Death & Paradise: Royal Bastards MC: Ponce, PR

by Rae B. Lake

  “Yo se. I have no excuse. I was too lenient and should’ve kept her in one of the hideout rooms until I figured everything out.” This is a big fuck up. She knows more than she should. Who knows what she’s been communicating back to her husband or the Cano’s.

  “So, what are you going to do now?” Lobo asks from behind Vado.

  “I’ll make this right.”

  “Si? Bueno.” Vado puts his hand behind his back, pulls out his gun, cocks it, and hands it over to me. “You’re going to make it right; let’s do it right now then.”

  He wants me to kill her. I take the gun from him, and I walk out of church.

  The main area is becoming more crowded, and the music is on low. The party is about to start. Mammoth is still in the back somewhere with the girls.

  “Bastardos… Vamos.” Vado barks out, calling all the Royal Bastards. No matter what they’re doing, if they are in the vicinity, they drop everything and follow.

  “Oro, where is Cariña?” I ask as we pass him.

  “She went back up to your room.” He answers instantly.

  Garro, Lobo, myself, Vado, and Digger all make our way up to my room where Cariña is.

  “Something going on?” Garro asks.

  “Azriel has some business to handle. We’re just coming for the show,” Vado answers from behind me.

  It wasn’t for the show. Vado was bringing everyone in because if I didn’t do what needed to be done, they would see I was going against my patch. When he killed me, they wouldn’t question it. They’re all witnesses.

  I open the door to my room. Before I make it in, Cariña starts talking, unaware that I’m here to kill her.

  “AZ, if you think you’re going to fuck those bitches downstairs, then come up here and fuck me you got…” She turns around, and her eyes widen when she realizes there’s a whole crowd of people in the room. “What is this?”

  “Rosie Ramirez?” I say, hoping she denies it, praying that Pooh and Ram got it wrong. I want there to be some other way. The look on her face verifies they hadn’t.

  Cariña tries to run out of the room, but Vado catches her before she does. He wraps his hand around her neck and slams her against the wall, squeezing until her face turns a deep shade of red. “Puta, dime que tu sabes.” He growls at her.

  “Vado, she can’t breathe. If she can’t breathe, she can’t talk.” Digger says from where he’s standing.

  Vado loosens his grip, and Cariña coughs, trying to catch her breath.

  “You’re Fernando Ramirez’s aunt?” I ask quietly.

  Oh shit!

  Fuck!

  Everyone behind me says in disbelief.

  “Yes, I am, but you don’t understand. I hate him. He and his uncle destroyed and hurt me worse than anyone…”

  “I don’t give a fuck!” I yell at her and raise the gun.

  “Matala!” Vado says, standing right next to her.

  I hold the gun steady on the woman I’d been spending my nights with and try to pull the trigger. I do.

  “Maybe we should wait until we don’t have a clubhouse full of guests before we kill her,” I say, not looking away from her.

  “Please, Azriel, you know me. You know I’m not trying to play you. Why would I do this? You saw them try to kill me. I paid you. Why would I do that?” Her voice begins to rise in pitch and speed. She is trying to talk her way out of a shot to the head. A shot she can see I don’t want to take. “I’ll tell you what they want to keep me from leaking. I’ll tell you why Fernando killed his uncle.”

  “Hold up,” Digger says, moving up from the back of the pack. “Maybe we should wait, as AZ said.”

  “Why the fuck should we wait? Not only did she lie, but she’s also a fucking enemy in our home. She should fucking die.” The words spew out of Vado’s mouth like acid.

  “Brother, if she has info on the Cano’s, we need to find out what it is. I know your feelings about Basilio, but we got to figure this shit out first.” Lobo speaks up this time.

  Vado’s eyes dart from brother to brother, just waiting for someone to back him up. No one does, and I’m sure he wants to tell them all to fuck off, but he knows if he tries to go against what Lobo has suggested, he will have a different problem on his hands.

