Violent Ends (White Monarch Book 2)

by Jessica Hawkins

  “You don’t know that he would’ve failed,” Natalia said heatedly.

  A fine time to find her voice, I thought wryly. “I do. He wants more. He feels he’s owed. That blinds him, and that’s how mistakes are made.” I winked at her. “If you can’t see how I’ve protected you, consider my interference a preventative measure.”

  “Owed?” Costa asked. “What for?”

  At one of the study’s long, wide windows overlooking Bianca’s garden, I lit my cigarette. She’d put a lot of work into the backyard, the roses especially. I pushed the window open wider, sat at the sill, and faced my new wife. My budding rose. “Diego’s grievances against this family run deep, but I don’t blame you for not recognizing that. He’s a master of disguise and manipulation.”

  She glared at me. “Some would say that was you.”

  “He was never the loyal charge you thought him to be,” I said, tearing my eyes from her to look at Costa. “I don’t relish being the one to break that to you.”

  Costa came around his desk. “What’re you saying?”

  “I came to you as a boy when I was lost and in need of help,” I said. “You brought me to this very room. We formed a plan. You trusted me then, and I’m telling you to trust me now. Diego never forgave us for what we did.”

  Costa drew back. “For your parents?” he asked. “That was years ago. He was—what—eight at the time?”

  “He has seen it as a betrayal ever since. I set it in motion, but you aimed the gun, and you pulled the trigger. We each watched our mother and father die by your hand.”

  “Against Bianca’s advice,” Costa said, walking to one of the other windows and looking out. “I did that to ensure you boys understood that even though I was taking mercy on you, I was the boss, and I was not to be fucked with.”

  I took a drag. “He has fucked with you. And me.”

  “Bianca warned me that could happen. She never worried about you,” Costa continued, glancing at me, “but your brother . . . she wondered if seeing that had irreparably scarred him. I called her paranoid.”

  Natalia’s eyebrows met in the middle of her forehead. “You never told me that.”

  “As I said. I thought it was bullshit, so after her death, I didn’t give it much thought.”

  Out the window, I tapped ashes from my cigarette. “He sees us as responsible for the loss of his parents, his family’s business, and perhaps most importantly—his legacy.”

  Costa returned to his desk, but sat against the front of it this time, crossing his arms over his chest. “He blames you too?”

  I nodded once. “He never forgave me for it.”

  “How would you know?” Natalia asked. “You weren’t here. He was. He stayed by my father’s side for almost twenty years.”

  “Diego is loyal,” I agreed. “To himself, and his needs. Staying here suited him.” I raised my eyes to Costa. “He’s always been good with strategy, hasn’t he? He knows when short-term sacrifice equals long-term gains.”

  I knew Costa was thinking of how Diego had convinced him to work with the Maldonados, despite the risk involved. The business they would’ve gained from such a prolific cartel would’ve set them up for years to come—if not for me, of course.

  Natalia’s defense of my brother was weak at best. She was listening to what I had to say, but until she could grasp the full meaning of it, her default was to act defensive.

  But the doubt was in her. She was beginning to see the truth about Diego. As I tended to and nurtured her distrust, it would grow, and her devotion to him would shift easily. I just needed to cultivate a weak trait of my own to get us there—patience.

  I studied my cigarette, considering the best way to word what came next. I raised my eyes to Costa. “Diego’s plan was always to earn Natalia’s love so he could use that against you to take your business.”

  Costa’s response rumbled through the room. “That’s a bold accusation.”

  He could call it what he wanted. It was also the truth. I’d waited too long to tell him that, and yet, it was Natalia’s reaction I watched for. A flush worked its way up from the collar of her tight little t-shirt. Her nipples hardened when she was angry—interesting. Where would she direct her wrath?

  “He said he didn’t care about the business—he just wanted to save enough money so we could live comfortably,” Natalia said, her jaw working back and forth. “He said we were going to California.”

