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It dawned on me which MC he was talking about.

A few months ago, the Skeletons of Society started to expand their territory, moving into Tucson. The cartel didn’t worry too much about other criminal organizations in our territories as long as they realized who was in control. And when they didn’t respect that, someone was sent to remind the offending party of who they were fucking with.

In Tucson, that person was me.

But I welcomed the Skeletons MC expanding because the Reapers MC was the alternative. And I had been fighting them off from trying to move into my area for years.

The Reapers dealt in skin, and nothing made me want to go on a murder spree more than men who thought they could sell women for their sick pleasure. That MC treated women as fucking livestock and not people with hearts and souls. Souls they ripped to shreds when they trafficked them. I would know. I saved those women, employed them, and scooped them off the bathroom floor when they OD’d because the pain was too much to handle.

My booted feet hit the desk, causing Sergio to glare at me as if the desk I was putting them on wasn’t mine. I made sure to keep my emotions about the Reapers out of my voice before speaking. “Sergio, I’m the one who told you about the Skeletons of Society wanting to expand this way. But why are you telling me about them partnering with us? Is it because they’ll be in and out of Lotería? They’re welcome as long as they don’t think they can touch my girls.”

Sergio frowned in confusion, probably racking his brain to see if what I said was true.

I couldn’t keep the smirk off my face as I reminded him of how he knew this information. To Sergio’s credit, he ran the whole damn cartel. There were so many moving pieces of information to keep track of in an organization this big. And unlike The Families in New York, Sergio’s only blood helping run Los Muertos was Mario. It was why I did my damnedest to keep my operation here in Arizona running smoothly. I didn’t want to create headaches for Sergio or make Mario think I was incapable of being on my own.

I worked my ass off to prove my worth and how invaluable I was here running Lotería for Los Muertos. Both the legal side and the not-so-legal aspects of the club. Mario couldn’t demand I go to Mexico like he wanted if Sergio assigned me a job here in Tucson. He may be the heir, but Sergio was still in charge. Sometimes I felt Sergio tried to distance me from Mario even more than I did. I always figured I imagined it, or maybe he wanted someone better for his son and didn’t want to risk us getting too close. Regardless, it worked in my favor at the moment.

Sergio may care for me, but as Mario pointed out, he cared because I was the perfect tool for Los Muertos. You didn’t last long in the toxic paradise of the criminal underworld if you didn’t make sure you were valuable and hard to kill. And I was an ace up the Jimenez men’s sleeve. No one expected a kill to come from a woman. Not in the Mexican cartel, anyway. Misogyny was alive and well in the criminal world.

“Well, this is perfect then, Brujita. Because I want you to take over the arms dealing here in Tucson officially. You’re going to be the point of contact for this new alliance between Los Muertos and Los Esqueletos.”

I rolled my eyes at Sergio’s decision to give the Skeletons of Society a Spanish version of their name. All while trying to tamp down my excitement at being given the opportunity. I would need to stay here in Arizona with this new position. A shudder racked through me when I thought about Mario’s reaction to the news. He had been pushing the subject of moving me to Mexico lately.

“Of course. You know I would be happy to, Sergio. Anything for Los Muertos.” Despite my worries with Mario, I gave Sergio a genuine grin.

He smiled at my response, running a hand over his bald head. It was comical how closely Sergio fit Hollywood’s depiction of a cholo gangbanger. Complete with the thick black mustache hiding his upper lip, although nowadays, the black had taken on some white and gray strands as well. Sergio had worked his way up in the cartel, starting on the streets of Santa Anna, California. I never asked the details of how he’d made it up to kingpin, but my bet was it had to do with the man’s work ethic and loyalty. His commitment to loyalty was actually why my question slipped out before I thought about if I wanted to hear the answer.

“Why isn’t Mario brokering the deal? He’s the one in charge of Los Muertos’s arms dealing. Or is he moving here to Tucson?”

I resisted the urge to fidget with the rings on my fingers. Being an interrogator made me hyperaware of people’s tells. And fidgeting with the silver bands adorning my fingers was one of mine, but I didn’t want to let on to the fact that him moving here made me anxious.

Mario had been given the position of arms dealer for Los Muertos when he turned twenty. Of course, I handled all the shipments moving through Lotería on his behalf. It only took one order for him to make Tucson my responsibility. But I didn’t know if Mario had told Sergio he put me in charge.

Sergio arched his thick eyebrow at my question while he leaned back and steepled his fingers.

“Ryan, the role of arms dealer may have been given to mí hijo, but you and I both know you are the real person who handles things here. No? What, you don’t think I hear the whispers about our reputation here in Tucson?”

So he did know.

“I mean, I try to handle things while Mario is away…working.”

Sergio huffed a laugh at my carefully worded response. We both knew Mario preferred flaunting his wealth to helping run the cartel. This was one of those subjects Sergio agreed not to discuss.

“I may be Los Muertos’s kingpin, but you are La Brujita of Tucson’s underbelly.”

The comment brought a genuine smile to my face. Sergio wasn’t wrong. Nothing happened in Tucson I didn’t know about. It was why Anthony had been strapped to a chair this morning and the reason for Lotería’s success. I made it my business to know everything. To hunt all those who thought they could hunt me.

A clap rang out in the room.

“So it’s settled. You and I will meet with the Skeletons of Society’s sergeant at arms and enforcer. Hash out the details of this arrangement, and move forward. I’ll let you know when this meeting is. Now, get out of here and get some sleep. And take a fucking shower. You look like someone who works at one of those fuckin’ horror houses.”

Ryan

“Sexy bitch, I’m home,” I yelled.

The clanging of keys hitting the kitchen counter sounded through our apartment. I kicked off my boots and headed toward the refrigerator. A margarita and a shower were needed ASAP—maybe at the same time. I started pulling out the ingredients for my favorite drink while listening to see if Nikki had a “special friend” over. The woman was ruthless with men. Her goal was always to fuck ’em and leave ’em. And she told them up front, so it had to be a fetish for some of these guys because that line had them eating out of her hand. Or maybe some of them thought they would be the one to change her mind.

The door to her room opened, and out walked some finance-looking bro followed by Nikki. Over his shoulder, I caught her attention and raised an eyebrow at her choice of tonight’s prey. She shrugged before answering my unspoken question.