  Vado turns to me, his hand shoots out, and he grabs me by my cut, right above my patch. “You will wait until Mammoth and the girls leave, then you will take this bitch over to Caja de Muertos, drag her lying ass up that fucking mountain and bash her pretty face in with a rock. Stick a pike up her ass, do it while she's alive if you want. Leave her there like a statue. I want to see her lifeless body every time I ride by. If you don’t, kiss your fucking patch and your life goodbye.” He keeps me locked in his gaze for another minute before he lets me go and walks out.

  I put my head down and let the gun drop to my side.

  “Secure her. If she escapes, I’ll fucking kill you myself.” Lobo says behind me before he and the rest of the brothers move out of my room.

  I stare at the woman in front of me, who is breaking into pieces. Even now, when I know she has to die, all I want is for her to stop crying.

  I walk over to my closet and pull out the shackles I have.

  “Azriel, look at me!” Cariña or Rosie, whatever, screams at me.

  I don’t bother, just continue gathering what I need to make sure she doesn’t get free.

  “Azriel!” She screams for me again.

  I walk over to her and grab for her arms. She pulls them away from me, and I have to fight to catch one, but the other she pulls back. Before I have time to react, she is smacking me across my face.

  “Fucking bitch!” I roar, and my hand goes to her neck in the same way Vado did earlier. It’s just what she wants. I look her right in the eyes, and she caresses my face. I loosen my grip just enough for her to breathe.

  “Listen to me, Azriel, just listen.” She whispers, her throat straining against my grip.

  “No, no more.” I release her neck and straighten out the shackles to attach them to her hands.

  “Azriel, I have the proof. Fernando is a snitch.”

  My hands stop, and I look into her eyes. There is no way he is a snitch. Fernando runs the biggest gang in all of Puerto Rico. The Cano’s have been infiltrating mostly the ghettos like La Perla, but they are moving into some of the nicer towns, places ripe with tourists. There are hundreds of little gangsters in the Juracán Caserios gang, and Fernando leads them all. He is, as they say, the head of the snake. If he were a snitch, his entire gang would fold.

  “Bullshit,” I say, forcing my hands to move again. She’d lied to me once before; she could be doing it again.

  “It’s not. I have all the paperwork. Fernando is working with the CIA and Interpol.”

  What the fuck?

  “Basilio found out and was going to out him to his gang. They will kill him. Fernando acts hard, but he’s just a scared little boy.”

  I keep moving and shackle the first hand and grab the other. If she’s telling the truth, this could be huge for us. We’ve been trying to take down both the Manos de Terror and the Cano’s for years.

  She continues, “He knows I have no love for him, and he knows I have the proof. He is trying to kill me, and I do need help. I didn’t lie about that.”

  That’s enough to make me snap, “No, not that, just everything else, isn’t that right, Rosie?”

  “That’s not my name. That’s the bullshit name Basilio gave me to make me sound more Caucasian. I’ve had to use it since the day he bought me from my mother. Now that I’m finally free of him, I want to be called by the name I was given when I was born. Cariña Velez. That’s who I am.” The fire in her eyes is bright and enticing.

  “Too late.” I pull out a handkerchief from my pocket, grab her face hard, and shove it in her mouth. “If you make a sound, I will take you out now and kill you on our back lawn. Entiendes?”

  She rips her face from my grip and nods.

  If she has this info
rmation, I want it. I want to redeem myself. I have to make sure I’m thinking straight.

  After the party and the show Mammoth and Millicent put on at the bar, the shit I’d gotten myself into was still heavy on my mind. No one wanted to say anything about what was waiting for me upstairs, but I could see Vado shooting me dirty glances every chance he could. Digger and Oro were entertaining guests, but they were by the door if there was an attempt to escape by either me or Cariña. I didn’t know where Garro was, so that could only mean he was in the back doing the same thing Digger and Oro were doing.

  Everything is falling apart. I know I need to try to do something to salvage what I can. I hope that means I won’t have to kill Cariña, but if it’s the only way I can save my patch, then I’ll take that.

