Instinct had me glancing at Eden. After exchanging the same apprehensive stares, she folded her legs onto the seat and slipped her hand in mine behind her bent knees, shielding the small show of affection from view. Wisely, she kept her mouth shut. After such a short time, she’d learned quickly the three basic rules governing our cartel: hold your tongue, never let anyone see what you stand to lose, and fear is a useless emotion.
Out of instinct, I touched the medallion, still hanging around my neck. It lay hidden underneath my white button-up shirt and jacket. If my men saw it, I’d be done for, but something wouldn’t allow me to take it off.
She’d given it to me, and as much as I’d never understood religion, I felt peace wearing it. Maybe it stemmed from it belonging to the woman sitting beside me, or maybe it truly had some mystical power I couldn’t understand. Regardless, I’d put it on this morning the minute Eden and I got out of the shower.
The moment I touched the smooth porcelain face, I felt it.
I felt it, and Eden whispered it, breaking rule number one of my cartel code.
“Something isn’t right.”
Looking away wasn’t an option when her eyes held such dreaded anticipation. “Keep your voice down.”
“Something isn’t right,” she repeated, tucking a strand of her shocking candy-red hair behind her ear. “Val, can’t you feel it? Look at them.” She slightly lifted our joined hands toward the front of the SUV, pointing to my men who were locked in deep discussion.
Breaking from her worried blue eyes, I shifted my gaze toward Mateo and Emilio, sharing phone screens, deep lines marring their foreheads. I’d never confirm her suspicions, but the same worry ran through my blood the moment we left the safe house.
However, I was the boss of this damn cartel, and I deserved answers.
“Enough with the whispering bullshit!” I shouted, my blood pressure rising with every sharp turn Mateo took. “What the hell is going on?”
“Boss, there’s something you should know,” Emilio began as Mateo threw a scowl at him, jerking the wheel to the left. Obviously, the earlier whispers concerned cartel rules one and two.
Fuck.
The car filled with tension, and an internal war raged within me between taking control as the boss and getting the one thing I’ve grown unable to resist the hell out of here.
As unsure glances passed between my two lieutenants, all I’ve known my entire life won the battle. I dropped Eden’s hand, and gripped the back of Mateo’s head rest. “Have you forgotten who runs this cartel, Cortes? I’m not dead yet. Until I am, you’ll both stop the secretive whispering and inform me of every goddamn thing that happens. Now!”
Mateo’s darkened eyes locked with mine in the rearview mirror. “Fine. My men confirmed suspicious activity around the—”
He never finished his thought.
Ear-shattering blasts shook the SUV, the impact rattling the windows and the frame. A flood of unresolved anxiety hit me from feeling the same damn thing not seven hours earlier. Instinct had me diving over Eden, covering her with my own body as the car rattled with the impact. Mateo and Emilio cursed, fighting to stay in control of the wheel and shouting commands for me to stay down as they pulled their guns.
Several aftershocks hit, causing Eden to scream, her cries muffled by my own chest. My ears rang, the blast reengaging the deafness I’d experienced following the stash house explosion.
“Mateo, what the fuck?” I blinked through the clouds of smoke permeating the windows. As soon as I spoke the words, a second blast ripped any other words from my lips as the SUV took a hard right onto a side road.
He barked out orders, breaking rank in the chaos. “Stay down!”
“Val!”
I pushed up on my hands and knees and grabbed a handful of her hair, shoving it down onto the leather seat. “Head down, Cereza!” The blast seemed to have quieted, so I risked a look around. Black smoke billowed from the horizon, a mushroom of explosion, leading the way for sirens gaining volume in the distance.
Mateo slammed his hand against the steering wheel and made another sharp turn. “Keep her down!”
“What the hell happened?” I demanded, watching the dark funnel cloud fade into the distance. I’d had enough reactionary shit. I hadn’t ruled most of the United States as the top importer, forcing any rival cartel that dared challenge me back to Mexico with an empty bank account and skeleton crew because I sat back and allowed myself to be challenged.
