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Fuck. He’d been a little kid when I’d been sent to spent time with his father. He’d followed me around, hero worshipping me since I gave him some attention when his father rarely did. He’d told me more than once he’d wanted to be like me.
I’d told him to forget I ever existed and to fall in love with a nice girl. His brother’s murder had taken a toll on him. I’d heard he’d turned to drugs but had thought he’d gotten clean.
“It’s the money he promised me,” Reno insisted. “My trust fund. He locked it down because of my ugly past. But he was supposed to release it to me last year.”
“Is this drug money? Do you owe a dealer cash?”
“No. God, no. It’s nothing like that. I’ve been clean for six years. Six fucking years. But he never forgave me.” He had a faraway look in his eyes.
I glared at him.
Then he unbuttoned the sleeves of his shirt, yanked them up to show me there weren’t any track marks. “See? I had good reason to get and stay clean. I’ve been working for my father for years, paid like a fucking foot soldier when he makes millions. I just wanted… I wanted a better life.”
He knew as well as I did that when you born into a cartel family, you never left. It was an unwritten rule that had resulted in assassinations before with other families. I’d thought his bond with Reno because of his wife if nothing else would prevent him from taking his child’s life.
“Then what is the money for? You need to fuckin’ tell me.” I heard a sound behind me and knew Grayson was standing in the doorway.
Reno shifted his gaze toward my soldier and slumped against the dresser, his Adam’s apple bobbing when he swallowed. The boy had never been cut out for what Carlos had wanted him to be, which had been a replacement for Jonas. He didn’t have the killer drive or the desire to follow stringent orders. He reminded me of my kid brother more than anything. Maybe that’s why we’d gotten along.
I’d never had this experience before but killing him was going to take a lot out of me. It felt as if Carlos was testing me all over again.
“There’s something you need to see,” Grayson said quietly. “Might explain what’s going on here.”
I could tell by the instant look of horror and fear in Reno’s eyes that whatever Grayson was recommending I see was the reason the man had stolen from his own father. When I backed away, Reno came at me, but not with a weapon, with the same pleading look I’d seen on far too many dying men.
“Please. If you’re going to kill me then take him away.”
Him?
I narrowed my eyes, noticing how Reno’s eyes shifted toward the door constantly. Then I took long strides across the hall, slowly pushing open the cracked door. Fuck me. The beautiful room had been decorated with everything a growing boy could want.
“Please don’t hurt him, Kendrick. I beg you. Just help my boy find a better life but not anywhere near my father. He’ll turn into a monster and I don’t want that for my son.”
Jesus fucking Christ. What the hell was I supposed to do with this? Grayson flanked my side, lifting his eyebrows.
At least the boy was sleeping. There was a small suitcase filled with baby clothes, a box with toys. He was trying to get his kid out of harm’s way.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
I didn’t have an answer for my soldier at this point, at least not one I could live with. “Give us a little space.”
When Grayson didn’t budge, I snapped my head in his direction.
Grayson backed away, giving me a single nod. I waited until he was out of the room before turning around to face Reno. “He’s yours?”
“Yep. Something else my dad didn’t like. A girl from the wrong side of the tracks if you know what I mean.”
Yeah, I knew exactly what that meant. An enemy. In his world, there was no such thing as a decent alliance, not with another cartel anyway. Tit for tat. The expression slipped into the back of my mind. I was paying a debt for whatever recent favor Carlos had performed for my father. I didn’t like what those potential favors were. “Where is his mother?”
“Dead. A drive-by shooting. She loved our little boy so much. You should have seen her with him. We had plans together, to build a life away from our families. Away from the violence. Then I lost her. It about tore me apart but I had him to care about and for. So I kept quiet and did my best trying to raise him these last few months.”
There was such sadness in his voice, a resignation from knowing I would take his life.
“You suspect your father had her killed.”
He hung his head, staring at his little boy. “Yep. I know he did. There’s a bounty on my son’s head too. His mother’s family wants to take him away from me. I can’t let that happen. Pops didn’t understand nor would he listen to me. I loved her. My father told me love was for suckers. Up until now, he’s never threatened my boy, but I knew it was only a matter of time. I think he knew I’d made inquiries about finding another place to live. He has eyes and ears everywhere. I only took the money that was owed to me. I just wanted to get away and never look back. You know?”
How could I say that I understood when I didn’t? When I glanced down at the little boy once again, his eyes were open, a smile on his tiny face. Then he started to laugh and so help me God, a stake was driven through my heart.
