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“Are you?”
“That depends . . .” His eyes twinkle with malicious amusement as he takes a step closer to me. “You still haven’t told me why you’re in my home?”
After a curt nod, I answer, “Business. I want to continue what Mr. Torrente and I started.”
His lip snarls as his obvious disgust for Maria’s father drapes his expression. “Mr. Torrente’s no longer in charge of making those decisions.”
“Then I’d like to make you the same offer.”
His head tilts slightly as his expressions shift to curiosity. “Why?”
“To make money,” I answer with a tone as though it should be obvious and wait to see if he reacts to my insulting his intelligence or lack thereof.
He eventually counters, “It seems you’re a fairly wealthy man, Mr. Hunter. What’s really in this for you?”
I’ll never share the hustle I’m working with him, although I know that’s what he’s fishing for. I have to play on his greed and hope it’s successful. If I’ve read him wrong, then my plan is doomed before it begins. “My company does well, but I pay an exponential amount in taxes as did Mr. Torrente with our last deal. I don’t intend to invest using Gibson this time, and I have a friend that can help us with the tax situation.”
“And why would I be interested in doing business with you? When I have all this?” he asks, glancing around the mansion.
“Because none of this belongs to you,” I say, knowing my words will hit another weak spot. Thugs always feel like they never get ahead. They always want more than what they’re given, even if they have to take it. That’s how he and Maria’s father became cartel leaders.
“Stay for dinner,” he requests, although the invitation isn’t optional. “We’ll discuss it further.”
Eduardo tells me to help myself to a drink before he exits the room. Marco stands watch at the door as I pour scotch over ice. My phone vibrates and I glance at a text from Peyton.
P: This is a lovely shade of pink. I think you’re really going to like it.
T: Get back to work.
Shaking my head, I slip the phone back in my pocket as an involuntary smile forms. I’m going to fuck that woman senseless when I return to the states.
“You should leave,” Marco warns, entering the room.
With my back to him, I say, “My being here is none of your concern.”
“Things aren’t what they seem.” He leans in close and whispers. “Eduardo will kill you if you cross him.”
I spin to face him, staring at the drink in my hand as I bring it to my lips. Before I take a sip, he warns me again to leave. “Your concern isn’t warranted. I have no intention of crossing the cartel.”
“That’s good to hear, Mr. Hunter,” Eduardo says through a dark laugh as he returns. “Let’s go outside and talk about what your intentions are.”
The large back patio table is set for four. Eduardo takes a seat at the head of the table in a chair Mr. Torrente used to occupy when Maria and I joined him for dinner. Eduardo gestures for me to sit in the chair next to him. A familiar giggle fills the air as Javier skips into the room in front of Maria. She avoids my gaze as she sits across from me next to Eduardo and Javier fills the seat next to her.
The pressure in my chest is unbearably heavy and when Maria leans over and kisses Eduardo, I hold my breath to maintain my composure. How can a woman I once thought was warm and kind be so cold and heartless? She continues to twist the knife as she whispers in his ear, giggling softly.
“Do you still like trains?” I ask Javier in an effort to ignore his slut of a mother.
“No,” he answers with a hint of frustration as he glances at Eduardo. “They’re for babies.”
Eduardo nods at his son with a look of pride.
It takes effort to hide my anger and not lash out at his parents. Eduardo intends to harden and break Javier, force him into a man before he’s ready. My anger is more with Maria, who should be strong enough to fight for her son’s childhood.
For the remainder of dinner, I avoid talking as the people I’m seated with are strangers. The Maria and Javier I’d grown to love never truly existed. They were created to hustle me and they succeeded. I smile inwardly as I stare directly at Eduardo.
You will pay for this.
Maria has nothing on my mother and the lengths she went through to hustle and get her way in life and in business. Deceit is in my blood and when I’m through with Eduardo and Maria, I’ll spit on their graves.
