help people with the power of El Peligro at my back. It would be worth it, all of it, regardless of the fact that I had already made my decision about staying. Hearing this only helped soothe my worry that I might end up like my dad someday.
I’d do anything for Taylor and Alex, but now I had a new goal in mind…something that felt fresh and new, a legacy of my own that would start an entirely new chapter for this gang.
“Once we get there, I want to take the lead,” I muttered, still looking out the window.
Hector didn’t respond, but I had a feeling I knew what he’d say if he did. He’d be right there with me regardless.
We sat in silence as the rain poured and we traveled toward the outskirts of the city.
Chapter Thirty-Three
The men around the compound didn’t pay me much notice. In fact, no one besides Markos paid me any notice. I wasn’t complaining, but it felt odd…there was something I was missing.
It had been about an hour since I cried in my room, tucking Juan’s letter away and firming my resolve to put my love for him behind me. This life with Markos was my future now, and I needed to get it through my head. Never my heart…it would never follow, but my mind needed to get on board.
I sat in a velvet chair tucked into a long dining room table, with Alex resting in her carrier on the seat next to me. I was unwilling to leave her with any of Markos’ staff or maids, even if they were lovely women who seemed friendly enough. I wouldn’t leave Alex with anyone.
“So, there are a few details I’d like to cover before this weekend, and I thought to start out, we needed to clear the air.” Markos took a large bite of the egg whites in front of him.
I pushed my breakfast around my plate with a fork. A yawn overtook me as I looked longingly at my cup of tea. I hadn’t asked for tea, I had asked for coffee, but one of the maids told me tea would be better for my milk supply. She was probably right, but I hadn’t slept the night prior and was running on fumes.
“What do we need to clear?”
Markos shifted in his seat, facing me with one long arm braced along the table, the other on the back of my chair. I didn’t like how close it brought us.
“We need to clear up this issue with your father…so, I’ve invited him over to discuss terms.”
I scooted my chair back immediately. “No. He can’t come here—he won’t agree to any deal with you.”
Markos trailed my movement with a confused expression. His thick brows crowded his brown eyes, and his lips seemed to thin.
“I think you’re being a little dramatic…sit back down, Ari. We’ll speak to him together.”
Just as I was about to say something, the sound of muffled voices and movement sounded near the foyer, out through the dining room doors.
“Is he already here?” I seethed, lowering back to my seat, but only to dig into the inner lining of my bag.
“He is…he’ll be having breakfast with us.”
Shit. This was going to be bad. I had to find a way to protect Alex and get the hell out of there before my father sabotaged this entire situation.
“You don’t underst—” I was cut off by a loud boom from outside. It shook the house, the chandelier above the table vibrated, and dust rained down from the ceiling.
Everyone was frozen around the room, including the two large men on their way into the dining room.
I slowly pulled my gun free and pulled the strap of my bag around my chest then gripped Alex’s carrier with all the strength I possessed.
“Who was that?” Markos asked with an eerily calm voice, the kind of tone that pranced along the edge of a knife.
Gunfire sounded from outside and glass was shattering, but it wasn’t in the dining room…it was everywhere else. The foyer, the living room…the cars outside. Everything seemed to be exploding as the purr of automatic guns rang through the air. I ducked under the table, dragging the car seat with me. I hovered over my daughter, protecting any open space that might expose her.
Shouting commenced, along with the sound of more shots and yells. I remained where I was under the table, but within seconds, there were large hands grabbing at me.
“No!” I screamed, desperate to fend off the person.
I reached for the gun I had set down next to the carrier, pointed the extended barrel at my attacker, and pulled the trigger.
Three shots quieted by the barrel pummeled into the soft stomach of the man grabbing me. Another man took his place, and I kept shooting.
Panic seized my lungs as I realized these were my father’s men. Markos had been hauled out of the room by his own men, and they hadn’t given me a second look.
It was telling enough of my future with the man, but I didn’t care. At this point, I was just going to run away with my daughter and be free of these men for as long as I could.
“Come now, Aurelia, don’t make this difficult,” someone cooed from above.
My father’s face came into view as he sank to his haunches, and I gasped sharply. His blond hair was slicked out of his eyes, but not well enough as strands fell into disarray. He eyed Alex next to me, and his lip curled in disgust.
I didn’t wait for him to threaten me again; I pulled the trigger with as much force as I could.