I’d been enthralled with a woman and let business get out of hand long enough. It stopped right now.
Mateo’s jaw ticked as he casted a side-eye at Emilio. “They lit the safe house.”
Fighting under my hold, Eden popped up, her wild hair wrapped across her chin. “What do you mean lit?”
Closing my eyes, I drew a long breath, knowing the blast was only phase one. “He means the safe house is gone.”
“Gone?”
“Gone. As in blown to hell and back.”
Disbelief coated her widened eyes. “But…we were just there.”
“Cereza…” Raking my palm down my face, I willed her to stop talking.
“Oh, God,” she stammered, her voice catching with understanding. “We almost…they tried…oh, God!”
I wanted to touch her and reassure her we’d be okay. Instead, I stared at her blankly then turned my head away in frustration. I couldn’t tell her something that might be a lie.
“Are you sure? Jesus, you’re sure?” Letting out a string of curses, Emilio punched the dashboard in front of him as he gripped the phone tightly against his face. “Is she all right? What hospital? Yes, take care of all the bills and make sure you talk to her. She knows not to say anything, but I want it reinforced, understand? Bien. Update in fifteen minutes, or I’ll have someone’s ass.” Cursing again, he slammed his phone against the window, punctuating each hit with a new expletive.
I steeled my jaw. “What now?”
“They got RVC too. About twenty minutes ago. My men don’t know much—only that the bomb originated from the giant hole that used to be your office.”
She.
“Janine? Is she…?”
Emilio shook his head. “No, she’d just punched in the code to open it up for a client who’d put in a call for a Saturday appointment. The blast knocked her out, and she’s cut up pretty bad from the glass, but she’s going to be all right.”
We spent the rest of the ride in silence, the hard reality of the situation weighing on all four of us.
The Muñoz cartel just made a decisive move in a war I had to finish.
Something told me not all of us would make it through to the other side.
* * *
The last thing I wanted was for Eden to be sucked into my world.
Out of safe houses and places to go, we’d driven for forty-five minutes before making the reluctant decision to return to my own house. Miraculously, it still stood, unscathed from Muñoz artillery.
For now.
Mateo paced the floor, convinced we were all sitting targets. He was right. But I’d argued it didn’t matter where we went. Unless we drove until the wheels fell off the SUV, eventually they’d find us. I’d be damned if I’d run like a little bitch. No Carrera backed down from a fight, and this would be no different. Fucking with me was one thing, but those bastards made it personal when they killed my men, put an innocent employee in the hospital, and endangered the life of a woman who confused the hell out of me.
She sat curled up in the corner of my oversized, black leather couch, her knees hugged to her chest, staring off into the open kitchen. With her brows drawn and her lips pulled tight, I had no idea what she thought, but I had a feeling she hated me. With good reason.
I brought her into this against her will. She still associated me with the death of her brother, and now, there stood a very good chance, we’d all die before the end of the day. Not exactly the kind of guy every girl dreamed of bringing home to meet the family.
> Then again, background info told me Eden’s mom had split when she was born, her father took one of my biggest unpaid drug debts and left town, and my best cleaner did God knows what with her brother’s body. There was no family left to meet.
But as much as I wanted her, as much as my body craved her, and her presence calmed the chaos, I knew the only safe place for her would be far away from me. The Muñoz cartel would take what they knew would hurt me the most. They wouldn’t take pleasure in torturing me with physical pain. We’d all grown up with the same code and creed—endure until death, but divulge nothing.
No, they’d never inflict direct pain on me. They’d do it through her. The longer I kept her, the higher the price on her head became.
Ensuring Mateo’s attention remained on his phone and his incessant pacing, and Emilio remained outside talking with lower ranking men, I stole the moment to ruin the only good thing that’d ever been mine.
Taking a seat beside her, I clasped my hands in front of me to stop myself from touching her. “Are you all right?”
“Do I look all right?”
