by J. E. Parker
I chuckled, the sound humorless.
“Trust me, son, if I could infiltrate two prisons in the same night, both on opposite sides of the state, and kill a man in each, then sneak back out while remaining undetected, neither fucker would’ve lived as long as they did.”
I would’ve murdered them long ago.
With my bare hands.
Anthony’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t play stupid with me. You know exactly what I mean.”
I did know what he meant, along with the question he was really asking. And though I refused to lie, I wouldn’t volunteer any information either.
He rounded the desk, ready to go toe-to-toe with me. “Did you drive into Charleston like you planned?”
“No...”
Because I didn’t have to, I mentally finished.
The Kings came to my doorstep.
He didn’t look convinced.
“So you’re telling me you didn’t contact the Fallen Kings, more specifically Ari, to help you dole out the type of justice that the legal system couldn’t? Again, like you’d planned.”
More than a bit fed up, I exhaled harshly.
“No...”
They contacted us, I silently added.
Not the other way around.
“Now, if this interrogation is over.” I picked up my bag, securing it back over my shoulder. “I’d like to go home, yeah?”
Needing to tell Carmen that El Diablo and Ellington were dead as soon as possible, I moved around Anthony and crossed the room. At the door, I wrapped my hand around the silver lever handle.
“That’s not all.”
My forehead clunked against the door.
Eyes sliding closed, I groaned. “Goddammit, Anthony.” Taking a deep breath, I reopened my eyes, then spun around. “Would you hurry up and say whatever—”
“I found Alejandro.”
“He’s alive?” I choked out.
“Yeah.” Turning to face me, my son-in-law leaned back against the desk and scrubbed a palm across his clean-shaven jaw, his wedding band glinting beneath the harsh office light. He looked tired, exhausted even. How I hadn’t noticed it before, I didn’t know. “Alejandro Santiago is most definitely alive.”
The room fell silent.
“But he’s not just part of the Cartel anymore.” He dropped his hand, then recrossed his arms. I opened my mouth to ask him to explain but stopped when something flickered in his eyes, something I couldn’t quite place, but that put me on edge.
I had a real bad feeling...
“He’s the head of it.”
I froze for one second, just one after Anthony confirmed my suspicion and sent me into a tailspin. “Fuck!” The urge to shove my hand through the nearest wall was intense as I kneeled and laced my fingers together behind my head.
Fuck, fuck, fuck!
Alejandro still being part of the Cartel was dangerous enough. But being the head of it? I didn’t even know how to process that. Especially not when I knew Carmen would want to see him face to face.
And soon.
“Three weeks ago, Carlos Melendez was killed,” Anthony continued, ignoring the emotional hurricane I was trapped in, its churning currents threatening to pull me under, and speaking another demon’s name that haunted my Pixie.
Carlos Melendez.
He was the one who’d killed her father, then sent his men to kidnap her the night she was crowned Miss Colombia. Because of him, her parents were dead, her brother had been taken, and she was repeatedly brutalized.
For a decade, the fucker had kept her as his most prized possession, hurting her whenever he felt like it. It wasn’t until she got too old for his tastes that he gave her to El Diablo, who’d gotten her addicted to heroin, continuing the vicious cycle of pain she’d been trapped in.
“He was gutted and hung from the second-floor balcony attached to the mansion he’d called home for the past thirty years while his men looked on, most unwilling to step in. The few that tried...”
My head snapped up; our eyes met.
“They were killed too.”
“Who?” I stood. “Who killed Melendez?”
There was no hesitation on Anthony’s part. “Alejandro did.” I sucked in a sharp breath. “From what my source told me, he’s spent the last thirteen years thinking his big sister overdosed after arriving in the states.”
That explained why he’d never come looking for Carmen. She’d told me he’d been cold, almost monstrous when she’d last seen him as she was dragged from Melendez’s estate by Dominic. But I’d always thought there was more to the story.