But nothing happened. A click sounded. I did it again and again, but it was just empty clicks that emanated from my gun. I was out.
Oh my god. I was out. He would have me, and I couldn’t defend myself.
“Climb out, little értékes.” He laughed, his large shoulders shaking with delight.
I shook my head, climbing backward on my palms.
“Come now, I’ll spare your little child if you crawl out.”
&
nbsp; I looked around the table, seeing the chairs all askew around the room. Long legs stood in their place, proving that he had me cornered. There was nowhere to run. So, on shaky limbs, I crawled out and met my doom.
My father strangled my shoulder with his palm and led me toward the exit. A man behind us carried my daughter in her carrier, and I forced my gaze backward, which annoyed my father.
A tight pinch shot through my arm as his grip intensified.
“You will learn your pla—” His voice cut off as we came to a sudden stop.
My eyes flew forward to see what had halted our walk, and that was when I realized the courtyard had become a war zone. Cars blown up, glass everywhere, a hole in the brick wall that surrounded the Mariano compound. In front of the exit were at least a hundred men, all with guns and folded bandanas across their foreheads, all save for one.
My breath hitched.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” my father yelled toward the man standing in his way. He was wearing a black bulletproof vest over a white t-shirt and dark denim tucked into thick combat boots. My heart swelled so much I thought it might burst.
He’d come for me. For us.
I let out a strangled sound as I tried to walk forward but was jolted back by my father’s grip.
“Ivan…funny seeing you here. I came here to pick a fight with Markos, but it looks like you’re trying to run away with his fiancée.”
The words burned from the top of my head to the soles of my feet. I wanted to scream that I didn’t belong to anyone but him, that Markos was no one and nothing.
“She belongs to me. Not you, not Markos…no one but me…so fuck off and get the hell out of here.” My father started forward, his men falling in like a V in front of him.
“See, you’re wrong again,” Juan yelled above the sound of the men moving along the debris.
“Not this again with the baby being yours.” My father rolled his eyes.
Juan laughed, giving us a beaming white smile. “No…not with that. You’re right—by blood, she isn’t mine.”
Juan stepped down from a large piece of rubble, drawing closer, his men fanned out behind him. My father staggered back a step as he saw what I saw. Juan had them outnumbered, vastly so. If Markos allied with Ivan, he might have had a shot, but it was clear that Markos wanted nothing to do with this; he and his men were nowhere to be found. My father had made a massive mistake by not bringing in his full force.
“Do you know what laws we live by in El Peligro?” Juan asked, casually skirting a car that was on fire.
My father spat on the ground near my feet. “I care not for your fucked up family.”
“Well, you will care for this, because it’s law,” Juan yelled in response; the echoing silence seemed to spread around the courtyard.
The feeling around the space was uneasy. I held my breath as I waited for him to speak, knowing there would be gunfire shortly after.
“You see, these laws are absolute, and they matter, so when I say those two are mine, that means they’ve been claimed by me. No one else can have them, and they fall under my protection. There’s nothing you can do to fight it, other than going to war with me over it, of course.”
“I’m not at war with you,” my father shot back, sliding away nonchalantly while keeping his gaze on the men who were suddenly everywhere, surrounding us.
Juan began taking off his vest, unstrapping one Velcro piece at a time until he was slipping it over his head. “You see…you’re wrong again. You declared war when you tampered with my communications, and again when you attempted to leave here with them.”
“They’re mine!” my father yelled, moving his grip until it was a solid piece of steel around my arm.
Juan bared his teeth and suddenly ripped his shirt, exposing his chest.
“Wrong!” he snapped with so much venom I winced. “They’re mine!” he yelled so every single soul in the courtyard would hear him.
The look on his face was devastating, like a warrior toeing the line in battle, a man ready to fight his way until death claimed him.
There on his chest, right over his heart, were two black hearts inked into his skin. I hiccupped as I realized what he’d done. He’d claimed not only me, but my daughter as well.
“Mine, and it is law in my family. Their hearts are now on my chest, so you will let them free of your grasp, without issue, or you will go to war with me, right now, right here.”