Attempting to lighten the heaviness in the air, I picked up a lock of her shocking flame-colored hair and rolled it between my fingers. Nodding to her white shorts and blue top, I somewhat managed a smirk. “You look like an extremely fuckable flag.”
She rolled her eyes, dropping her head back against the cushion. “God, you’re crude.”
“What do you want me to say, Eden? I’m doing the best I can here.”
“I want you to say we’re going to be okay,” she answered, rolling her chin toward me.
“I can’t.”
She remained quiet for a moment, and I didn’t know whether to break the silence or let it ride as long as I could before I made her hate me. The decision was made for me when she abruptly sat up, rubbing her palms roughly down the length of her thighs.
“These are the men that killed my brother?”
“Yes.”
“Fine. Then let’s stop fucking around,” she said balling her fists, her body taut. “Let’s take the fight to them instead.”
While on some sadistic level, the monster in me would love to see those Muñoz shits on the receiving end of Eden Lachey’s barbed tongue, the suggestion made me laugh out loud. When she turned her icy stare my way, I choked on my own amusement. “You’re fucking serious?”
“Do I look like I’m joking? Why do you keep asking me stupid questions?”
“Because you keep saying stupid shit.” I raked my hand through my hair. “No way, Cereza. You have no idea who these men are or what they’re capable of.”
Calm, almost too calm for my liking, she crossed her legs and sat back into the arm of the sofa, her elbows supporting her. “Oh, I think I know exactly what they’re capable of, Danger. I watched it with my own eyes while hiding in a pantry. I saw them put a gun to the back of my brother’s head and pulled the trigger. I had to watch it all, because if I moved—if I screamed—if I said one goddamn word out of place, I’d be next.”
Without a word, she wrapped an arm around my waist, resting her small hand above my lower back. My gut twisted at the images she created in my head. I hadn’t stopped to think of what she’d been through. My entire life had been lived in a pantry. By the time I was sixteen, I had no idea how to ride a bicycle, but I could blow a man’s head off from twenty yards away.
Our worlds were opposites, and I’d thought taking her had saved her life.
Seeing her hardened scowl and the determined bloodthirst in her eyes, I realized I’d ruined it.
* * *
An hour later, the front door slammed open as Emilio pulled his gun, engaging all four deadbolt locks and punching in the security code. Lifting my head from its propped position at my bar, I followed his movement with mild irritation.
“Reyes, what the hell? This is my house, not a bomb shelter.”
Checking the windows, Emilio’s face held no amusement as he swung his gun from where I sat to the middle of the living room. “Move. Now!”
My blood ran cold. “Emilio,” I asked, drawing out every syllable to buy time. “What are you doing, man? Put the gun down.” Shifting a glance toward Eden, her eyes widened and I barely shook my head, indicating for her to stay still. I had no idea what would go down in the next few seconds and I didn’t want her caught in the crossfire.
Moving quickly, Emilio turned his back to me, pointing his gun steadily at Eden. “I’ve asked you before, but now I want a fucking answer. Who are you?”
“Put the gun down, Emilio.”
“Can’t do that, boss,” he replied, his elbow straight and finger locked on the trigger. “Just got off the phone with one of my men. The gas station where we stopped to fill up the SUV just went up in flames. Convenient, don’t you think?”
No, it couldn’t be possible.
The muscles in Eden’s neck tightened as she stared down the barrel of Emilio’s gun. “And you think I jumped out while you pumped gas, dropped a few cell phone bombs out of my bra while in the ladies’ room, and climbed back inside just for the hell of it?”
“How should I know what you crazy bitches do? From where I’m standing, all I see is the fact that every place you’ve been has blown the fuck up. Now, just how do you think that happened, huh? We,”—he waved the gun around the room, implicating the rest of us,”—are all Carrera men, sworn to protect and die for this man.” I raised my eyebrows as he waved the gun in my direction. “You’re an outsider who’s caused everything to go to shit since I put you in my damn car!”