Now I knew there was.
“When he found out the truth, I was told he went ballistic and turned on Melendez like a rabid dog.” He cleared his throat. “Even when conditioned to follow someone, like Alejandro has been since he was twelve, people still have breaking points. Finding out his sister was still alive instead of dead like they had led him to believe she was, well…”
It was a breaking point I understood.
Arms now hanging at my sides, I fisted my hands. “And what, he just took the hell over? Filling the spot Melendez had vacated?”
Anthony’s jaw ticked. “Alejandro may have reached his breaking point with Melendez, but after spending most of his life being shaped and molded into a killer, it’s who he is now.” Again, fuck! “And nobody will change that.”
He was right.
“So what now?” The tension lining each of my muscles was strong enough to snap bone. “What do we do? I have to tell my Pixie, and you know damn well her hardheaded ass—”
“Now we wait.”
My brow furrowed. “What?”
Pulling his phone from his pocket, Anthony swiped his finger across the screen, then started tapping on it. “Alejandro is coming for Carmen.”
Over my dead body.
“How do you know—”
I ground my back teeth together when he shoved the phone in my face. Taking it from his hand, I looked at the picture affixed to the screen.
Right away, I knew I was staring at my Pixie’s hermanito. Even with him dressed in an expensive-looking suit and wearing aviator-style sunglasses that hid his eyes, their resemblance was striking.
And undeniable.
“That was sent to me this morning right after I found out about West and Ellington.” Eyes still on the picture, I studied Alejandro, along with the steps he’d been climbing, leading him to the inside of a small jet. “It was taken three days ago, minutes before the private jet he was boarding flew out of Medellin.”
Grip tightening on the phone, I looked up, giving Anthony my sole focus. “Where was it headed? Do you know?”
He cleared his throat again. “Charleston.” Taking his cell from my hand, he slid it back into his pocket. “But it’s only a temporary stop. He’ll know he can’t stay in the Kings’ territory long. Not without Ari coming after him.”
The Ruthless Queen vs. the Cartel Kingpin.
That would be one hell of a turf war.
And one I never wanted to witness.
“I give it a week, maybe two,” he added, once more scrubbing his palm across his jaw, “before he’s at your door, looking for his sister.”
I wasn’t so sure. “How the hell will he find her? West is dead, Clyde and Ellington, too. And Carmen’s legal name was changed seven years ago. There’s no paper trail to follow.”
“He’s a Kingpin, James.” My son-in-law looked at me like I was dumber than dog shit. “If you think any of that will stop him from finding her, then you’re a bigger idiot than Tuck. All he has to do is grease the right palms with the right amount of money; then it’s game over.”
As much as I hated it, he had a point.
Dropping my head back, I stared at the ceiling. “Son, I need you to do me a favor.” I straightened my neck, jaw clenched and looked at him again. “Keep this between you and me. It’s messed up of me to hide stuff from her, but I don’t need to get my woman all worked up, not when so much is s
till up in the air.”
Especially when Ari would possibly kill Alejandro, along with any other cartel member he’d brought with him before he ever made it to my door for daring to step foot in Charleston.
“We won’t be able to hide it for long.”
“I know.”
Anthony nodded toward the door at my back, knowing damn well what, or rather, who, I needed. “Go home, old man. Your fiancée is waiting for you. We’ll deal with this shit later.”
Yes, later.
Right then, I needed to get the hell out of there. So that’s what I did.
I left, and I went home.
35
Carmen
Knock, knock, knock.
I was standing barefoot in the kitchen, putting the clean dishes away, when someone knocked on the front door, drawing my attention from Faye, Amelia, Little One, Chiquita, and Addie, who were seated around the table, laughing and playing a card game.
Something called Go Fish.
Lips thinned into a straight line, I looked to the door. No one ever knocked when they came over. Not unless the lock was engaged; I could see from where I stood that it wasn't.
"I've got it."