  “I’m sure he also said he’d marry you.” I inclined my head toward her left hand. The small ring was missing a diamond fit for a queen, but that was on its way. “And that he’d love you. Protect you. Yet here we are.”

  Her sexy lips twitched in frustration. “How can I believe a word you say?”

  “Don’t, then,” I said, and looked to Costa. “Believe your gut. Logic and reason. Believe a man’s motivations when he shows them to you.”

  Costa massaged his jaw, lost in thought. “How?” was his only response.

  I brushed ash from my pant leg. “Diego lied to Natalia as part of a greater plan to make her love and trust him,” I explained. “Then, when it came time, he’d ask her to choose. You or him.” Natalia’s face reddened. I did so enjoy when she flushed and blushed, such a desert rose . . . and I looked forward to watching her bloom under more intimate circumstances. “She would’ve chosen Diego.”

  “You don’t know that,” she said immediately.

  “You chose Diego the moment you agreed to marry him against Costa’s wishes.”

  She shut her eyes briefly. “Papá” wouldn’t take kindly to this new information.

  “What’s he talking about, Natalia?” Costa asked. “Is that true? I’m sure it’s not.” His thick, graying eyebrows fell nearly to his chin as he leveled a glare on her. “Diego knows better than to get involved with my daughter. And she knows better, too. Don’t you, Natalia?”

  She turned fully to him. It didn’t surprise me that she took a small step back in my direction. Suddenly my protection didn’t sound so bad. “We had no choice,” she said. “It was all we could think of to save the family. The Maldonados were closing in—”

  “Get to the point,” Costa barked. “When Cristiano says you agreed to marry Diego, what does he mean?”

  A beat passed, and I resisted from jumping in. This was a battle Natalia had to fight, even though she wouldn’t win. “Just as it sounds,” she said quietly but without wavering. “It’s the reason we were at the church on Sunday.”

  “How? Diego said Cristiano ambushed you after Mass.”

  “He did.” She touched her ring, then stilled her hands, drawing up straighter. “But everything was already in place, because Diego and I had planned to do the ceremony right after. Quickly. Because the Maldonados—”

  “Fuck the Maldonados. Are you telling me you were going to go behind my back when I specifically told you to stay away from him?” He took heavy, deliberate steps toward her. “When I forbade you from even seeing him again?”

  “That’s why we had to do it,” she cried. “I knew you’d say no, and Diego told me it was the only way to save the family. If I’d come to you first, we might not even be here right now.”

  Costa and I met eyes over her head. “See what I mean?” I asked. “As soon as Diego realized he was in too deep and that I could make it all go away, his first thought was what—or who—he could trade for his life.”

  “I just assumed that he . . .” She spoke to herself, her eyes on the floor. “He never actually proposed. I just assumed.”

  “Because he never intended to make you his wife,” I said as gently as I was capable of. “Only to make you mine.”

  As the level of his deceit settled onto her slender shoulders, I had warring urges to gather her in my arms and hunt down my snake of a brother so I could bring her his head. It bothered me to acknowledge that in this moment, especially with Costa looking on, distance was probably what she needed most.

  She bent her head briefly, but picked it back up
to meet her father’s blistering gaze. “If you had listened from the start, I wouldn’t have had to go behind your back.”

  “Then I suppose it’s a good thing Cristiano was there!” he bellowed.

  Even Max flinched, and I couldn’t help a small laugh—the man had faced down far scarier men than Costa, but never an irate father.

  Natalia whirled to me, fire blazing in her eyes. “Do you think this is funny?” She jerked a hand back at Costa. “Tell him, Cristiano. We were all in danger.”

  I looked to the back of the room—not to Max, but to the second ever invader to make it inside my home. The first, an overeager and overqualified Federal, was now on my team. Even though Barto and I had been tight-knit comrades once, I’d be a fool to trust him with sensitive information. “Privacy, please,” I said to both men.

  Max stepped to the door instantly, but Barto waited for Costa’s signal before leaving the room.

