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I may appreciate his intention, but I don't want him risking danger by himself. If I can help, I'll help.
"Is Michele involved in this?" I suddenly ask, remembering their previous connection.
"I don't think so. Panchito and I did some digging and they don't seem to be involved. But that might very well be the reason why he's here. If Michele refused the partnership, Ortega has no standing. Heneedssomeone to back him. Now more than ever," Carlos adds, angling the screen of his computer towards me. "Here," he shows me some excel sheets.
"Those are…"
"His accounts. We managed to hack into his off-shore accounts and lock him out. He's basically a fish on dry land."
"What about the merchandise?"
Carlos smiles.
"I might have started a string of rumors regarding his financial situation and that he might be unreliable. People are refusing to do business with him," he chuckles.
"Damn, man," I whistle. "You really went all out, cornering him like that."
"I needed to draw him here since he's at his weakest in this area. Now it's just a matter of time. But…"
"But? This all sounds great to me. It's just a matter of time now before he falls."
“He's floundering. He might try to hang on to your brother since he needs him. And what's the best way to get in Michele's good graces?”
"Through me," I groan.
Carlos nods.
"He is aware it's just a matter of time before I catch up with him. But if he gets desperate enough… You need to watch your back," he warns.
"I can handle myself. I'm more worried about Noelle, but I'm going to hire some new guards. It's actually one of the reasons I came here today, I need your help. You know I've been trying to get Guerra back off the ground, but there are very few people left. Michele ran through everyone who didn't agree with him, and most ended up dead. I need to rebuild," I sigh. "Which is the last thing I want to do. But now DeVille is involved, too, and I gave Cisco my promise."
Regardless of my dislike for the man, I'm not one to break my word. I'd negotiated certain terms with him, and I'm not going to break them just because I don't agree with his methods. That doesn't mean that I don't intend to take advantage of this and rebuild Guerramyway. And there is only one thing I care about.
Safety.
As long as I bear the Guerra name, I will always be a target. Just like Noelle's association with DeVille will always put her on people's radars. It's just the way of our world. As such, no matter how much I'd like to, I can't just dissolve everything and take up a civilian life—that would simply mean ashortlife.
I might have never wanted this, but it's the situation I find myself in and that means making the best of it. And as long as I steer the ship, I can ensure it goes in the right direction.
For a while now I've been thinking of rebranding and bringing the family back towards a morelegalventure.
I'd already talked to Carlos about my withdrawal from the weapons trade, since that had been just a necessity in the beginning. He can continue everything as he likes after we sell the last shipment.
"I don't trust DeVille," Carlos mutters.
"I don't trust him either. But I can see why DeVille thrived for so long, even isolated. Nothing escapes the man."
Carlos grunts.
I give him a short summary of my plans and he agrees to help me find some reliable people to hire.
"How has everything been?" he later asks, looking a little awkward while doing so.
"Good. More than good," I smile. "I can't believe how things turned out for us, or the fact that it might have been fate all along, as silly as that sounds. But I still blame myself for a lot of things…"
"It's not silly," Carlos, ever the skeptic, declares as he shrugs, trying to look unbothered. "And you need to cut yourself some slack, for fuck's sake, man. How could you have known?"
I can't help but chuckle at his words, since that's exactly what Noelle had said too—that I need to stop being so hard on myself.
