23. Amorette
AMORETTE
“F uck!” Andre pounded on the armrest of his chair.
The first helicopter tipped sideways and opened fire on the men at the wall. It was no more than a few seconds before it righted itself and moved on. The other helicopter did the same thing at the marina.
“They’re killing them!” I tried to climb over Grey’s lap, but he clamped his arms around my waist and shifted, tucking me tight between his and Lafe’s body. “We have to go back!”
I couldn’t see the ground, although they had to have hit some of the men. There was no way they couldn’t have. The headset did little to block out the sounds of gunfire, or maybe it was in my head.
No one answered me as I yelled and cried. I screamed so much that, at some point, my voice grew hoarse. Lafe and Grey had locked me in a tight hug between them and they didn’t let go. I was glad. As much as I hated it, I was glad.
Eventually, they released me.
My brain had long since gone foggy, yet I wasn’t too far gone to know they waited until we were far away from the island to release me. If I looked out the window, I’d probably see nothing but ocean.
Little by little, I started to process what was happening around me. Which was nothing. Lafe and Grey were both watching our surroundings on their side of the helicopter. Parker braced his chin on his hand and stretched back as far as he could in his chair. Andre was focused on flying.
Closing my eyes, I tried to block out my last images of the island.
I jumped when the sound of gunfire replayed in my memory. It wasn’t just there, though. Flashes of the fight at Lafe’s warehouse also battled for control of my thoughts.
Since we’d been back, I’d only thought of that man on the ground. But how could I forget about the moments leading up to it? The harsh, deafening sounds of the weapons shooting at us. The acrid metallic scent mixed with the fresh blood.
“We should take Matías up on his offer,” Parker’s voice crackled over the headset.
Blinking away the too-vivid memories, I focused on the present.
“It’s too risky.” Andre shook his head as he pressed a few buttons.
“I told you we should stay at my hotel. I’ve spoken to Enrique, and they’ve cleaned everything up and refortified the security.” Grey dropped his hand on my knee and started to trace random shapes.
“Do you want to put your hotel back in the line of fire again?” Andre asked, and he twisted to shoot Grey a quick look. “Because that’s what would happen. If we’re at the hotel, Vicente will have more of a reason to target it.”
“Which is why we should go to Matías’. Let his place be the target. Or Vicente will believe we’re coming around to his favorite son’s side and leave us the fuck alone while we do what we have to do,” Parker argued.
Lafe drummed his fingers nervously over his thigh. He glanced at me and pursed his lips. “I agree with Parker. I don’t like it, but Matías' place is the best choice.”
Andre grunted. It seemed like the brothers were all waiting for Andre to decide. When he glanced at Parker, then back at us, he sighed.
“Is that what you all want? To go to that pendejo’s house?”
“If you’re shutting down the hotel, then yes.”
“That’s going to place us too close to the Mansion,” Andre said.
“You know how secluded his place is. And if Vicente is happy to leave him alone, then we’ll be safe enough there.” Lafe grabbed Andre’s chair to lean around and look at him.
“You want to stay with Matías, fine. But not at his house close to the mansion. We’ll call him once we get to the mainland. He has a place there.”
* * *
“This is a terrible fucking idea,” Andre muttered as he parked us outside an apartment building. Just like that house Parker took me to, this building was in the tourist/ex-pat district, and everything was beautiful, well-kept, and manicured.
The building wouldn’t be out of place in any of the more affluent city neighborhoods in the US.
The street was fairly quiet, although a few people were walking down the road.
No one paid attention to us as we got out.
Lucky for us, Matías was already on the mainland.
I didn’t want to say anything to Andre, but it was like he anticipated that we wouldn’t want to stay so close to Vicente, and he made plans accordingly.
The doorman, who looked more like an armed guardsman, stopped us. “Who are you here to see?”
“Matt Garcia,” Andre rumbled.
The guard spoke into his radio, and when he got an answer—all in Spanish—he hit a series of buttons on the wall panel and waved us in. “The elevator will take you to your floor.”
Everything about the lobby was simple but elegant. It also appeared to be as secure as a bank vault, with the double locking glass doors and no options to select your floor. This was absolutely the home of some very dangerous or highly sought-after people.
The mood in the elevator was somber as we rode up.
No one seemed to want to look at anyone else. The only reason I knew this was from our reflections in the metal that was so well-polished that it was a mirror.
The elevator opened on the second from top floor, and Matías stood there waiting for us with his hands stuffed casually in his jeans. The bruises had barely faded, but the swelling around his eye had decreased considerably. That at least had turned green and yellow.
Just like before, his gaze lingered on me for a fraction of a second. When he started walking forward, he had so much longing in his gaze I doubted he was aware of how visible it was.
Maybe to the brothers, it wasn’t. But he wanted to be in their group. He just didn’t know how to show it.
I wasn’t sure Andre and the others would ever trust him enough to allow it, either.
My heart went out to him. He had his sister, but he said she was a snake. If I hadn’t had Grace, my life would have been half-full.