  Once the three of us were truly alone, I spoke to Natalia. “The threat was against Diego for the millions and millions he’d cost the Maldonados. Of course, that threat extended to the Cruz cartel. Costa knows that. It’s why he was sending you away.”

  She glanced at her father. “I was doing what I thought—”

  “But.” I cut her off, and silence fell over the room as my audience waited. “Diego lied about the danger you both were in. I told him I’d make a deal with the Maldonados to protect you. To protect everyone but him. He was the only one who’d pay the price.”

  Natalia’s face paled as she shook her head. “No. I don’t believe you.”

  “In a final, desperate attempt for his life, he offered you up as my bride,” I said.

  Costa walked up behind Natalia as she began to shake, her fingers curling into balls. He placed his hands on her shoulders. “Why would you accept, Cristiano?”

  “Our families would unite,” I said. “We’d both become more powerful. You have a better infrastructure than I do—”

  “Your business brings in far more than mine,” Costa said evenly. “There’s more to it than that. So why?”

  My eyes drifted from his down to Natalia, whose gaze burned with anger. But for once, it wasn’t directed at me. She had every right to feel enraged. I was, too, for her. In moments like these, stripped down, she was a young girl again, who I’d silently protected from the wings. I saw the headstrong, smart woman she had become but which had been blunted by Costa, Diego, and a sheltered life in the cartel. I saw Bianca in her, as well as a woman I didn’t deserve, but one I hadn’t hesitated to take. And now that she was my wife, and I had decided I could—and would—keep her, I saw our future.

  Costa leaned back on his heels, looking between us. “I see,” he said, even though I hadn’t responded.

  “Diego promised he’d get her to marry me of her own free will, and she did, Costa. I didn’t kidnap her. I gave her a choice—she made it.”

  Natalia’s shoulders fell. Either she was still processing the depth of Diego’s betrayal or she was realizing that this deal was done, and Costa wouldn’t save her.

  I was torn. As I willed her to get back up and fight for what she wanted—always, no matter what—I also hoped this was one battle where she’d stand down. I would make her a good husband. And in order to get Costa on my side, I was willing to use all the tools I had to convince him of it. Without his blessing, I’d be forced to choose between the wants of a man I deeply respected and my own.

  Costa had always known me to be a good man, even when I’d stood accused of murdering Bianca. If he’d ever truly believed I’d done it, I’d be rotting six feet under right now.

  “Natalia knows she’s free to walk away at any time,” I said. “But if she does, I’ll have no more stake in this fight. I’ll be forced to walk away too. I won’t send anyone after you, but I can’t promise they’ll stay away.” I glanced at Natalia. “As I’ve told your daughter, my protection extends to your family as long as it’s mine. And that will remain true when threats like the Maldonados or Diego are nothing but an afterthought.”

  “And if we refuse?” Costa asked.

  I flicked my lighter open and closed, darting my eyes between the two of them. “If I hadn’t stepped in, Diego would’ve pulled off his deal with the Maldonados and made another, building his fortune. Knowing your objections, he would’ve convinced Natalia to marry him in secret by promising her the world—or in this case, promising to get her out of this world.”

  She took her bottom lip between her teeth, and I had to look away so I wouldn’t be tempted to take her sexy, plump lip between my teeth.

  “Once he’d secured her hand,” I continued, trying to gauge Costa’s reaction, “and her undying love and loyalty, he would’ve gone to you with an ultimatum.” I paused, then returned my gaze to my wife. “If you didn’t hand over the cartel, he would turn Natalia against you.”

  “I wouldn’t have betrayed my father like that,” she said. “And I wouldn’t stay here and run the cartel with Diego.”

  “You would’ve protested . . . at first,” I said, nodding. “But he works a long game, Natalia. And the proof stands before me.” I tilted my head. “You agreed to give up your life in California. To marry Diego behind Costa’s back. In time, there’s nothing you wouldn’t have done for my brother.”

  She shook her head. “That’s not true.”

  I squinted at her with one final drag. “Once you were willing to do anything Diego asked of you, then Costa would have to do anything Diego asked of him.”

