Chapter 13
Chapter
Thirteen
Reinaldo
I gnoring the filth and debris on the street around our feet, I disconnected the call and turned to my brother, Aléjandro, second-in-command to our padre . “Fuck.” I stuffed my phone in the pocket of my jeans to stop myself from throwing it.
“Qué pas??”
“He promised her to a Russian.” My fist connected with the metal dumpster, sending shooting pain up my arm. “Fuck,” I screamed. The pain wasn’t enough. Turning toward the brick wall, I balled my fingers into a fist and reared back.
Jano reached for my arm, holding back my punch. “ El alto .” Forcibly turning me, Jano pushed me against the wall. “What the fuck? ”
“The capo, he’s promised Jasmine to a Russian—to Myshkin.”
“No.” My brother furrowed his forehead. “That’s not right. He wouldn’t do that.”
“He’s the reason I haven’t been able to reach Jasmine. He put a block on her phone.”
“Fuck, man…” He released me.
Cursing in two languages, I paced behind Wanderland, the cartel’s club near San Diego. “I thought I’d scared her away with my text messages, but no. It was him.”
Jano shook his head. “What the fuck were you texting her? You know the capo probably has access to all her text messages.”
“Then it’s a good thing he blocked me.” Curling my lips was more of a grin than I’d had in a long time. “She wasn’t blowing me off.”
“And it sounds like she never will.”
“He’s wrong. I’m marrying Jasmine even if I have to go Dante-and-Camila on them.”
Jano leaned back against the brick wall. “Don’t do that. Fuck, I thought the house was going to fall and not by gunshots. Dante and Andrés about went to blows. I’m not sure the alliance can take another upheaval.”
“The thought of anyone else touching her…” The pressure I applied to my molars was intense.
Jano laid his hand on my shoulder. “Use that anger down in the basement.” He tilted his chin toward the back of the club. “They have Garcia.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Garcia doesn’t narrow it down. It would be like the famiglia saying they have Rossi. ”
“Manuel. Manuel Garcia. New kid to the crew. Has been working cleanup the last few weeks.”
My time was supposed to be spent up north. I wasn’t as familiar with the crews down in Southern California, and I couldn’t stop thinking of some Russian with his hands on what is mine…
“Rei, focus,” Jano said. “Manuel Garcia.”
I shook my head. “Skinny kid, deadly accurate with a pistol?”
“Yeah, that’s him. Nick discovered Garcia is a plant from Herrera.”
“Well, fuck.” We were losing soldiers left and right to Herrera. We didn’t need to lose them to our own knives too. There’d be no other option if it’s proven he’s a traitor. “Is Nick positive?”
“Nick’s taken over some of your web lurking for our region. He’s good. Not as good as you, but he was able to triangulate cell signals and pick up text messages, even found deleted texts.”
“Well, fuck. I guess you’re right. I’ll be talking to Jasmine instead of texting. If Nick can dig that deep, I’m sure the famiglia can as well.”
“Focus, asshole,” Jano said. “You and I are going down there. Nick and Em don’t think he’s the only spy. We need to learn what he knows.”
Gathering information through torture was one of our favorite brotherly activities.
I gritted my teeth, seething with rage as we entered Wanderland through the back door. Looking around, I saw the crowd was sparse. Probably because it was still early in the day, only a few of the bars were open, and less than a fourth of the girls were present. “It’s nice not having the whores around all the time.”
Jano smiled. “That old school is working well as an apartment building. Mia has some great ideas. The whores like her.”
“Is Mia going to keep working over there after the bebé is born?”
“We have over a month, but nonetheless, it’s a point of contention. Liliana Ruiz is helping her. I’m not sure Liliana can take the lead. She’s not much of a take-charge woman.”
Opening the door to the basement, we were met with a hideous rotting odor. “Fuck,” I said, lifting my hand to my nose. “Are they storing dead bodies down here?”
Jano shook his head with a shrug.
I reached for his arm. “Hey, before we start cutting off body parts, would you talk to Papá about Jasmine?”
“You realize the capo is my brother-in-law, right?”
“You’re right. Talk to him. Tell him if he marries her to Myshkin, I’ll kill the Russian and any thoughts of an alliance with the bratva are gone.”
