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“Eddy will be fine. We’ll renegotiate through Diego and the Cartel will keep him alive because they want the drugs. They’re not going to give up on two million dollars just because they found out you’re with me,” I explain, though I know there’s still a risk that they’ll kill Eddy. The Cartel can be unpredictable, and they have a grudge against me.
“This is fucked up. I just want Eddy back,” she says, turning from me as tears appear in her eyes. Her voice shakes with emotion. “You promised you would help me. That I’d be safe with you. And now look at where we are, running from one town to the next because of your recklessness!”
Her words strike me like bullets, and I feel a pang of guilt in my chest. The anger in her eyes is overshadowed by fear, and that’s what hurts the most. I feel like I’ve failed her even though we’ve only just started.
“I’m sorry, Dream,” I say, my voice softer, my demeanor switching as I realize she’s sobbing. “I never meant for any of this to happen. I just... I got careless. You’re right. I screwed up.”
“You screwed up?” she snaps, turning to me with tears streaming down her cheeks. “I thought you were actually going to help. I really believed that, even though you were an insufferable asshole, you still knew how to get Eddy back. Well, I was wrong.”
I look over at her, trying to find the words to make this right, but she’s turned away from me again, staring out the window, her shoulders all the way up to her ears. I reach out to touch her arm, but she jerks away.
“Don’t,” she says coldly.
I withdraw my hand, feeling as though I’ve been slapped. We drive in silence for a while, the tension in the car palpable. The hum of the engine is the only sound between us, but it does nothing to drown out my guilt.
Finally, I break the silence. “I know I messed up, Dream. But I need you to believe that I would never intentionally put you or Eddy in danger. We’re going to talk to the Cartel and make sure they let Eddy go once we deliver the drugs. I know he means a lot to you.”
“You don’t know shit,” she snarls. “You’ve never met him, and you don’t know what he’s done for me.”
“You told me some things,” I reply. “He helped you when you were younger, and…”
“He did more than that. He made it possible for me to go to college. He protected me. He worked so fucking hard for us, and I’m not going to allow you to throw his life away because you want to act like some stupid jock instead of the Bratva boss you’re supposed to be. Honestly, I’m disappointed.”
Hasn’t she called me a jock a few times before already? What’s up with that?
“What with you and jocks?” I ask.
She stiffens, and I know I have something to dig into. “What are you talking about?” she asks, her voice thin and high.
Miraculously, her tears have vanished, and she’s looking at me again, trying to act like she has no clue what I’m talking about. She’s so bad at lying that it’s almost funny, but I doubt I’d be able to get away with laughing at a time like this.
“The jock thing,” I repeat. “You keep accusing me of acting like a jock. I suppose you probably thought a Bratva boss would be busy brooding all the time, but I am a human being. I’m allowed to have a sense of humor.”
“You’re just immature.”
“And jocks are immature? Or is this just someone from your past that pissed you off?”
“What the fuck are you talking about?!”
Ah, that’s it. That’s what she’s trying to hide, first by feigning confusion, and now with anger.
“You can’t compare me to other people. I’m not anything like the men you’re used to, and I would like the opportunity to show you that,” I say, trying hard to win back the conversation. Eddy’s predicament might not let me, though. It’s weighing heavy in the air, and I doubt she’ll be in a better mood until we’ve worked something out with the Cartel.
Dream rolls her eyes. “You’rejustlike the other guys. Nobody takes me seriously, and you’re no different.”
“I am taking you seriously. I’m here in Mexico with you, trying to get Eddy. I could’ve taken the drugs and left you on the side of the road in Texas, but I didn’t. Hell, I could’ve left you in town when things got hot, but I haven’t given up. We’re still on this mission together.”
She rolls her tongue around in her mouth, trying to find a reason why I’m wrong, but she relents after a few seconds. “Alright, you’re not the worst man I’ve met. There have been worse. The jock in question was this Italian guy at my school. Fucked everyone but me, and he was an absolute prick about it.”
I laugh, though I know it’s not funny to her. “You probably saved yourself from several STDs by being rejected.”
“Some good that did me. I probably collected a few from you earlier today,” she grumbles, but there’s a smile teasing at the corners of her mouth.
“I can assure you that I’m clean. I’m not as much of a playboy as you probably think. I don’t spend a lot of time around women these days.”
“Oh, believe me, I can tell.”
I chuckle. “You’re relentless, you know that?”
