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Darren shook his head, drawing my ire in his direction. “She would have gotten it either way, Julietta. Vanessa was seventeen and was already too busy partying to be a mother. I know you don’t want to hear it, but it’s not Romero’s fault. She made a choice to steal a drug knowing full well what it would do to her. You were already born. It was too late for her. We all knew it.”
I closed my eyes and shook my head. When a wave of nausea pummeled into me, I snapped my eyes open and took in the pitying stares.
“Do you all traffic drugs?” The words were quiet, but I knew they each heard me.
“It’s lucrative, Julietta,” Kieran said, “but no, not anymore. We’re all plenty rich now that we don’t need to have a hand in that trade.” He held me tight in his intense stare, ensuring I heard his next words. “Neither does Romero. He hasn’t dealt with drugs in over a decade.”
Rafael puffed a cloud of smoke from his nostrils like a dragon. “But that doesn’t mean that others aren’t building their own empires off the lives they destroy with their substances. That’s how it’s always been and how it will always be. When one steps down, another will take his place.”
“However,” Kieran continued as though Rafael hadn’t spoken, “Romero found the dealer that your mother used. He was a tricky bastard, going by so many different names it was hard to pin him down. When Romero inevitably found him, he put a bullet in his head.”
I stood in perfect silence, unsure of what to say or how to react. Regardless of the changes Romero had made, he’d still enabled her. The temptation had driven her into a spiraling condition that ended in an early grave.
But he married her just to make a show of his influence and power—an attempt to frighten away anyone that would try to deal her more cocaine. In the end, it hadn’t worked. But there were two years of my life where it had.
Two years where she was happy. I was happy.
He’d been the cause of that. He’d inserted himself into my life, taught me how to protect myself and was there for me when no one else was.
What I needed now was to talk to him. To hear his side of things. Maybe to rail at him for the part he played in starting her addiction.
Gnawing the inside of my lower lip, I looked at each of the men sent by Romero to keep me safe against whatever danger was following him. Just as I opened my mouth to say something—anything that would dispel the tension in the room—a phone rang.
Aaron looked down at his screen, the color draining from his cheeks. “Yes?” he answered in a clipped, disinterested tone, but I could see the worry on his face.
He held the phone to his ear, yet I heard the words spoken on the other end. “Romero is down. He’s being moved to location four. Hold your position.”
My knees went weak as Aaron made a sound of acknowledgement, then lowered the phone, staring past me at the wall.
“Is he alive?” I asked, my voice sounding croaky and strange.
Kieran spoke for Aaron. “Yes. If he’s being moved to location four, then he’s alive, but wounded.”
My lungs constricted so hard I had to gasp to force back air inside them. As if on autopilot, I started for the door.
Shouts followed me, then arms grabbed me, yanking me away from the front door. Eli spun me toward him, forcing my gaze to his.
“You cannot leave. None of us can until the threat has been eliminated. What he’s facing is so much bigger than one guy with a gun, Julietta. Besides, you have absolutely no idea where you’re going.”
My brows creased. “I can’t sit here knowing he could be bleeding out somewhere. He needs help. You guys have to go to him. Just take me with you, that way I’ll be protected.”
“Don’t be idiotic,” Rafael chastised. “Not even we know exactly where he is. We know the codes, but only his bodyguard has access to the end location. Four is in Mexico, that’s all we know. The less we all know, the better. It puts people at risk.”
Distantly, I wondered if any of them were married or had children. They might have wanted my virginity, but they were criminals. Who knew how far off their moral compass was.
My body felt numb. Somewhere, the man who was both my greatest enemy and my greatest weakness was wounded and possibly dying. And there was nothing I could do.
Aaron entered the foyer behind the others, meeting my gaze.
“I just got a text from Romero’s phone.” He held the screen out for me to read. My heart sped up as I read the words twice over, not fully comprehending the meaning.
Take care of my Julietta. All of you. May be some time before I see her again. Let her know I don’t expect her to wait for me. She has her whole life ahead of her.
Take care of me? He doesn’t expect me to wait for him? “How long does he think he’s going to be gone?” I asked incredulously.
“Could be days, months, or even years,” Darren replied.
“Well I’m not going to sit in this house forever! I have school. A life.” I folded my arms over my chest and glared in turn at each of them.
