Page 36 of LA Reign

I feel like that’s slipping away from me now, though. I’m getting dragged more and more into the murkier side of our business. My family’s money was originally made in the arms and drugs trade. Both are businesses that are dangerous and unpredictable, and I hope to be rid of them entirely one day. The Montoya Corporation is a billion-dollar company with diverse interests all around the world. We have employees, pay taxes, file returns. We are respectable and successful. Financially, we no longer even need the trade from our illegitimate earnings, but that is the side of the business that is the hardest to break free from. And it’s the side which the Ortegas are trying to get a piece of. I can’t let them do that, because it would make us look weak. And those who look weak are always the most in danger.

It’s only a matter of time before I need to consider a preemptive strike, nipping this problem in the bud. Not so long ago I wouldn’t have thought twice about committing to that, about throwing us into a turf war that I was confident we would win.

Now? Now I have Alana to think of, and that makes me question things more thoroughly. I used to feel like I was invincible, but perhaps I was just reckless. Maybe I didn’t care about dying, because deep down, I had nothing to live for. Now she’s here, filling my life with her kindness, her intelligence, her radiant beauty. Her hot, wet pussy. She is my world, and I know I’m hers. Putting her at risk is unthinkable, and putting myself unnecessarily in harm’s way also now feels foolish.

For the first time, I have something to lose.

I remember a conversation I had with my father when he realized that my relationship with Alana wasn’t the safe marriage of convenience we’d planned it to be. He told me that love was dangerous, because a man with something to lose always has a weak spot—and there is no doubt that she is mine.

But she also makes me stronger, prouder. Makes me want to be a better man, to create a better world for her. If that means getting my hands dirty and eliminating the risk that the Ortegas currently pose, then so be it. I can wash my hands later.

Chapter

Thirteen

ALANA

Lucia and I are sitting in the den watching TV by the time Alejandro arrives home later in the evening. I thought about telling her about Blake myself, but I decided it was better coming from him. I have no idea what happened to Lucia’s ex-boyfriend other than the fact he’s dead. She will have questions and they’re ones that I can’t answer. Besides, I suspect he might be better at breaking this kind of news. She grew up in his world, and close as Lucia and I are, sometimes I think he speaks her language better than I do. There is part of her that he understands in a way I don’t.

He walks into the den and sits beside me on the sofa, slipping his arm around my shoulder and planting a soft kiss on my forehead. He looks tired and raises an eyebrow in her direction. I shake my head subtly letting him know she’s still blissfully unaware.

“We saved you some dinner,” I say as I place my hand on his thigh. “Do you have time to eat? It’s bacon cheeseburgers.”

“I ate at the hotel,” he replies sadly, looking at Lucia and the carefree way she’s laughing at the movie we’re watching. “I’m sorry.”

“That’s okay,” I tell him, my eyes taking in his frown and the fact that his shirt and tie look more disheveled than normal. He gives me a quick hug.

“Hey, Lucia, can we talk to you about something?” he says.

She turns to look at him, seeming to know straight away that this is serious. “Sure. Is everything okay?” She sounds nervous, and my heart bleeds for her. She can’t catch a break, and she must feel like every time she dares to rest, the rug gets pulled from beneath her feet. From what I’ve gathered, her life has been that way for a long time now. I hate the fact that we’ve torn her away from the comedy on the screen, that we’re going to tell her something awful, but there’s really no getting away from it.

“I think we should turn off the TV,” I say to her and she pauses the movie immediately, looking from my face to Alejandro’s.

“It’s about Blake,” he says, and Lucia pulls a disgusted face. “He’s dead,” Alejandro finishes.

Well. That was blunt, but I don’t suppose there was an easy way to say it.

She blinks at him for a few seconds before she speaks. “What?” She reaches out and fumbles for my hand. I squeeze her fingers gently.

“Where did you find him?” she asks.

“He was in Philadelphia. He was found this morning.” Alejandro replies.

“Did you…?” She starts to ask the question but doesn’t finish it. Maybe she doesn’t want to know the answer.

Alejandro shakes his head. “No. It wasn’t us.”

She swallows before nodding her head gently and placing her free hand on her stomach. Protecting the baby that she and Blake created together.

“Are you okay?” I ask her.

“Yeah. It’s just kind of a shock to know that he’s gone.”

“I know. And it’s okay to be sad,” I tell her. “I get that things were complicated between you, but he was an important part of your life.”

She looks up at me, chews the inside of her mouth. “I’m not that sad. Not really. Shocked, maybe worried, but not actually sad. Does that make me a horrible person?”

“No,” Alejandro and I reply in unison. We definitely both speak the same language now.