AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Your tooth has been discovered in the rubble.” Donato delivered the news with a hint of surprise.
“Why would he—”
“I don’t know.”
There was a beat of silence. In our world, the rules were simple. Do whatever was necessary to defeat your rivals. Sometimes that meant peace, and sometimes it meant war. In no way did it behoove Eduardo Sandoval to find the tooth I’d sent him. He had no reason to protect me, yet that was a move which gave me shelter. He should want me out in the open.
“Where has he been hiding all these years? I know every member of that family like the back of my hand.” My father had hunted them down and returned what they’d done to Mama a thousandfold. They’d survived his wrath by staying in the shadows and out of his way.
Who was the man Eduardo had claimed was his brother? Was he a plant to infiltrate our organization? When he’d cried about the loss and had been so passionate about dismantling the drug world, I’d believed him.
“When your father began taking out the family, he was sent away so they would have a surviving member,” Donato recapped.
“We would’ve known about him.”
“He was the child of Abarca’s mistress.”
I shuddered. Every time I heard that name it haunted me with memories of Mama being kidnapped and how I hadn’t been able to save her.
Holly sat up and moved to the opposite end of the sofa. I prayed she hadn’t picked up on the conversation. I wasn’t ready to lose her yet.
When I frowned at the distance, she touched my knee.
“Is that his real name?”
“Yes. He’s lived a mostly quiet life in the shadows, apparently biding his time. Abarca has been the public figurehead, but Eduardo is the one who masterminds everything.”
He was good. He’d fooled me, infiltrated my family’s cartel, and earned enough trust to get me to confide in him. I was tired of being surrounded by liars and constantly having to watch my back. It had been a pleasant change to think I was working on the same side as someone instead of fighting against everyone. But I’d been wrong.
“I don’t care about the land, if that’s what he wants. But I can’t let him have it. Not after what his family did to mine. If it were anyone but him, I’d say fuck it.” I’d set fire to the only house I’d ever lived in, but it was different destroying it by my own choice instead of having it stolen. I couldn’t dishonor Mama’s memory by letting them of all people have the compound.
“There was a tracking device in the phone he gave you. You need to be prepared to move. Quickly.”
I nearly choked at his words. Donato was right, though hearing it out loud was crippling. I’d just found a place where I belonged. I’d smiled, actually felt something, when I hadn’t in so long.
“Anything else?”
“No. When I have more, I’ll let you know.”
I didn’t want to hear more. As naïve as it was for a man who’d lived through what I had, I just wanted what had happened before I’d arrived in New York to go away so I could have my clean start.
I dropped the phone onto the arm of the sofa. Holly grabbed my other hand. The worry on her face flooded me with guilt. She had her own burdens to bear. It should be me taking on hers instead of the other way around.
“Come here, please.”
She yielded, settling her cheek against my chest.
I held her too tightly as I tried to memorize what this moment felt like. I’d known a lot of loss throughout my life. Far too much. I hated I’d only just found Muriella, but at least I could take comfort she was part of a larger family now and settled here. But Holly and Gabriel? I’d been given a teaser of what my lifecouldlook like . . . if my hands weren’t so stained with blood. Holly had accepted the gun, probably understanding that my life hadn’t been a good one. That was where I’d draw the line. I’d fight for Holly and Gabriel with everything I had. Even if that meant I had to let them go.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Carlos
“Where are we going?”
Between Holly and Gabriel, they’d asked the question no less than two hundred times since we’d left the apartment. And I was having so much fun keeping them in suspense.
“We’re not far now.”
