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I shrugged. If I were to attempt a guess on his strategy, he was going to sic a large motherfucker on me first. He wouldn’t offer anyone of great importance to him before he’d seen me.
Muscled-up gym bros were the worst fighters. They couldn’t move around for shit.
I smoked my cigarette and flicked my gaze to someone approaching in the background. This man wore a fancier suit. He was tall as fuck. Younger than Enzo too. Maybe forty-five, fifty. And he wasn’t alone. He had a guard with him, walking a few paces behind.
Enzo glanced back. “Rafael.” He continued in Spanish, but I got the gist. They were talking about me. Enzo gestured to me and shared his amusement with a chuckle or two.
Rafael smirked faintly and gave me a once-over.
This was straight-up cartel bullshit, wasn’t it? I’d picked up enough hints along the way—affiliations, references to bosses and crews, using terms I’d heard River and Reese say before.
I finished my smoke and flicked it out of the cage.
Enzo and Rafael watched where it landed.
“So you think the American boy will last six rounds…” Enzo’s switch to English made Rafael cock his head.
Maybe he didn’t underst—
“Minimum.” Never mind. He spoke English too. “He’s had training.”
You fucking bet.
I couldn’t get a good read on him, and it annoyed me. He looked like a billionaire CEO, with his bespoke suit and not a hair out of place, but his stance told me he might be more than a cartel-loving businessman. His posture reminded me just a little bit of some of the men I’d joked around with at a barbecue recently.
Rafael’s English was flawless too. He didn’t have an accent like Enzo.
“So have our men,” Enzo responded coolly. “Would you be interested in raising the stakes?”
Rafael’s curiosity was piqued. “Business and pleasure in one evening—it must be my lucky day. What do you have in mind?”
Enzo chuckled and turned to me, though his words were for Rafael. “If I win, you come work for me and help me handle our California problem.”
“And if I win?”
Enzo smiled up at him. “Marco can strike a deal with Mesa and Gajero and offer you a bigger cut.”
Mesa. Gajero. More names I’d heard before.
The two men shook hands and spared me a brief glance before they walked away.
Rafael’s guard followed—until he paused and glanced back at me over his shoulder, and it was the first glimpse I got of his face.No. What the—holy fuck. No, not here!Had he been taken—no, that… He was free, and he washere.
“Fight,” Crew said under his breath. “Everyone’s here.”
Every…
Shock and an overwhelming onslaught of emotions exploded within me, and I quickly covered my mouth with my hand. Crew walked away, all business, all…soldier in a suit.
Oh my God.
I wasn’t alone.
I didn’t understand a goddamn thing, but I wasn’t alone.
Everyone was here.
Everyone?
