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“I’m sorry. You’re right.” Diego wet his lips, glancing at mine as if there was a chance in hell I’d give in to a kiss. “I’m soothed by the fact that I’m still the only one to have you. And if all goes according to plan, I will be the only one.”
I lifted my chin. I wanted to know the plan. Not because I thought he’d be successful, but because any information was power—and if I was going to save myself, I’d need all the power I could get, wherever I could grab it. “How are you going to get me out?”
His mouth slid into a smile. “All those snooping skills you’ve been honing will finally be put to good use.”
My scalp prickled. “I can’t snoop in Cristiano’s house. If he catches me . . .” I didn’t need to finish my sentence. A leak in any cartel would be plugged and sealed as fast—and as ruthlessly—as possible.
“You’re as stealthy as anyone I know. I need you to look for information on a cartel.”
“The Maldonados?”
“No, not those hotheaded idiots—although, continue to ask Cristiano about them. It will distract him.” He inclined his head, growing more serious. “The Belmonte-Ruiz cartel is more organized. They know what they’re doing.”
Belmonte-Ruiz. Was that the “BR” Cristiano had mentioned on the patio the night before?
“Tali?” Diego ducked his head to catch my gaze. “Do you know something about them?”
I hesitated. Cristiano had trusted me with information our first night together—a privilege I’d rarely been afforded with Papá, and one it had taken me years to earn with Diego. Even though Diego had finally confided in me about the Maldonados, it was clear now, given my current situation, there was just as much he hadn’t told me.
For the first time, I didn’t know where my loyalty lay. It wasn’t with Cristiano, but that didn’t mean it was with Diego.
And I didn’t need to be told that anybody outside of a cartel was an enemy to that cartel—and anybody who fed enemies information might as well be dead.
“I’ve never heard of them,” I said, and it wasn’t a complete lie. “Who are they?”
“I’ve told you Cristiano and his cartel are deeply entrenched in the sex trade,” Diego said. “Calavera has been ambushing and stealing Belmonte-Ruiz shipments.”
“Shipments?”
“People.”
Blood drained from my face. That aligned with what Cristiano had said the night before—that payment was a courtesy and next time, he’d take the shipment. I was disgusted but not surprised he’d referred to people so callously.
“Why would he do that?” I asked. “And how is he getting away with it?”
“He’s hard to get to. Hard to bring down. That’s where you come in. If you confront him, he’ll just spin it somehow.” Diego got a cigarette from his shirt pocket, then seemed to think better of lighting it. “Play dumb, but act smart. Listen. See. Hear. And report back to me what you find so Belmonte-Ruiz can do the dirty work.”
I shook my head. “I’m not doing anything until you tell me exactly who they are.”
“Belmonte-Ruiz?” He stuck the cigarette behind his ear. “The most successful traffickers of forced laborers and sex slaves in the country.”
The contents of my stomach turned over. “Why would I want to help them?”
“You don’t. But they have more reason than anyone to bring Cristiano down. He’s costing them money and resources and making them look like fools.” Diego looked over his shoulder and lowered his voice. “Nobody on Cristiano’s team can be bought. Trust me. They’re loyal dogs. But you’re in a better position than any of them. Be my eyes and ears on the inside, and I’ll handle getting Belmonte-Ruiz the information they need to take out Cristiano and his business—and to free you.”
Diego wanted me to snitch. I didn’t need Cristiano to tell me not to go through his things and not to repeat anything I’d heard. Anyone who’d grown up around here, no matter how sheltered, knew that narcs were one of two things—undiscovered or dead.
If Diego was willing to risk me getting caught going through Cristiano’s things, that told me two things.
Whatever he felt for me, it wasn’t selfless, and that meant it wasn’t love.
And that this wasn’t a plan to save me, but to save himself.
“And then what?” I asked, to see what he’d say.
“And then we go to California like we planned.”
I would’ve laughed if it didn’t hurt so much. I’d wanted California and that life with Diego more than I’d wanted anything except my mother back. California seemed like a distant dream now, though. And if I was honest, it felt wrong. The perfect life I’d had there suddenly and starkly contrasted with the dire fates of the women whose lives were being played with by warring cartels.
Diego checked the door again and reached into his back pocket. “Come here, Tali.”
