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I held back the insult that had jumped to the front of my mouth. It wasn’t unusual for Lili to be derisive about the women that I had previously chosen to share my company with…but Lyse wasn’t like that. Lyse was somehow sweet and timid and fierce all at once; she was a brilliant artist. She was beautiful for so many reasons, and she didn’t deserve to be thought of as anything less.She doesn’t know Lyse, I reminded myself.
No one in my family could know Lyse…at least not until I figured out how to tell them in a way that wouldn’t get her killed.
“Gracias,Mija,” I said through my teeth.
She glowered at me, and we parted ways. As I left the hospital, I checked the location for my meeting with Felix and Luis Rojas again. It was in a downtown high-rise, probably Felix’s office. Though it was well out of the way of either Rojas or Castillo territory, it still felt like a risk.
But, as it was nearly eight o’clock already, it would be difficult to demand a location change now. They would assume that I was planning an ambush, and as much as I wanted to put my fist through Luis Rojas’s chest, Angel had been right. I needed to use my head.
I couldn’t jump to violence, no matter how much I might want to.
* * *
I had seen Luis Rojas more than a few times over the years. As Padre’s, and now Angel’s, enforcer, I was expected to accompany them to most meetings. I wasn’t expected to speak or even listen, really; I was there to be the muscle, and I wasverygood at my job.
The older man stared at me like I was the Devil, and it made me smile, sharp and ugly. I wanted this man to be afraid of me. I wanted him to know that I would be his demise for what he’d done to my brother…and for what he’d done to Lyse.
His son, Matteo, sat at his side. He was supposed to be Luis’s enforcer, but he looked more like a little boy visiting his daddy at work. He needed to hit the gym, build up some muscle and work on his face: he was far too terrified to look intimidating. Felix Suarez, on Luis’s other side, seemed to be the only calm one, which was surprising for a man whose fiancée was being held hostage.
“Señor Castillo,” Luis greeted me with a snarl. “I hear that your brother is going to make a full recovery.”
Someone at the hospital talked.They’ll be dealt with, I promised as I tried to shake off the red haze that threatened to seep across my vision. “Angel is stronger than a couple of your Rojas lackeys.”
Luis puffed up like a toad, but Felix reached out and put a hand on the man’s shoulder. I watched in utter fascination when the man calmed. “You called me here, Castillo,” he ground out, obviously biting back whatever he wanted to say. “What more could you possibly want? Felix has erased your crimes with the police. Your brother is alive, and the one responsible is dead from what I understand.”
“I’m not satisfied.”
“You're a free man after committing a public slaughter. I ask again: what more satisfaction could you want?”
I rolled my shoulders, making the nearly-healed injury pull slightly. “We want territory,” I said. “I have plans to build another club, and I want it near Elíseo, but the location is within your borders.”
“Puta madre!” Matteo shouted. “You want to exchange my sister for our most profitable piece of real estate!”
CHAPTER19
Felix
"Or I can start sending her back to you piece by piece," Omar Castillo said with a casual shrug. His dark eyes bored into Matteo, like he was imagining what it would be like to yank out his spine. "As a thank you for handling the police, of course,” he added, casting his gaze toward me.
Something about the way he said the words, or maybe just the look on his face, told me that he didn't mean a word of what he said. My hands curled into fists, but I kept my face as close to neutral as I possibly could.
But Matteo, the little idiot, couldn't see through the ruse. "If you touchone hairon her head,pendejo, I will gut you and show you your rotten insides!"
I flicked my eyes to Luis, who seemed to be in total agreement with his son.Fucking useless, both of them, I thought. "Luis, I think Matteo needs a break. Let the adults finish this discussion."
The man dragged his eyes away from Omar Castillo to look at me. I raised my eyebrow, and he let out a huff. "Matteo, go."
The younger man wheeled around, eyes wide. "Apá—"
"¡Dale!"
Matteo stormed out of the room, and I bit back a sigh. He wanted to be seen as an adult in his father's eyes, but then he would react like that to a simple order. "You really need to do something about him, Luis."
Omar snorted. “I agree.” We looked at the man they calledLa Bestia: he wore a smirk that sent venom through my veins. What right did he have to smile like that? “I’m just saying,” he said, raising his hands. “If he’s the head of your security, it’s a wonder that you haven’t died yet.”
La Bestiawas more intuitive than I was led to believe. Luis seemed to think that he was a brute without an ounce of self-control, but the man in front of us was cool and collected. He was absorbing everything…probably to take back to his damned brother.
"He's learning," Luis said, impatient and irritated. His refusal to see what I was seeing made him weak. "It takes time."
