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Lili eyed the knot that I’d twisted on top of my head. “How much are you willing to cut off?”
“I like my hair -”
“I like it too,” said a voice behind us.
We both startled, and I glanced back: he was a typical Miami dude-bro, probably a college student. Attractive in an average way. “We aren’t interested,” I said as clearly as I could.
The man grinned. “Aww, come on, ladies,” he said. “I’m a man secure in himself; I wouldhappilyaccompany you to get your nails done. I’ll even help pick out the color. How about it?”
Where the hell was David? “No,” Lili said. Her tone was gruffer than mine had been. “Get lost.”
The man’s smile only widened. It was creepy in all honesty. He reached out and tugged at a lock of hair that had fallen out of my messy bun. Revulsion slithered down my spine, and I flinched away from his grasp. “I’m just being friendly.”
I saw Lili’s hands curled into fists. “Just keep walking,” I muttered to her looking around for David and found him several yards away, obviously flirting with some girl dressed in beachwear.Angel’s going to bepissed, I thought.
But Lili didn’t listen to me. I seriously doubted she listened to anyone besides her Padre. She whipped around and dragged me with her. “Look,pendejo, we are not interested. Get. Lost.” Now, the smile was gone from the man’s face. He grabbed Lili’s arm, and the moment he made contact, she twisted and threw him over her shoulder, sprawling him across the sidewalk in a heap. “Touch one of us again, and I’ll make sure you never walk again,” she growled in a perfectly terrifying imitation of her brothers. The man skittered away, muttering apologies interspersed with the words, “bitch” and “whore.”
David came running, and Lili whirled on him. “Where have you been?” she demanded. “What good are you if you’re going to disappear, huh?”
He stumbled over an apology and begged that we not tell Angel, but I barely heard him. I was too enthralled by what Lili had done. “You know self-defense?” I asked as we started walking again, this time with David sticking close to us.
“Of course,” she said. “I know enough hand-to-hand to get out of situations like that, and I can shoot just as well as Angel…though Omar is better than both of us.”
“Could you teach me?” I asked. Fighting, either with my fists or some kind of weapon, had never been something that I ever wanted to do, but I couldn’t deny that it would be a good idea, given my new life.
Lili stared at me for a moment, and then nodded. “You’ll come with me to the range tomorrow.” She slipped her arm through mine again, and we continued on our way, as if nothing had happened.
CHAPTER16
Angel
Imeant to pick Emma up from the estate myself, but as the time ticked closer, I couldn’t break away from my office. I checked my watch for the tenth time. I wasn’t going to make it back to get her in time. This meeting had to go well: it would help me to establish the Castillos as an organization to be reckoned with in the international markets. It was something I had discussed with Padre, but he didn’t see my vision. He wanted new ventures and had no interest in furthering the market that we had already conquered.
We were at odds, but I would show him what we were capable of.
I reached for my phone and pressed the number “2” on my speed dial. “Omar, bring Emma to the club for me? She’s supposed to be ready by seven, but I’ve got more work to do here before the meeting.”
Omar sighed. “So I’m your delivery man?”
“I’ll owe you a favor.” Even between brothers, a favor meant something, and we both knew it.
“I’ll bring her to you,” he said.
“Gracias.”
He hung up, and I went back to my projections. My men were setting up the bar area for the meeting, stocking the bar with premium spirits and prepping garnishes. I lost track of time, and when Omar called me back, it felt like only minutes had passed.
“We’re here,” Omar grunted, and there was something off about his voice.
“What’s wrong?”
Omar let out a heavy sigh. “You’re not allowed to kill anyone tonight. We need to make direct connections into Venezuela and Colombia for our plans to work.”
I went tight with annoyance. “I’m aware of that,” I said. “What’s your point?”
“You’ll see.”
The line went dead, and then the door of the club opened. Emma came through with Omar closing the door behind them. I could feel my mouth drop open, but I couldn’t close it; my brain wasn’t connected to the rest of my body anymore.