  I sit at the bar and watch Mammoth take a shot of whiskey as one of the local girls gives him an impromptu lap dance. He was in with Flora and Benita for hours, followed by a few rounds with Millicent. How the fuck he has any energy left after that wild cat is beyond me, but here he is ready to dive balls deep into another one of our girls.

  “You want this one too?” I ask as I take my shot and watch how Luz does her best to impress our guest.

  “Shit, I want a taste of everything you got here.” He laughs and leans back a little farther so she can finish her dance.

  “They all seem quite taken with you, Mammoth. I see why Gamble speaks so highly of you.”

  The switch between horny and lethal is almost instantaneous. He pushes Luz off her and turns to me, his chest puffed out, ready for a fight. “Fuck you, Azriel, watch what the fuck you say about my President. It’s not like that between Gamble and me.”

  I put my hands up in mock surrender, “That’s none of my business. We all know how she became president up there, but as I said, it’s no matter to me. All I meant was that I can see you know how to treat the ladies.”

  Mammoth stares me down for a second before he backs down a bit. “Yeah, I handle my own. Make sure they are treated well.”

  “I know we made a deal with your club, and of course, we will honor it, but I have a slight request for one of them,” I say, pouring both of us another drink.

  “Really? I didn’t know your sluts came with conditions.”

  “Not conditions, just a favor from one brother to another.” I slide the shot glass over to him and watch as he downs the honey-colored liquor in one quick motion.

  “What do you have in mind?” he asks.

  “Flora,” I say, and from the corner of my eye, I see Lobo’s head perk up. I know I have his attention.

  “Yeah, that’s one nice piece of ass on that one.”

  “I agree.” I take my shot before I continue, “I know she’s already set to go with you, she signed on for the fast money and quick fucks in front of the camera, but she’s special. I need her to be safe.”

  Mammoth looks at me for a long second before he nods his head, “Yeah, man, I can’t say she won’t be used and abused, but I can say she will agree to it first. She’s good with us, man, you have my word.”

  “That’s what I want to hear.” I clap him on the back, “Luz! Come over here and suck our guest’s cock. Let’s send him off right!”

  “Well, fuck yeah!” Mammoth turns, and Luz saunters over to him to do what I’d just asked.

  I move away from them and let Mammoth enjoy the rest of his time in Puerto Rico. Tomorrow he will be on his way back home, and that will probably be the last time he and I will cross paths. He deserves his peace. Besides, if I played that right, Lobo would be waiting to talk to me.

  I sit on the far side of the bar and watch Coca work her ass off to get drinks to everyone, all while making sure the girls are entertaining the men.

  “I know why you did that,” Lobo says as he sits down next to me.

  “You know Flora always meant a lot to me.”

  “Mentiroso,” Lobo replies quickly.

  “Me, a liar?” I let my eyes open wide in mock shock.

  “You’re lucky that I know you’re not.” Lobo turns to me, his face completely serious.

  “Lobo, this shit is-”

  He waves a hand, “I wasn’t going to let him kill you. I know you didn’t know she was that fuck’s wife. It’s your bullshit to fix, though. You told us to let her in, we did. Anything that comes from this is on you.”

  “I know it. I think she may have some information, though.”

  “Then get that shit, AZ. Vado has been searching for Basilio for years. I know for a fact Basilio is the only motherfucker Vado would willingly go back to jail for. If she knows where Basilio is, then that might help.”

  “She could help us. I really think that she-” He cut me off again.

  “No, AZ, she’s gotta die. Tonight. You’re going to take her up to Isla de Caja de Muertos, and you’re going to bash her head in with a rock, just like Vado said. Get rid of her, Azriel. I won’t let him take your patch for letting her in, but I will let him take your life if you go against your vows.” He says, making sure to keep eye contact, so I know he is serious. If I don’t follow through on my orders, he will stand back and let Vado end my life.

  It’s time.

  Mammoth is on his way home, and the girls are either on their way to the states or back to where they came from. Coca got our normal girls back over to Seda, where they belong. The club is a mess, but everything is going back to normal.

  Everyone except me. I know nothing is stopping me from completing the task Vado gave me. Time to take care of Cariña.

