Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
Manuel POV
I stared at my uncle from across the kitchen table. He had taken me indoors and had poured each of us a glass of Bourbon.
We had been sitting in a deafening silence for the past ten minutes, and my mind was still stuck on the fact that I had a brother. All my life I had lived as an only child. I had always yearned for a little brother or sister, and now come to find I had one all along and he was trying to kill me. It was… interesting to say the least.
“ Tío, por favor ,” I pleaded with him. “I can’t take this silence any longer. What do you mean I have a sibling?”
My uncle looked away from me, his eyes staring intensely at the brown liquor in his cup. “Your father had a woman before he fell in love with your mother. She was what you kids would call the hottest thing in town. She was sought after by every man in the city, but she only had eyes for your father. Her name was Jasmine. She was the sister to Yamal Alvarez, one of the most feared and respected gang leaders in all of Guadalajara. Your father was established, but nowhere near the length of Yamal. Anyway, they started a love affair and became one of the most powerful drug couples in the entire city. Everyone thought they were going to get married, and indeed, your father was set on Jasmine. She made sense for him. But then he met your mother.”
I knew where this story was going already.
“She was kind, beautiful, and untainted by the darkness of the drug world. She captivated your father in more ways than one. She was able to seize his soul and show him humanity. She was more than just sex to him. She was all things good in his dark and treacherous world.”
My heart squeezed. It seemed like my father and I had more in common than I believed. We had both fallen for women who reminded us of what light and humanity felt like. In a world where we believed in forfeiting our souls, they reminded us that we still had light within us. They reminded us that we were not all evil. There were elements to us that were worthy of love and redemption.
“Your father called it off with Jasmine, and it humiliated her. It started the tensions between Yamal and him. If I can be completely honest with you, mijo , that was what started the war with The Triads. There is no fury stronger than a woman scorned. Jasmine was vengeful, not just because your father had chosen your mother, but because he refused her when she’d told him she was pregnant with his child. He told her to get rid of it and to wipe him from this earth.”
I closed my eyes, cursing my father. How could he have done that? He prided himself in family and the blood that bonded us. There was no way that he would deny his own kin.
“She was filled with anger and sadness, a toxic combination for a broken heart. The anger and bitterness drove her to malice. She set up your mother and made it seem like she had cheated on your father and slept with Yamal and his men. The evidence was damning, and with your father’s trust issues, he rebuked your mother and took you to America. Jasmine wanted to force Rosa to live the rest of her days without the love of her life, just like she had been forced to. But she never let go of that anger. She allowed it to fester and grow even deeper roots into her marrow. She staged your mother’s death in hopes of fully crippling your father, which it did. My brother was never the same, after. He became a hollow shell when he learned of her death.
Jasmine fed that hate to your brother, and after her passing two years ago, Diego vowed to come after you and your father.”
I opened my mouth, my brain still moving at a million miles a minute. “And what about my mother? Where is she?”
“With Diego. He has kept her within his compound since the passing of his mother.”
“And how long have you known of this?” I gripped the bourbon glass with so much force I was afraid it would crack under the pressure.
“When I returned to Guadalajara I ran into her at the grocery store. I wanted to tell you, Manu, I truly did, but she begged me not to. She said that it would be safer for you to not know. So, I promised her. But I've kept tabs on her, and I know that she is taken care of. And from the looks of it, Diego doesn't harm her."
A dull ache filled the back of my throat. The emotions formed a large ball in the middle of my chest, making it harder to take in more air.
This was a lot to take in. Not only had I just learned that my mother was alive, but now I had a brother who hated me simply because of the sins of our parents.
I took in a large breath, filling my lungs, and took time before I finally released it. I had no idea how to feel. On one hand, I finally had all the answers I had been seeking. But on the other hand, I had this whole other mess that I had not anticipated.
I drew the glass to my lips and down the bitter liquor. I felt it travel all the way down my esophagus and settle in my stomach.
I had no idea what to say. My head was spinning, and all I could think about was how was I going to sort this all out without leading to even more blood being spilled.
It had been different when The Triads was merely a nuisance pest that was causing me trouble.
But to know now that it was my brother… My own flesh and blood who hated me for things that were out of my control…
My phone buzzed, drawing me out of reverie.
“Excuse me, Uncle.” I got up from my seat and walked to the living room. My head was still reeling from all the information that had been dropped on me. “Yes, Rigo?”
“Boss… We have a problem.”
My heart stopped.