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Gabriel doesn’t have time to get ready for the ambush if it’s tomorrow morning. Even Monday isn’t far enough away for him to be completely prepared, but short notice is better than no notice.
I smack my forehead, groaning as I begin to pace the room. I feel stupid for arguing with Dream. It gets us nowhere, and she probably hates me again because I couldn’t control my goddamn temper.
I should call Jasha. I know he’ll tell me I’m an idiot, but maybe he can help me figure out what to do.
Or how to get through to Dream.
I fish around in my jacket pocket for a cigar before realizing I forgot to bring any to Mexico. That’s probably another reason why I’m on edge, but I’m not going to leave the room to get any until Dream is back. I don’t want her to think I left her. That’s something I would never do, no matter how horrible she believes me to be.
I take a deep breath to stop my hands from shaking as I dial Jasha. If he laughs at me for this, I’m not going to give him the bottle of mezcal with the worm in it that he wanted. In fact, I’d probably go one further and knock his lights out when I returned home.
Thankfully, he doesn’t sound like he’s in the mood for jokes when I call him. “Everything alright?” he asks, as though he senses my emotional turmoil from over the border.
“No,” I admit bluntly. “I’m not in any danger at the moment, but things have gone south with the girl.”
“She cheated or something?” he asks, jumping to quite possibly the dumbest conclusion.
“Look, I know you have a history hanging over your head, but I don’t think she’s the type to do that. It’s worse because if she cheated, I could hate her and move on. As it stands, she’s probably the one who hates me.”
“You need to chill with the drinking. You know you get all pissy when you’re drunk sometimes.”
I groan. “I haven’t had a drop of fucking alcohol, Jasha, and I’m not an angry drunk. That was one time, and it was because you kept pushing me.”
I can practically hear him rolling his eyes over the phone, but he knows well enough not to say anything to bother me further. He just pauses for a moment before continuing. “Okay, so if it wasn’t the booze, what was it? Things got too real for her?”
“Her head is up in the clouds, so that’s probably not even possible,” I reply, shaking my head. “She thinks she knows everything, and she’s trying to meet up with the Cartel tomorrow morning for her cousin. I just don’t believe they’re going to play fair, and it’s probably going to get us both killed.”
“That’s no bueno,” he replies.
“Right, and I assume you don’t have time to get your ass down here to back me up,” I grumble.
“I could take a plane, but that would be assuming you’re actually going to go through with the deal tomorrow, which you aren’t… Are you?”
I let out a sigh. “I don’t know. Dream is pretty persistent, and I don’t think she’s going to let this go that easily. But I’m not going to let her walk in there alone and get herself killed, that’s for sure.”
“I’ve never heard you talk like that about a woman before. She must mean a lot to you,” Jasha says, telling me what I should’ve already admitted to myself.
My voice trembles lightly as I speak. “She does.”
“Then do what’s right. If you can convince her to wait, do that. Why is she trying to go so soon, anyway?”
“They’re threatening to kill her cousin,” I reply.
“Man, she’s going to hate you if they do that. She’ll blame it on you, and technically, it would be your fault.”
“No, it wouldn’t,” I reply, feeling heat rising in my chest again. “It would be the Cartel.”
“Yeah, but you’re the one who ran off with her, trying to help get him back. She trusts you. If you let him die, she’s not going to forgive you.”
Jasha is being a lot more mature about this than I expected him to be, but then again, we’re not young men anymore. We’re both well into our thirties, and the way we see the world has changed. Women aren’t toys anymore. They’re people, and if either of us has any hope of getting married one day, we’re going to have to treat them like it and make some compromises.
I just don’t know if compromising is the right thing to do here. I’m still not convinced.
I thank Jasha anyway, telling him that I’ll keep him informed once I know what we’re doing before hanging up the phone. The hotel room falls into silence once more, and I’m left with just my fragmented thoughts and the smell of Dream’s perfume lingering in the air.
I wish she’d come back. There’s so much I need to say to her, but the thing I want to tell her the most is that I’m sorry. I don’t want to lose her over this.
I’m about to leave and go find her when there’s a knock on the door. That’s either Dream, or I have an unexpected visitor.