  It was the dead of night. The perfect time to drop a body off a mountain or mount one on a spike, as Vado requested.

  I walk up the stairs, my feet heavy, and my head swimming with questions. I open the door and see she’s still in the same spot I left her. Her hands bound, but the gag has been spat out of her mouth.

  Her head slowly moves up until her eyes find mine. “Azriel, please. You have to believe me.”

  “Shut up. Just shut the fuck up.” I grab her by the shackles and yank her to her feet.

  “Azriel, why would I stay so long if I was just a spy or whatever you guys think I am?”

  “I’m not going to tell you again, Cariña.” I pull at her wrist and walk toward the door. She doesn’t fight, just follows behind me. It just pisses me off more.

  We walk toward the front of the clubhouse. Vado sits on one of the stools near the bar, a cigarette in his mouth, and his cold eyes focused on Cariña.

  “Idiota!” She calls out to him and rips her hands out of mine, and rushes over to Vado before I can catch up to her. Vado doesn’t move an inch, his eyes just trailing upwards until they reach hers again.

  “You don’t know anything. You don’t know what I’ve been through, or the fucked up things that man has done to me. I was there the night he killed your baby brother.”

  Vado reacts to that, the snarl on his face is feral. I pull her back against my chest, right where she belongs.

  “I was there and held his hand as he died. We prayed together, and I wiped his tears. He was a beautiful boy,” she softens her voice. “I hate that man just as much as you, if not more. You’re making a mistake.”

  The frigid expression leaves Vado’s face, but it doesn’t change his mind. “Don’t come back here until it’s done,” Vado commands, looking at me. I nod and turn her around to the door.

  Still, she doesn’t fight, just follows me into the night. She climbed up on my bike behind me, wrapped her still shackled hands around my waist, and held me close.

  I park my bike at the pier and help her off the back of it. It was a long drive.

  “You don’t even want to know my side of the story?” she asks, as I get the speed boat ready.

  “What will it help? There’s nothing you can say that will change what I have to do. You’re going to die tonight, Cariña.”

  She releases a sigh.

  I expect her to start crying at any moment. Most do, men and women alike. No one likes to be faced with their
mortality.

  “I don’t have anything left to live for anyway. That man and his nephew took everything from me. My family, my freedom, my pleasure, everything.” She looks up at me, that fire still burning bright in her eyes. No anger or fear, just determination, and hatred.

  “Cariña, there is nothing you can say,” I repeat, but my tone betrays how I feel. It’s soft and full of remorse. Cariña has only been around for a short time, but in these few weeks, I have become closer to her than pretty much anyone outside of my brothers. The sex is unbelievable, she’s exciting, and she doesn’t take shit. I know in my fucking soul she isn’t trying to pull one over on us, but I can’t go against my orders.

  “Fine, you can say it. Go and get the proof. Bring it back to Vado and bring that pendejo, Fernando down.”

  I look over at the boat and then toward the small island. Neither is going anywhere. The least I can do is hear her out and get the information I need to keep my patch.

  “Tell me everything you know, Cariña. Start from the beginning, and every word better be the fucking truth.”

  I can see the pain on his face. He doesn’t want to do this, but I know he doesn’t have a choice. I put him in this situation. If I had just been honest with him from the beginning, maybe things would have been different, but I made a different choice, and now that shit has come back to bite me in the ass. Honestly, the only reason I’m upset my life will end tonight is because I know Fernando will get away with everything he’s done scott free. I can’t stand for that to happen.

  “It’s like I said, Azriel, my mother sold me to Basilio when I was very young. I came from nothing, and my mother came from nothing, her mother the same. All she knew was that Basilio looked like he had money, and he wanted me. She thought she was doing right by me. I thought she was too. After we were married, he wanted me to have a child. When I didn’t fall pregnant right away, he became abusive. Emotionally and physically. He blamed me for not getting pregnant when it was him the entire time. He’d tried to rape a woman, and she bit his balls off almost completely. This was before he even met me. I had no chance. “