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Brynne!
We left the store, moved to the curb, and proceeded through the crosswalk. By the time we’d entered the coffee shop, which was nearly full, I was feeling a bit more comfortable.
What the hell are you doing?
Grimly, I shoved the voice in my head away. If this had to do with Evan, I needed to hear it. As it was, I already had a hot knot twisting away in the pit of my stomach.
“Over there, by the window?”
He was being unusually gracious. The window seat offered me some public protection, even if it was a little secluded. But an idea had occurred to me. One that required a lot less people, a lot less street noise.
“How about that little round table,” I pointed out. “The one in the corner over there.”
Javi’s eyes narrowed for a moment, but eventually he nodded. Before we headed to the table however, I pointed him in the direction of the main counter.
“Grab us a pair of coffees,” I ordered him. “Mine needs milk and sugar.”
He paused for a moment, then reluctantly went. I think he thought I’d make a run for it. That by the time he’d reached the counter I’d be long gone.
I waited until he glanced back, to make sure I was in my seat. When he looked away again, I pulled out my phone.
Call them!
Once again I pushed the voice in my head away. If I called the guys now, I wouldn’t learn anything. They’d be down here within the next three minutes, pummeling Javi’s face until it matched his bruised neck.
No, I knew what I was doing.
Instead I swallowed my nervousness, shifting into a position that felt both comfortable and domineering. Javi sat down a minute or two later, pushing a tall cup of coffee in front of me. Then he sat back to enjoy his own.
“Your friends,” he said immediately but smoothly. “You need to tell them to back off.”
“I do, huh?”
“Yes.”
“I thought this was about my brother?”
Javi sipped his coffee like some kind of strange connoisseur, then nodded thoughtfully. “It is.”
“So why do I need to—”
“Because your friends are sniffing around in some very bad places,” he interrupted. “They have people making inquiries that are making my life difficult. It has to stop.”
“That’s easy,” I shrugged. “Just give me Evan and it stops today.”
I studied his expression, watching it go just slightly more uncomfortable. His mask of confidence snapped back into place so quickly it was almost not even noticeable.
“Your brother has been working off a debt for us,” Javi Lozano lied. His voice dropped lower. “I can cut him free, but only after you’ve called off your gym rats. As I said, they’ve been making trouble—”
“With the Ancella cartel, I know.”
The man across from me stiffened visibly. His skin suddenly seemed two shades paler.
“I understand your family is completely beholden to the cartel,” I said smoothly. “You take your orders from them. Everything you have is because of them.”
“Everything we built, we builtourselves,” Javi growled. “We don’t owe anyone anything. And we certainly don’t take orders—”
“Yes you do,” I snapped. “The cartel supplies you, commands you, and they spank you when you get out of line. Which is probably the direction you’re heading, to be honest. In fact, I know they’re coming up here for a good spanking.”