My father seemed to struggle with his decision as he staggered backward. I could feel the tension in the air as the men around him began to look back and forth between El Peligro circling them and my father at the center of their circle. I tried to look behind me at Alex to ensure she was okay. She was starting to stir, her little blue eyes opening, no doubt searching for something familiar. She couldn’t make me out this far away; the man handling her held her carrier down near the ground, just barely hovering above it, which made me instantly nervous.
These men killed for a living. They’d killed entire families, women, children…probably babies. They’d have no qualms about dropping my kid or tossing her entire car seat toward the enemy. I realized as I glanced back, seeing our surroundings, Ivan had surrounded himself with his men but backed us into a wall so that Juan’s men wouldn’t be able to circle from behind, which only meant he’d have more leverage to use me or Alex as hostages.
“I’ll go to war then,” my father finally said through clenched teeth, grabbing a hold of me tighter than before. “The first casualties in this battle will be the two hearts on your chest, you fucking idiot.”
I screamed.
I screamed so terrifyingly loud that I thought my voice would leave me entirely. I thrust what I could of my body backward to try to protect my daughter, but whatever I thought was going to happen didn’t. My body went slack as my father’s grip released me and he staggered forward. I watched in confusion as blood began to bubble from his lips, and his men seemed to be at a loss as well. Then Kyle sidestepped the man he’d just killed, the bloody knife dangling at his side.
Decker was behind the man holding my daughter, holding a gun to his head. The man who had been with them at the wedding, their Uncle Scotty or something, was behind another man, holding a gun to his temple. My father’s men lifted their arms in surrender and stepped away from the circle they’d formed with Alex and me inside.
I unbuckled my daughter as she began to wail, and I clutched her to my chest as I tried to soothe her. Kyle handed the bloodied weapon back to his uncle, who tossed the knife under one of the burning cars. Decker lowered his gun, handing it over to his uncle as well.
“You…” I started but couldn’t speak over the bubble in my throat.
“He wanted to go to war…problem was, he chose to battle against my family.” Kyle crouched down, getting eye level with me. He shrugged, giving me a small grin before he stood up and walked off.
Decker crouched next, placing a solid hand on my back. Tears nearly blinded me as I gave him a watery smile. “You?”
He met my smile with a sad one of his own. “Mallory is my life, and she was two seconds from driving here herself to get you.” He shook his head back and forth. “My morals grew grey after that shit with Elias, and my hand…I guess this side of the law doesn’t really feel too foreign to me. My Uncle Scotty has been in this business for a long time too, so there’s that.”
Yes, his uncle had worked for my father. I ducked my head, trying to ignore that I had to share family with a man who was tied to my own personal monster. The man in question walked past me, giving me a completely stoic face, no emotion whatsoever. He was in his mid-thirties with dark hair that matched Kyle’s and Decker’s. I had to remember that my monster was dead now, and their family member had been on the right side of this war, defending me and my daughter.
The rain fell in angry spurts as the fires around the compound began to hiss and flicker. I went to stand up with Alex cradled to my chest, and warm hands landed on my arms, helping m
e.
Whiskey eyes, muted by the greying sky but no less warm, stared back at me. His black hair was getting soaked, forcing stray strands into his eyes. He smiled at me, pushing the pieces back.
I didn’t wait another second; I just walked into his arms and allowed his strong hands to pull me against his chest. He’d found a zip-up hoodie somewhere, and the fabric was wet under my face as I pressed into him. A second later, he was standing back and guiding me toward the hole in the massive wall.
“Come on, babe,” he murmured, kissing my hairline.
Tears flowed freely as I nodded and followed him to his car.
Chapter Thirty-Four
I had our driver take us to Mallory and Decker’s place in the city. I knew she’d feel safer there than anywhere else right now, even with me. I knew she needed to see Mal and get a second to collect herself.
I had dialed my best friend letting her know we were on our way and then pocketed my phone so I didn’t have to answer a million questions from her.
Taylor had wanted to buckle Alex in the middle because it was the safest place in a car, so currently there was a baby between us. As I kept looking over at Taylor, it was getting more and more difficult not to touch her.
“Unbuckle, Taylor,” I said, voice low and commanding.
I didn’t dare take my eyes off her as she brought those ocean eyes up to meet my brown ones.
She must have understood what I needed because she didn’t question me or say anything. The sound of her restraint unclipping hit my ears, then she was moving. We were in a rather large SUV, so it was easy enough to move around in. She hunched her back and moved until she was close enough, then I pulled her into my lap.