Matías stopped right in front of Andre, and they glared at each other. Both were near carbon copies, except Matías’ hair was shorter. He was also a little leaner. That was it.
“Where are we staying while we’re here?” Andre asked, but it was more of a demand.
“So glad you could make it,” Matías said sarcastically. He turned and used a fob to unlock the next door. Once inside his home, he started moving deeper into the place. This was decorated differently than his house but was no less sterile. As he spoke to us over his shoulder, his voice echoed.
“You’re upstairs. This place is on the top two floors.” The staircase was off of the foyer but closed in, so I couldn’t see what we were going up into. “My bedroom is downstairs. The entire second floor is for guests and entertaining—”
“I didn’t realize you had so many friends,” Parker said lightly as he dragged a finger along the frame of a piece of artwork hanging on the wall.
Matías tensed up, but kept moving up the stairs.
Lafe, and even Andre, to a certain extent, watched their surroundings as if they expected Vicente’s men to jump out at any minute or the doors to slam shut after us, but there was none of that. From all appearances, this was any normal penthouse suite.
“I’m afraid when this place was designed, polyamorous relationships weren’t at the forefront of the architect’s thoughts.
But there are at least four bedrooms you can choose between.
Will Amorette sleep with one of you, or will two of you be bunking to allow her her own space?
” he asked, standing by the door of the first room.
He didn’t turn the knob as he watched us.
“She’ll sleep with me,” Andre said as he placed a proprietary hand on the small of my back.
I stiffened. It wasn’t unwelcome, but Grey was usually the one who claimed my nights.
Grey didn’t seem to mind now, but Lafe glanced at Andre’s hand on my back with a slight frown tugging his lips.
“Very well.” He pushed the door open and stepped back for us to check it out. “I don’t need to give you a tour. They’re all the same, each with an ensuite.”
“Great. We’ll need to have some items delivered. How do we do that?” Andre held me back as Grey stepped in to check out the room. Parker headed to the one across the hall, and Lafe went to the one next to Parker’s. That left the one next to Grey’s for us.
“I’ll tell the doorman, and he’ll have someone bring the packages up and leave them by the door. When the doorbell goes off, that means your things are here.”
Matías hesitated as if he wanted to say something else, except when Andre started moving us past him, he shook his head. He began to go back downstairs, but I pulled away from Andre and stopped him.
“Matías,” I called. He had one hand on the banister as he stared back at me, his face blank. “Thank you.”
He narrowed his gaze on me, then looked back to Andre before nodding and continuing down. Once he disappeared, I turned to find Andre glaring at me.
Whatever. They could be blind, all they wanted to.
That man craved the sibling bond with them so much, he was risking his own life to do it.
Before, when Matías had come to the compound, I hadn’t been sure what kind of game he was up to, but he’d had too many opportunities to seriously hurt the brothers, and he hadn’t.
“You should let him in,” I said to Andre as I checked out the bedroom and bathroom. It was as lovely as any luxury hotel I’d stayed at, complete with hygiene items.
“Why would we do that?” Andre asked as he messed with his phone.
“Because I don’t think he’s as bad as you make him out to be.
” I came back into the bedroom and sat in the chair by the window, bringing my knees up to my chest. I didn’t take my shoes off.
With everything that had just happened, I needed to be prepared just in case.
Or until it stopped feeling like everything was about to blow up in our faces.
Andre froze, then shot me an incredulous look.
“Stop. Whatever is about to come out of your mouth, stop. All I’m saying is, give it a chance.
Vicente has already proven that he’s not going to let any of this go, and he’s got much more power at his back than you do at yours.
” Andre bristled at the perceived threat, but we were talking truths.
This was the truth. “If Matías was against you, he would have done something to screw you all over before now. Has he ever?”
Andre narrowed his eyes but didn’t answer.
“You know what I think?”
Again, he didn’t answer, but color started to stain his cheeks.
“He’s been alone his entire life and wants what you four have together. Why not let him have it?”
“What the fuck?” Andre spewed. “Are you out of your fucking mind? He’s in Vicente’s pocket, whether he wants to be or not. Why would we give him ammunition to ass fuck us with?”
I blew out a breath. Andre was so intelligent, yet they all were just as stupid as they thought I was on certain things.
Emotional intelligence was apparently one of them.
“Just think about it. We don’t have many choices right now, and you need people and resources behind you.
What if Matías is on your side? What if he could help you?
When I stayed with him, he gave me no indication that he worked for Vicente or wanted anything to do with him. Like it or not, you need him.”
“Maybe not.” Andre waved his phone at me. “One of my contacts just told me about a party tonight. We’re going.”
“A party?” I dropped my feet back to the ground. “You think that’s a good idea right now?”
He smiled, albeit it wasn’t friendly. “Don’t worry. This is the safest we’ll be, given the circumstances. It’s a Dirty Dog party.”
“What?”
“A prominent gang in South America. And they hate the Institution.”
That didn’t sound safe at all…