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“The son of a bitch is blackmailing us.” Steven sighed.
“No shit, but with what?” I snapped.
“The Duncan case.” One of them spoke up and I had to close my eyes and inhale deeply, my nails digging into the arm of the chair.
“And how does a nobody know about a case that should no longer exist because your lives depended on making it go away!” Idiots! Fucking IDIOTS!
“We don’t—”
“She’s in a meeting!” Bruce yelled when the door opened and like the devil himself, Emilio pain-in-my-fucking-ass Cortés walked in with a large smile on his face.
“Am I late? I figured since I was most likely going to be the topic of discussion on your first day back, Governor, why not come over in person?” He walked right up to my desk, sat in one of the chairs across from me, and kicked his feet up. Reaching in his pocket, he pulled out a stick of gum. “Now, where were we?”
“Bruce, it’s fine.” I nodded to the door, my eyes on the snakeskin shoes he had on my desk. “We were on the Duncan case.”
He gave a long whistle before speaking.
“Oh man, you all fucked up on that one. Burying toxic waste near homes will definitely get the people riled up. And you, Governor, knowing about it and covering it up? It might not have happened under you, but still, come on, aren’t you supposed to be better than that? Isn’t that why the people of this city elected you into that pretty chair—I’m sorry, throne.” He winked at Mina…so apparently my office was also fucking bugged. “If you run for president, I’m sure it will come up and be all kinds of bad press.”
“You all may leave,” I said to the city council, and they didn’t need to be told twice. All of them rushed to leave as quickly as possible. “Mina, you too.”
“Mel—”
“Go.”
“I’ll be right outside,” she said, grabbing a file off my desk before walking off. It was only when the door shut softly that I stood up and pushed his feet off my desk. “It’s Bubinga wood.”
“What the fuck is that?” He made a face and I didn’t understand at all.
“Who are you, Emilio, and what the fuck do you want with me? You won’t say anything about the Duncan case because you used it as leverage for the privilege of being worth a damn.”
“That’s where you are wrong. I don’t really give a fuck about being mayor anyway.” He shrugged, blowing a bubble with his gum before rising from his seat and moving to my window. “Who wants to be the mayor of this goddamn city anyway? It’s been trying to ruin itself for decades, then some doe-eyed idealistic comes along thinking he or she can clean the streets they’ve had a hand in making dirty to begin with—”
“Do you have a SparkNotes version of your speech? It may come as a shock to you but I actually have work to do,” I replied.
Turning back, he smiled like he was truly happy; maybe he was insane. “This is why everyone loves you, right? Your witty one-liners, your tough girl act. What was it like hearing that someone shot at your kids? I mean, you all were raised with silver spoons in your mouths; it must have been shocking to realize you weren’t invincible.”
“First, I’m a woman, not a girl. Second, it is not an act, and third, I don’t feed my children with silver spoons. Silver is for second place; they use gold.” My eyes narrowed on him.
He nodded to himself and for the first time since he had walked in, his stance and posture were upright and serious, his eyes sharp and his voice deeper as he said, “I hope they kept the spoons then because when I’m through with you, they are going to need something to live on.”
“Are you threatening me in my office right now?” I asked when he came closer to me. He didn’t stop until he was far too close to my face for comfort and my self-control…any closer and I would kill him.
“I’m saying I hope we have good, indecent, and bloody fight, Melody. Don’t hold back, because I won’t, and I play dirty as hell. You have so much to lose now: a husband, three children, nieces and nephews, your reputation…the list keeps going and going. I’m going to have fun. God and I are the only ones who know what I have in store for you.”
“So this is a game to you? Or is it revenge for the fact that your father Marcos was taken out like a bitch, and you had to crawl and beg for someone to notice you? Did you live a hard knock life? I can have someone come and play the violin while you tell me your sob story,” I replied as he glared but didn’t say anything, backing away toward the door.
“Tell your husband I said thanks; Liling was getting far too clingy for my liking and now the triad has no one else to look to but me.” He closed the door behind him, and it only took a second for Mina to come back in.
“The son of a fucking bitch—ahh.” I hissed, reaching up to my chest as it burned.
“Melody you need to relax!” Mina rushed to me but I pushed her away.
God damn it! “Ahh…”
“We need to go to the hospital.”