“Enough!” I yelled, moving to reach for my own gun. I’d let this play out long enough. Emilio served as a high-ranking lieutenant, so I’d indulged his rant and let him blow off steam. But the way he spoke to Eden pissed me off.
Eden, however, had by-passed pissed off and turned explosive. Before I could reach for my piece, she shot to her feet, boldly shoving him in the center of his chest with locked arms. “Don’t you dare put this on me, Emilio Reyes! Don’t forget that I watched you torment my brother right before you mutilated him. You may not have pulled the trigger, but don’t think I won’t put a goddamn bullet in your head for what you did!”
I’d never seen Eden so callous and brutal. All the blood rushed south of my waistline, constricting my pants as I watched her transform before my eyes.
Fuck, I wanted her.
Emilio laughed, his eyes taking in her small frame and dismissing it. “You don’t have what it takes, little girl.”
Before anyone could move, Eden reached behind her and pulled something metal from the back of her shorts. Splitting her stance, she raised both arms and pulled the slide on the top of the gun back, advancing the first shell into the chamber. “You sure about that? Why don’t we find out?”
The minute I saw the gun in her hands, I recognized it.
All but falling off the barstool, I raked both hands across the waistband of my pants, shoving my fingers under my shirt, searching for the weapon I knew wouldn’t be there. With one glance into her vacant eyes, I knew the small show of affection on the couch was a means to an end.
Karma certainly was a bitch.
“Cereza,” I called out in a calm voice as I moved slowly toward her. “Give me my gun.”
“This doesn’t concern you, Val.”
Two more steps, and I stood beside Emilio, yet her eyes never moved off her target. “I think it does when you threaten to shoot one of my men with my own gun.”
“He cut my brother’s fingers off while he screamed. I should blow his dick off in trade.” Lowering the gun, she aimed it at Emilio’s crotch.
Emilio backed up. “Boss, this bitch is crazy.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. This was the life of a criminal. Point a gun in our face and we barely flinch. Aim it at our nuts and we tap dance like a motherfucker.
“Okay, Eden, you’ve made your point. Give me the gun.” I held my hand out again.
“Go to hell, Danger.”
The last thing I wanted to do was play on her already volatile emotions, but desperate times called for even more desperate measures. I wasn’t worried about Eden hurting my men. They’d seen enough gunfire and could protect themselves. However, the woman holding my gun didn’t know the life I lived or the men who stood by my side. In her world, it’d be reprehensible for a man to attack a woman for being angry. In mine, the only recourse for the stunt she just pulled would’ve been a bullet to the head.
The only reason she still stood was because Emilio inherently knew if he harmed her, the next bullet would land between his own eyes. However, he’d also taken a sworn oath to protect me with his life. If she turned the gun on me, even innocently, honor would force him to act.
So, I did what I had to do.
“Cereza,” I whispered, stepping in between them. “It’s not worth it. Let me deal with him.”
“What the fuck, boss?”
Ignoring him, I continued, staring into her flickering eyes. “Don’t soil your hands for me.”
Her hand shook. “I can’t…Val, I can’t just…do…nothing…” The trembling climbed up her arm, taking hold of her body.
Closing the rest of the distance, I held her cheek in the palm of my hand. “I’ll do it. Stay who you are. Don’t become me, Eden. This isn’t you.” Turning her face into my hand, her finger slackened on the trigger. Seizing the opportunity, I grabbed her wrist, holding it toward the ceiling as the gun went off, blasting a round of sheet rock around our heads.
“Liar!” she screamed, twisting out of my hold.
Reclaiming a fierce hold on her, I shoved her to the carpet, both of us wrestling for the gun. Prying her fingers open, I pulled it from her hold and threw it across the room where Emilio picked it up and tucked it away. She kicked like a wild animal let out of its cage as I lay on top of her, holding her arms above her head.
“Get off me! I hate you! God, I hate you!”
Blurred Red Lines: A Carrera Cartel Novel Page 16
