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When he put it that way, there was a part of me that could understand why I was shackled to this chair. But the rest of me thought he was reaching. Did I actually look like someone who got involved in this type of thing? “It seems like a stupid plan. What if I had been late? Or just didn’t come at all?”
“You’re not the one asking the questions,” Angel ground out.
“Seriously,” I said. “What would have happened then?”
“Stop talking.”
“Wouldn’t it have been easier to —”
“I said stop talking!”
My mouth went dry, my words stuttering to a halt in my throat. The heat in Angel’s gaze pinned me to the chair harder than bonds ever could. I shivered, despite the lack of airflow in this room, and couldn’t stop. “I swear —” My voice cracked. “I had nothing to do with this.”
“You’re not very good at listening are you?” Angel stood there, staring, for a long beat, and I couldn’t bring myself to say anything else. Then there was a knock on the door. He turned to open it, and the big guy from before, his brother, filled the doorjamb. “She’s clean,” he said. “Her apartment is well out of Rojas territory, and there was nothing that indicated she was working for anyone.” He glanced at me. “You had a voicemail on your machine, by the way. You’ve been fired for not returning the smartphone back to the office on time.”
After being terrified and subjected to psychological torment,thatwas what broke me. The tears finally broke free, rushing down my cheeks as sobs wracked me. I pulled at the handcuffs again and again, ignoring the pain that rolled up my arms. “You have to let me go. I can’t lose my job. I need to explain to them —” I hiccupped, which only made me cry harder.
“Shit.” Angel was suddenly kneeling in front of me. He freed one wrist from the handcuffs, and I cried all the harder when the pressure eased off my spine. He held up my arms, and I watched him inspect my wrists. They were rubbed raw, fresh tears in the skin leaking blood. Angel met my eyes. “That was stupid of you.”
I yanked out of his grasp, flinching backward. “Add it to my list today,” I all but snarled.
“Angel.”
He turned back to his brother, who was still standing in the doorway, like he wouldn’t come in unless he had permission. “Padre needs to know about —” He flicked a hand toward me.
“I know.”
“The mensawit, Angel, we cannot ignore it.”
Angel looked at me, and I found myself sinking further back in my chair as he spoke. “I. Know,” he growled, the murderous intent clear on his face. “I will handle it, Omar.” Despite being physically larger than his brother, Omar stepped back. He wasn’t afraid of him — not that I could see — but the respect was apparent. “Tell Padre that I will speak with him shortly.”
Omar nodded, and then he was gone again. “Does that mean I get to go home?” I asked. Angel studied me, and I saw his answer before he opened his mouth to say it. I shook my head, willed him to not say it out loud. “Please, let me go. I promise —”
But there was nothing that I could promise that he’d actually want.
“You stepped into an assassination attempt,” he said. “The Rojas know what you saw. That boy I let go will tell Luis Rojas that you were there. You’re a witness. There will already be a hit out on you.” He crossed his arms over his chest again. I searched his face, hoping to find some hint of compassion, but there was nothing, not a shred of emotion. But there was heat in his eyes, anger and something else that made my lower body clench. If I made it out of here, I was going to find the biggest Catholic church and beg to do penance. It was the only thing that would save my soul after all the thoughts I’d had tonight.
I swallowed hard and tried to stay focused on what he’d said, what it could possibly mean for me. “So, if you don’t kill me, they will, that about right?”
Angel dipped his head in affirmation. A look crossed over his face, something distasteful. “But, lucky for you, I owe you.” The words came out of his mouth as if he had to pull them.
“What does that even mean?” I asked desperately. If there was an option here that didn’t end in the Everglades with the alligators, I wanted to know about it.
“It means,” he said, stepping close enough that when he leaned down the fire of his words flashed across my face. “That I am in your debt.”
CHAPTER2
Angel
“You owe acouriera life debt?” My father, Gustavo Castillo, sat behind his desk, arms folded neatly on top, and stared at me.
Shame burned through me. I wished that bullet would have hit me, just to get out of this moment. My father, the head of the infamous Castillo family, had a nasty temper, and he never gave a thought to turning it on his own children when the need or mood struck him. “She threw herself at me,” I explained. The words physically pained me to say. “The bartender, Tony, tried to shoot me. Then, Rojas’s men attacked.”
I had hoped the discussion of what happened would steer away from Emma, but Padre wouldn’t be swayed. “You turned your back,” he said. “Estúpido.”
The words hit me like a backhand, and I dropped my head in supplication. “It was a mistake,” I agreed.
“That’s no excuse!” he roared back at me. “If you expect to take over as head of this family, you cannot make such mistakes. Ever.”
