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Julio’s eyes go wide, and he looks at my brother. Anger flashes across his features, and the old man clears his throat before he speaks again. “I don’t understand why we’re here if you haven’t accepted my offer. It’s well thought out, and it will serve both our families well. I want to take over my rightful place as Mexico’s cartel leader, and you need allies. Eset, your father started a war against your brothers before he died. You have to know how vulnerable your family is at this time, and uniting with me is the safest option for you all.”
I scoff at that. Who does this man think he is? “The safest option is me pulling my gun out from my purse and putting a bullet right between your eyes. Anyone who tries to force me to do anything ends up dead, and I do mean anyone.”
Julio laughs maniacally and looks at Ruslan. “You can’t keep this one on a leash, can you?”
“My sister isn’t the type of woman who is leashed. She’s the one who holds the leashes.” Ruslan’s finally growing irritated as well and grits out every word.
Julio takes a sip of his wine and swallows hard before he speaks again. Hopefully, this time he’ll think about his words a bit more carefully. “I take it you’re not the type of woman who’s going to allow her husband to handle business on his own.”
I shake my head. “No, I’m not. I have as much of a stake in anything as the men in my life, my brothers included. I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but Nazyr and I are legally changing our surnames to Umarova. Now, Julio, do you know any Umarovas who take orders from others?”
Julio shakes his head.
“Exactly, so why would I?”
Julio chuckles lowly. “You, my dear, are unlike any woman I’ve ever met, and your family is very different than what I’m used to.”
“Our family works together in every aspect,” Ruslan states as the waiter comes back to our table.
Over the course of the next few minutes, we all order some dishes, and the waiter disappears back from where he came from. “The fact of the matter is that you need us more than we need you. You’re making a claim against your uncle, who the people love, and shaking the hierarchy in Mexico isn’t going to be an easy feat. So, what are you offering us, Julio?” I have no problem grabbing the bull by the horns, and it’s exactly what I’m going to do right now.
Julio might think my family is prepared to get him where he wants to go, but the fact of the matter is we won’t go against Alejandro. Julio doesn’t know it yet, and that’s to our advantage.
We’re going to steamroll this motherfucker for as long as we can, and in the end, he’ll know to never go against his uncle or insult my family in the process.
If I’m going to do this, I’m doing it my way.
Chapter One
Santos
I’m sitting out on my veranda, staring out at the people below me on the beach. I own a condo in Cancun, right on the water. From my balcony, you can see the beach below on the right, and there’s an inlet to my left. There are large vessels and smaller boats docked. Nothing too large like a cruise ship. However, there are many yachts that fill the docks in the inlet.
There’s a slight breeze on this hot day, and it takes the edge off from the sun’s rays blazing down on me. Wearing only a pair of bright yellow swim trunks, I lean back on the wicker beach chair with its plush white cushion, relaxing on this beautiful day. It’s not very often that I find myself able to relax. Typically, my father brings me into some drama, and it tends to plague my mind. But today, I’ve been lucky. I haven’t heard from him, so there’s nothing for me to worry about.
The warm rays of the sun are harsh today, with not one cloud in the sky. I’m sure after a couple of hours, my tan is going to really pop, though I can never be too sure. As a Mexican man, my skin tone is not nearly as dark as my father’s, but I have a lot of features that I took after my mother. I got her warm tawny complexion and light blue eyes, while I inherited my father’s high cheekbones and black hair mixed with medium brown.
I know I’m going to be interrupted at some point today, but I’ll lay here and hope I can get some relaxing in for a bit longer. My father’s always calling me or sending me text messages with some sort of orders that I need to do for him. I’m his number one bitch, though he likes to call me his right-hand man. It’s bullshit if you ask me. He only entrusts me to handle these things for him because he thinks I’m going to be taking over the Ramirez cartel from him one day. That’s his goal. He wants to overthrow his uncle and take the power that should’ve always been his, in those exact words.
My father is Julio Ramirez, the youngest son of the late Rafael Ramirez, who ran the Ramirez cartel for over thirty years until he finally met his demise. My grandfather didn’t have the best reputation. The only way he ever held any power was by instilling fear in his people. He was a vile man, if I can even call him that. He’d take daughters from men who didn’t pay him and keep them locked away in rooms across his compound, raping them whenever he felt the need. He’d give them false hope by saying they’d be let go when their fathers would pay up, but my grandfather’s definition of “letting go” was shooting them in the back of the head.
My grandfather was heavily involved in human trafficking, and my father is choosing to follow in those footsteps, particularly in child trafficking. It was something he kept from me until a few months ago, and since he told me, I’ve been trying to come up with a way to get out of everything I do for him. He’s been looking for a prospective marriage for me, and his eyes have been set on Eset Umarova, who, surprisingly enough, isn’t an Umarova at all.
She’s Chechen, from Grozny, and her half-brother Ruslan runs the Umarova crime family. He’s one of the largest arms dealers in the entire world these days and has many connections. We know first-hand that he does a lot of business with the Steele family, who are cousins with the O’Deas, Gallaghers, and Mackenzies—all Irish mafia royalty.
My father’s desperately trying to make a claim against his uncle, to take what should “rightfully” be his, as he puts it. In going up against someone like his uncle, who the people love and who has been leading successfully for many years now… it means my father will need allies every time he turns a corner. He won’t simply be able to make a claim without people supporting him, so it’s what my father is doing. He’s hoping I can marry Eset, whose brother has direct ties with major mafia families. We have our own ties to the Irish as well, considering my father’s aunt is married to Desmond Mackenzie. But we’re certain she’s going to end up supporting her brother Alejandro’s rule.
Personally, I don’t think my father is fit to rule, and I don’t believe he should be taking the throne from someone who’s been doing it peacefully for so many years. Alejandro leads with purpose and respect, while my father is only going to bring chaos and mayhem as his father did before him. Maybe even more.
I haven’t told my father any of my thoughts because I’m not in the position to do so. I know how much power I hold on my own, and it isn’t much. The only way I’m going to be able to move forward is if I play my hand very carefully, so I intend on doing that.
My phone begins ringing on the table next to my chair. I crack open an eye and reach for it. I spot my father’s name and answer, “Hello.”
“Santos, I need you to do something for me.” He sounds overly excited, or maybe excited isn’t the right word. Motivated would be. He sounds extremely motivated, which only means one thing—he wants me to do something.
“What would that be?” I can only imagine what he’s going to have me do today. The possibilities are limitless with him.
“I know we’ve discussed it on and off while I’ve been searching for potential marriage prospects, but I want you to marry Eset, Ruslan’s half-sister. From what I’ve heard, she is indeed changing her last name to Umarova. Ruslan requested her and Nazyr to do it, actually.” Eset and Nazyr’s father was Anzor, the man who went against Ruslan’s claim to take the Umarova family’s power back. I don’t know everything, but I know when Ruslan was a mere child, his father was killed. His mother married Anzor, and somehow, Anzor managed to gain the power of the Umarova family and their dealings. He had control until the last year when everything came crashing down in front of him.