  “You make it sound like I’m just a pawn,” she said. “I have a mind of my own.”

  “Just imagine if he’d gotten you pregnant.”

  She snapped her mouth shut.

  “The leverage he would’ve had over you . . .” I inhaled a deep breath through my nostrils, more agitated at the idea than I would’ve thought possible.

  And that motherfucker had come close.

  Thank fuck for condoms and Natalia’s good sense enough to use one—but she’d better believe I’d be inquiring after her period starting now.

  Costa squeezed her shoulders with a dark chuckle. “Fortunately, that’s not possible for a virgin.”

  “She’s not a virgin,” I said.

  Natalia’s mouth dropped open. “You asshole.”

  Costa flexed his fist as a much greater tide of anger rose in him than in her. I’d known Costa a long time and it had once been my job to read his moods, understand the things he didn’t say, and anticipate his needs. He had a temper.

  He cast her side and marched at me. “Tell me how the fuck you consummate a marriage with a bride who wants nothing to do with you.”

  “I haven’t,” I said, meeting his eyes, waiting for understanding to dawn. “You have my word—the marriage hasn’t been . . . made official.”

  Costa’s neck corded, another swell of rage overtaking him. He looked over his shoulder at Natalia. My mind flashed back to days earlier, when he’d found out she’d spent the night with Diego and thrown her to the ground. It would be the last time in my presence.

  He paced toward her, seething. “Diego? He did this?”

  I flicked my cigarette out the window and got to my feet, ready to intervene if necessary.

  “We did this,” she answered solemnly, her posture stiff. “I was there too.”

  “Is this a joke to you?” He blew by her and slammed his fists on the surface of his desk. “How could you let him?”

  She flattened her palm to her breast as her chest stuttered, her confidence clearly shaken. “Because I loved him,” she said, her voice breaking.

  “Only because he manipulated you,” I said.

  “And what about you?” she accused, whirling to me. “You have gotten everything you wanted while taking my chance at a happy life.”

  With a deeply buried pang of guilt, my control slipped. “Then go.”

  Surprise momentarily flashed across her face, followed by resignation. She wanted to keep making me the bad guy. To make me i
nto my father. I wasn’t him, and I wouldn’t let her reverse all the work I’d done to make sure of that.

  “I warned you about this,” Costa snapped at her.

  Her chin wobbled. “I thought I loved him—maybe I still do. I don’t know, Papá. He hurt me.”

  “Qué chingado, that motherfucking bastard.” Costa swept his hands over the desk so everything in his path went flying. “I told you if he broke your heart, I’d kill him, and I don’t make idle threats.”

  “I’m as responsible as he is.” Natalia swiped a tear away, taking a breath. “It was my choice to make—you couldn’t have stopped it.”

  Costa ignored her, turning to me. “I will ask you this once. By marrying her, do you have my daughter’s best interests at heart?”

  “Yes.” I took a few steps so I could look him in the eye. “And no.”

  He frowned. “Excuse me?”

  “I’ve always sworn to protect your family. If I hadn’t been in the wrong place at the wrong time during Bianca’s murder, I would’ve been here by your side every day the past eleven years.” I paused. “I’ll make it up to you now and deliver on my promise to Bianca that I’d protect her daughter—even against Diego.”

  Costa shook his head. “Bianca had her concerns about him. Though she accepted Diego into our family, she suspected he was hiding something, or that he resented us, and I knew the feeling—I had that same instinct. But his words and actions were always loyal, for so many years, and he never gave me reason to turn him out.”

  “He’s clever that way. And he has something I don’t—great patience,” I said. “But that may be the only thing. I’ve got him beat in most other ways and now that your family is mine, your enemies are mine. Do I think Natalia deserves this life? No. But I do think she’s made for it.”

  She flinched almost imperceptibly. It was a lot to take in; she needed time to process.

  Costa’s rage ebbed, but I knew it sat close to the surface. “I want Natalia to be with someone who loves her, treats her well, and protects her.”