Page 104 of LA Reign

Then he steps out of the shadows as he walks down the basement steps. I almost pass out at the sight of him. Is there any way he can save us from his lunatic uncle? There are four men facing him, each with a gun raised and trained.

“You came alone, Alejandro?” Carlos asked in surprise.

“Not quite,” Jax says from behind him as he steps out of the shadows, too.

“Ah, of course. Your loyal little puppy dog,” Carlos snarls.

“I want to keep this between family, Uncle. That’s what we all are, aren’t we? Why don’t you send these men out and we can talk? Just me, you and the girls? Just family?”

What is he talking about?

“You found out my little secret then?” Carlos snickers behind me.

I blink in shock. What secret?

“I did. But what I can’t figure out is what the hell any of this has to do with my fucking wife.” Alejandro snaps, unable to keep a lid on his anger any longer.

Carlos reaches down, pushing his hand beneath the collar of my t-shirt and squeezing my breast painfully, making me wince. He makes an appreciative noise. “I never used to know what you saw in her, nephew. But she does have great tits, I can’t deny.”

Alejandro takes a step closer. “Take your fucking hands off her!” he snarls. He’s furious now, and I suspect that was Carlos’s plan. To distract him, blind him with rage.

The four men with guns edge closer. “Careful, or they’ll take you out before you take another step, Alejandro. And once you are gone, who will protect your precious little princesa?” Carlos hisses, keeping the blade at my throat.

Alejandro holds up his hands in surrender, his eyes flashing across the room. “Okay. You win. I’m all yours. But please, Uncle, let my wife go. Let your daughter go,” he says as he looks across at Lucia.

Lucia blinks at me, her eyes wide in shock. I almost choke on the rag in my mouth. His daughter? What? Lucia is Carlos’s daughter? How can that be?

“Why would I do that, when they are the key to your downfall, Alejandro?”

I see the expression on Alejandro’s face change to one of pain and anguish. “Why do you want my downfall, Uncle?” he asks. “We’re family.”

“Why?” Carlos says with a maniacal grin. “You ask me why, you arrogant pup? Thirty years I have worked for your father. Doing his bidding. Cleaning up his messes. Killing on demand. Waiting for my time. Waiting for it to finally be my turn.”

I can hear the vitriol in his voice. He’s so mad his hand shakes, the knife brushing dangerously against my throat.

“Even when I did find happiness,” he goes on, “I had to let it go. I had to leave the woman I loved with that monster she was married to. I couldn’t have a family of my own. No, that wasn’t my role, was it? I was the good worker bee. The soldier ant. Always doing what your father asked of me. Even when she had my child, I couldn’t go be with her.”

Alejandro takes a step closer, frowning. “What do you mean? My father would never have stopped you having a family. He wanted that for you. Uncle Phillipe has Rachel and the girls. Why would he stop you from having that too?”

I feel Carlos’s grip loosen slightly. “It was different with me. He was different with me. Always watching me. Always controlling me. He always treated me like I was a mad dog he might have to put down. Maybe because of what happened once when we were kids. Did he ever tell you that I killed his mastiff, Biscotti?” he scoffs.

“No,” Alejandro says, his voice dark.

“I was eight. It was an accident. I only wanted to see if the dog was tough like the rest of us. We couldn’t get the blood out of the carpet. Mama had to throw it away, and Papa was so mad. None of them ever looked at me the same way again. Especially Mateo. He thought I was broken. That’s why he didn’t want me to have a family. I would pass on my defects. My flaws. He was happy to use them, when it suited him though…”

Alejandro continues to edge closer while his uncle rages. “Did you even tell him? About the woman you loved? About Lucia? Did he forbid you to be with them?”

“I knew he would!” Carlos rants, spittle flying from his mouth. “He never liked me being happy. He never saw me as his equal. I was just his tame monster. I went along with it. I did what I thought I should for the sake of the family. And now, after all these years, after I gave up everything, he just hands it all over to you, his weak little boy? Am I supposed to accept that?”

I have no idea how much of what he’s saying is true. I can’t believe that Mateo would not have wanted his beloved baby brother to be happy. No, I suspect this is all a delusion, built up in his twisted mind over the years. He’s convinced himself that he’s been mistreated and cheated out of what should be his.

“Why didn’t you speak up?” Alejandro asks.

“Nobody ever listens to me, you little fool! About anything. And now here we are. Not only do you have everything I’ve worked for, you want my daughter, too. You want Lucia for your own. You are a greedy, selfish hijo de puta,” he snarls. “Did you know that it was my idea to start this business in the first place?”

“No,” Alejandro shakes his head. He seems very calm. Too calm.

“It was. I was the one who was always prepared to do whatever it took. And did you know that I once killed a woman because she wouldn’t let me fuck her?”