Page 55 of No Darker Temptation

The color of his eyes shift from hazel to black. He gives a curt nod. “It’s okay.”

I wish I knew what else to say. More than anything, I wish I possessed the valor to stand there and see him as he is, all the parts of himself that he conceals for my comfort but I can’t.

Like a coward, I turn around and leave, unable to catch my breath even after the long walk brings me home.

Alejandro

The basilica is quiet at night. Quieter still in the hours leading up to dawn.

Half a dozen bronze chandeliers adorn the gilded altar, the only light in the large room coming from lit candles in the sanctuary. A suffering Christ nailed to a crucifix winks back at me in the half-darkness as if to say I knew you’d be back one day.

The Corinthian columns are painted gold and the dome above my head allows moonlight to wash over the pale marble floors beneath my feet. Wooden pews sit in neat rows along the center aisle, each bench long enough to fit at least a dozen people. I place my hand on the back of the first pew to the left as I genuflect before the altar.

At first, I think the church is empty. It isn’t until I see a shadow shift in the peripheral of my vision do I realize someone is sitting at the first pew, shoulders forward, head bowed. I practically fly down the aisle and when Regina lifts her head, she’s no sooner formed my name on her lips than I have my left hand wrapped around her upper arm, yanking her out of the pew.

“Alejo—”

“What the fuck is the matter with you?” I seethe.

Grunting, she squirms around in my grip, struggling to regain her balance. “Let go of me!”

“You lured Dahlia out to your brother’s territory? All the way to La Rambla?”

“It hardly took much work on my part,” she spits back. “She’s as pretty as she is stupid. Be grateful she left without a bullet in her empty head.”

My pulse quickens. “If you were a man I’d break your fucking neck for that. As it stands, if you so much as think her name again, I’ll leave you to the mercy of my sister for a fate worse than death.”

“Don’t. Threaten. Me.” Regina stands before me, holding her ground. There’s ice in her voice as she speaks. “You think I’m going to take threats from a man I can run mental laps around? Give me a fucking break. If I wanted my replacement dead, she’d be dead already.”

My grip tightens on her upper arm until she finally yanks herself free. The urge to send my fist through the wall behind her is all too tempting. “She isn’t anyone’s replacement. You were merely a step on the way to her.”

The words land where they’re meant to and she flinches but the momentary sting doesn’t last for long.

“I wouldn’t have had to use Dahlia to get to you if you had accepted my help last summer when I offered it.”

“It’ll be a cold day in hell before I ever accept help from you.”

Patience thinning, she says, “Alejo, for once in your life, put your pride aside and accept that you need me. I tried telling you about the shipment going through Marseilles and you didn’t listen. No one did.”

All I’ve been thinking about since Dahlia’s confession this afternoon are ways to kill Sandro Sandoval. I’m not exactly sure how all of this is his fault but since most of the things that go wrong in my life start with him, I’m going to tack this afternoon on with the rest. After all, Rico Salcedo wouldn’t be dead if Sandro hadn’t sent him to spy on us in the first place.

“Does this have to do with Salcedo surveying our territory?”

Her face blanches. “You know about that?”

“Know about it? What’s left of him is being delivered to your brother as we speak.”

She presses her lips together then moves to sit at the edge of one of the pews. “You shouldn’t have killed him. Salcedo was one of his most trusted men, you’re just going to provoke him further.”

“Provoke him? That son of a bitch tried to kill me twice last summer.”

“Not the first time,” she laments, as though saying as much pains her. “He wasn’t responsible the first time.”

I struggle to keep my temper under control. “You want me to trust you? Why don’t you start by telling me who was behind the first assassination attempt. Seeing as how you know and have been withholding the information from me for God only knows how long..”

She shakes her head. “I can’t tell you.”

“Why not?”