Jade's chair scraped against the floor as she slid it back and stood, swallowing down a bite of the apple pie Miss Dottie, Kyle's madre, had baked for her earlier in the morning, then brought over when she and the rest of the ladies had come by for lunch.
"Maybe it's the package I ordered from—"
"Sit," I told her, tossing the dish towel I held onto the countertop. "I'll get it."
Not missing the slight worry that lined my voice, her face fell. "Mama C," she whispered, head tilting the slightest bit. "It's okay, you know. We're safe now. You don't have to worry anymore. Dad won't let anything—"
Knock, knock, knock.
I held up a finger, silently asking her to hold that thought. "I'll be right back." Smiling so she knew I wasn't scared or worried, only confused, I pointed back to the table where my other bebés sat, their eyes on the cards they held in their hands.
"Keep playing. I’ll be right back.”
She dipped her small chin in a nod. "Okay."
On my way out of the kitchen, I slowed to run my fingers over Addie's cheek, then Chiquita's. They both flinched from the soft touch, then giggled, making my heart swell.
"Behave, chicas." I winked in their direction. "No cheating while I'm gone."
"Aunt Jade is the one who cheats!" Addie fussed, scowling as her beautiful madre laughed beneath her breath, fighting to hold it in. "I saw her do it! Twice now!"
I paused, leveling a stare at Little One.
"I do not cheat!" she fired right back, a faux pout overtaking her face. "What she saw was me dropping the card by accident. I wasn't trying to hide it, for Pete's sake!"
Sure she wasn't.
"As I said, behave, si?"
Jade scoffed. "Fine!"
Cristo, now, she sounded like Gracie.
Faye spoke up next, her words accented by the laughter that spilled from her lips.
"I've got 'em, Robina Hood. Now answer the door. All that doggone knocking is gonna give me a headache."
And now Faye was channeling Grandmama.
Greattt.
Shaking my head, I headed down the hall to the front of the house. Once there, I grasped the handle affixed to the door, and without thinking, pulled the heavy wood open.
It was a mistake.
Because standing on the other side was a woman Guapo had stated over and over that he never wished for me to see again, much less speak to, after our last encounter.
"Ari..."
Tilting her head, just as Little One had done seconds before, she smiled at me, the ruby-colored lipstick she wore one of the prettiest shades I'd ever seen. "I take it you weren't expecting me."
"No." My brows knitted. "Should I be?"
"Nyet," she replied, speaking a heavily accented word I didn't understand. "I only came by to inform you that the two debts the Kings owe you have been paid, and the favors you asked of us have been granted."
My entire body froze.
My heart slowed.
And my world? It stopped turning.
"Your monsters no longer roar." Her voice sounded far away as my head grew light and my knees weak. "And as promised, they screamed."
Vision turning hazy, I stumbled the slightest bit, suddenly unsteady on my feet. Thankfully, and surprisingly, Ari grabbed my arm, halting me from falling on my culo.
Or worse yet, my face.
Footsteps pounded behind me, a signal of my chicas rushing over to reach me, as a familiar silver truck came to a sliding stop before the house, the smell of burnt rubber and hot asphalt filling the air.
"Carmen!"
Guapo's voice carried on the slight breeze that stirred as he jumped out of his still-running vehicle and raced toward me, followed by the panicked sound of Jade's sweet voice as her arms wound around my belly from behind.
"Mama C!"
"Ari," I whispered, my voice weak as I stared into her icy blue eyes, seeing beyond what she allowed others to glimpse, a wave of shared anguish and sudden understanding passing between us as I did.
My demons quickly recognized hers.
Dios mío, she's been hurt too.
It was a secret I'd never tell.
"They're"—I tried to take a breath—"g-gone?"
Ignoring the bear of a man barreling toward us at warp speed, she leaned forward, hovering her lips next to my ear.
"Da, your tormentors are gone. Now sleep well tonight, love, because they can't hurt you anymore."
