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I looked at Omar and nodded, and he pulled the trigger again, blasting a hole through the man’s knee. He howled in agony. “Let’s try that again,” I suggested. “Who do you work for?”
The man gritted his teeth; his breath was coming out in short, pained pants now. “Luis…Rojas…”
Omar pulled the trigger again, and the back of the man’s head blew out, staining the grass with blood and heavier, meatier things. Emma gagged beside me and held onto me tighter. “Padre is working with Luis to get rid of Emma,” Omar said. “That doesn’t make sense.”
But it did because I had embarrassed Padre when I refused to work with Luis; he had approved the agreement to make peace and to refuse his order was a slight against him. “Let’s dump him and get out of here,” I said.
Omar glanced at Emma. “Take her back to the car,” he said. “I can handle this.”
“Ready to go home?”
She hesitated for only a second before agreeing. “Please get me out of here.”
CHAPTER29
Emma
After the fourth time I slipped from the mud caking my shoes, Angel swept me into his arms, bridal-style. “You’re going to get even more filthy,” I protested. “I can walk. Put me down!”
Angel shook his head. “I don’t think so,mi esposa,” he said, andGoddid I miss him calling me that. I shivered and burrowed myself closer to his body despite what I said. “Are you cold?” he asked.
It wasn't a true cold, and we both knew it. More likely, I was going into shock. “I smell disgusting,” I said, and I didn’t like how far away my voice sounded.
He leaned in and breathed me in. “You smell wonderful...I’ve never seen you look more beautiful,” Angel said, and the lie made me laugh. The laugh quickly shifted into sobs, and I wrapped my arms around his neck and held tightly to him. “I’m not going anywhere,” he said to me softly. “I’ve got you.”
Angel set me down on the gravel road where both of the cars were parked. “What are we going to do about his car?” I asked.
“Nothing,” he said. “The license plate won’t lead them back to the Rojas; the car will be searched and then impounded.”
“Sounds like you know from experience,” I said.
“I do,” Angel said. “This wouldn’t be the first body that Omar and I have dumped in an area like this.”
I knew that — he’d told me as much when we first met — but it was hard to reconcile the cold-blooded killer I knew him to be with the man holding my hand so sweetly. “Does it bother you?” I asked.
“We’ve talked about that before,” he reminded me. “What was my answer then?”
I thought back to the conversation that we had on our honeymoon. “That you didn’t enjoy killing, but you’d do it for your family,” I said.
Angel nodded. “He took you, and he was going to kill you. He signed his own execution order as far as I was concerned.” He cupped my cheek, careful not to press on the stinging cut across it. “I did a shit job at protecting you recently,” he admitted, “but that’s behind us. You and our baby are my first priority from here on out.”
I leaned into his touch, overwhelmed. “I know how important your family is to you, Angel,” I said.
“Youaremy family, Emma. Nothing is more important than you.”
I wasn’t entirely sure if I believed him, but I knew that he wasn’t lying. He genuinely meant what he was saying, but until it was put into practice, I didn’t know if I could trust it.
“Oh,” he said, reaching into his pocket, “you dropped something, by the way.” He pulled out the St. Christopher’s medal and held it up.
Almost panicked, I touched my neck. “I didn’t even realize that it had come off,” I said and reached for it. “I’m so sorry —”
Angel pulled the medal back, just out of my reach. “Why should you be sorry?”
“I didn’t mean to take it off,” I said. “I promised that I wouldn’t.”
His face softened into utter fondness. It didn’t look right on my stoic husband’s face. “Even when you were mad at me, you didn’t take it off.”
It wasn’t a question, but I answered anyway. “I don’t think I actively thought about it,” I admitted, “but it never occurred to me to take it off. I've been wearing it every day since you gave it to me.”
