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They’re part of the Sinalia Cartel. And I’m betting that their lieutenant, El Azul, is here with them.
This isn’t just a gang invading our area. This is a vicious group of killers peddling drugs laced with fentanyl and Christ only knows what else.
I need to get in touch with Patrick.
I probably also need to turn my car around and get the hell out of here.
But I don’t do either.
Instead, I spin the steering wheel as far left as possible, cutting across traffic, resulting in a lot of middle fingers and honking horns. But what the fuck ever with them. If they live or work in this area, they’ll thank me for it.
I downshift and put the car in Park. I palm my gun and stick it into the waistband of my shorts, not that I’m planning to use it out here in the open. But I won’t go near those assholes without it.
I get out of my car and walk over to where they stand near a jungle gym, watching the kids run and play. I know my sister-in-law Kyla sometimes takes the kids here. Never alone, but also never fucking again.
“Nice Jordans.” I nod my head toward a pair of black-and-white retro Pandas next to a black backpack on a bench.
The guys look at each other and mutter some shit under their breath. I really should have paid more attention in Spanish class, but I don’t need a translator to know that what they just said ain’t good.
“I know a kid who had a pair like that.” I take a step closer. “Exactly like that. Up until this afternoon when he was jumped on his way home from school. You guys know anything about that?”
“You wanna say something, you fucking mick?” one of them growls in an accented voice. “Then say it so I can pound your ass into the ground before I plug it with bullets.”
These guys outweigh me by at least thirty pounds each. They’re short and probably slow as shit. But they’re also packing, and with all the kids around, I’m not gonna take any chances. The last thing I want is for them to shoot up the park.
But my eyes bleed red, drenching everything in my line of sight. With a throbbing pulse, I move closer to them. The gun in my waistband sears my skin, begging for me to palm it and blow the heads off these assholes.
I get close. Maybe too close since the stink of stale cigarette smoke mixed with weed makes my gut twist. But I want them to hear every word that comes out of my mouth so there’s no question about exactly who they’re fucking with.
“You challenging me,ese? That’s like holding a red cape in front of a bull.” I lean in and hiss into his ear. “Because I’m the bull. And when you mess with the bull, you know what you get, right? Or do I need to show you?”
He stares at me, his black irises bleeding into the whites so he looks more demon than human. The corner of his lips twitch. “I love a good challenge,Mulligan. Why the fuck else do you think we’re here right now?”
Chapter5
Valentina
Thin trickles of sweat stream down my back. I blow a damp strand of hair out of my eyes, turning slightly to take in the aqua water surrounding us. My flip-flops slap against the stone path that guides us around the beach resort. Crashing waves of the Caribbean splash against the thick, jagged cuts of rock surrounding part of the property.
Late afternoon beams of light dance on the swirling curls that hit the shore below, the caps glittering brighter as the sun dips lower over the horizon.
“My granddaughter loved to swim.” Boris Vetrov’s raspy voice is like a pang to my heart, laden with sadness because he’s talking about Angelica, his nine-year-old granddaughter who died in a tragic accident along with her mother years ago.
“I bet she’d have adored this place. It’s so beautiful.”
As dusk falls around us, the clear blue sky deepens, now tinged with rich orange and pink hues.
“My daughter would’ve, too.” He sighs and nods toward the wedding setup on the cliff tucked away from the rest of the resort. “She’d always wanted to get married in a place like this. A fairy-tale wedding, she used to say. So tragic she never got the chance.”
Swallowing hard, I remember the day of my own sham of a fairy-tale wedding and how it plunged me into my own personal hell for years to follow. A thick lump lodges in the back of my throat. I lost so much because of that arranged marriage—my brother, my father, my mother, my life.
Disappearing from the bridal suite right before the ceremony was the only thing that saved me.
But it was my choice. I made my bed. My siblings don’t even know the whole truth, why I left Miami and why I can’t go back until my work is finished. I was already in too deep when I agreed to marry Dmitri Stepanov, and after my brother Luka killed him, there were plenty of others who were ready to pick up where he’d left off.
I made a commitment to my father and to my family to right all the wrongs done to us.
The Brotherhood 7 is now down to two.