Releasing me, she turned, ready to walk away as James bounded up the steps, his booted feet close to busting the wooden porch planks.
"Ari, wait!" A tear slid down my cheek as he pulled me from Jade's arms and into his, his hands roaming over my body with haste, likely checking for injuries as she peered at me over her shoulder. "Why?"
Deep down, I knew that her helping me after Shelby and I had saved Anna wasn't just about the Kings owing me a debt. This was about something else, something deeper.
Something darker.
Knowing what I was trying to ask without saying the rest of the words, Ari glanced at James and briefly smile.
The small gesture was the only acknowledgment he received before she looked back at me.
"For Mina." The cloak she wore over her emotions slipped further as she continued to hold my gaze, her gorgeous face softening, becoming less intimidating. "Always for Mina."
And just like that, the cloak returned.
Then she walked away.
"Pixie, baby." One of James' strong hands curled beneath my chin, tilting my face up to meet his. "Look at me." My tear-filled eyes met his. "Take a deep breath."
Doing as he said, I inhaled.
"Good girl. Now do it again."
Shaking my head, I exhaled, shoulders shuddering as the mental chains that had held me captive since I was eighteen years old broke, and the haze that filled my vision cleared, the midday sunlight becoming bright once more.
"Guapo," I whispered, hands finding and palming his stubble-covered cheeks. "They're gone."
Dropping my arms, I leaned against him, letting his body take the weight of mine. Cheek pressed to his chest, I looked into the house, at my chicas and Addie, as well as the woman who'd been my best friend since the moment we met, along with her beautiful, special bebé.
"They're gone."
"I know, beautiful."
Briefly, I wondered how he'd known before me. Had Ari told him too? If so, why hadn't he called me? Before I could voice either question, he gave me the answers I sought.
"Anthony found out this morning. He stopped by the station earlier. I was on the way home to tell you when I saw Ari."
"Wait a minute." With tears brimming in her eyes, Jade peered from me to Guapo, then back to me. "Who?" Nervousness possessed her as she stood there, awaiting my answer. Wringing her hands, she shifted
her weight between her feet. "Who is gone?"
I answered her immediately.
"El Diablo and Ellington."
James' hand caressed my lower back, the warmth of his body against mine, and his fingertips stroking my skin, anchoring me as the weight of my words slammed into first Little One, then Chiquita, and last, Faye.
"They're gone," James said, knowing they'd need to hear it from more than just me, but careful of what he said in front of Addie. "And I mean, gone."
Hands flying to her mouth, Jade stumbled backward, right into Faye's waiting arms as she sobbed, her shoulders shaking even more than mine, while Amelia looked on, humming and rocking in place.
As for Chiquita, she dropped to her knees and wrapped her arms around Addie, hugging her tightly as nearly a decade of pain and sorrow spilled out of her, only to be replaced by the very thing we'd just gained.
Everlasting peace.
“Baby, look at me."
Once more doing as he'd asked, I looked up at Guapo, my healing heart close to bursting with thankfulness.
"This is all because of you." Before he could ask what I meant, I continued, letting each word flow without thinking. "We're all here because of you."
"Pixie—"
"Because you saw someone worth saving when you first looked at me, and not the trash I saw each time I looked in the mirror."
I pressed a lone finger to his lips, silently asking him to let me finish.
"And because you chose to love me even when I didn't dare to love myself, we found our way here, where we were always meant to be."
A sob broke free.
"We found our way home."
Resting my palms against his chest, I curled my hands into his shirt, holding the material tight. "And I am going to spend every waking moment that remains of my life thanking you. Not only for loving me but also for never giving up on me, on us..."
"Goddamn it, Carmen—"
"Or on our happily ever after."
His fingers tightened on my face.
"Are you done interrupting me yet?" I hiccuped as he leaned in, bringing his lips a hairbreadth from my own. "Because if you are, I'd like to kiss my future wife."