“Not interested in the younger Luciano cousin? Mia was shocked that Carmine would agree.”
“Remember after Cat’s wedding telling me that Jasmine was a scared little girl?”
Jano nodded.
“She isn’t anymore. I haven’t met Isabella, but Jesus, she’s barely legal. Jasmine is the woman for me.”
“I’ll say something to Papá .”
Four and a half hours later, I stripped down and cursed at myself for not changing shoes. These were thousand-dollar Italian leather loafers, and now they needed to be burned with the rest of the bloody clothes. After stuffing them all in a garbage bag, I stepped under the hot spray of the shower, in Nicolas’s private office upstairs at Wanderland.
Blood combined with the water, leaving crimson-hued liquid swirling down the drain. I washed my hands for the fifth time—the damn rubber gloves broke at some point during the interrogation. The last thing I wanted was to have Garcia’s blood under my fingernails. As I scrubbed my fingers raw, I concentrated on Jasmine. Hearing her crying ran on repeat in my mind. I wasn’t even sure I heard Garcia’s pleas for his life.
To my shock, the door to the bathroom opened.
“The fuck. I’m in here,” I called beyond the foggy glass doors. Squinting my eyes, I saw a smaller person only a few feet away. My first instinct was to reach for my knife. I wasn’t wearing a fucking knife in the shower.
Cursing under my breath, I looked around the shower stall for a weapon. There was shampoo, conditioner, bodywash, a cheap disposable razor, soap and the washcloth I’d brought in with me. The shampoo bottle was big, but not hard enough to do damage. That left me one option, my hands.
My thoughts filled with calculations.
I would need to distract the assassin.
With the shampoo bottle in one hand, I hurriedly opened the glass door and threw the bottle of shampoo. It narrowly missed the naked woman.
Naked woman?
“What the fuck? ”
Long dark hair, made-up eyes with too much eyeshadow, and bright red lips were where I tried to concentrate my attention. The woman looked down at the bottle on the floor and shook her head. “ Hola, Rei. I’m Julia. Senor Ruiz sent me up here to show his appreciation.”
Wiping the water from my eyes and hair, I blinked before the realization of my nudity hit me. I reached for a towel and wrapped it around my waist.
Julia giggled. “Don’t be shy. I didn’t see anything to be shy about.” She took a step toward me. “I promised Senor Ruiz to make you happy.”
Fuck .
I never turned down a free fuck.
Never.
Stepping out of the stall, I reached for a second towel and handed it to Julia. “Wrap this around yourself, por favor . You can tell Nicolas that I’m not up for it today.”
Her eyes widened. “If that wasn’t up, I can’t wait to see what is.”
“Towel,” I reminded her.
Reluctantly, she covered herself.
I shook my head. “Listen…” I’ve decided to commit to someone. I told her that I was her only one—only kisses, only touches, only pleasure. She deserved the same.
Okay, I didn’t say all that.
“…I have a long drive back to Sacramento.” I went to the vanity where my wallet lay beside my phone and key fob. Opening the wallet, I took out two one-hundred-dollar bills and handed them to her. “Take these. ”
Julia looked down at the bills and back up. Her lower lip was in a full pout. “ Senor Ruiz will be upset.”
“Don’t tell him. Tell him that I fucked your mouth and blew a whole wad. You swallowed like a champ. My cock is still painted with your lipstick. I’ll back up the story completely.”
“You’ll lie to the boss?”
A smirk curled my lips. “I wouldn’t lie to the boss.” Mí padre . “I’d lie to Nicolas Ruiz without an ounce of regret. If you get into any trouble over this, tell Senora Roríguez. She can get a message to me.”
“ Senora …Mia?”
“Okay, she goes by her first name. Yes, her.”
Julia looked at the shower still running. “May I? It will be more believable if we’re both wet.”
Fuck, I could carry that conversation further. But I didn’t want to. If instead of a thin and pretty Latina, I was standing nearly naked next to a beautiful, curved-in-all-the-right-places redhead, I’d definitely ask if she was indeed…wet.
I gestured toward the shower.
Julia dropped her towel to the floor and stepped behind the glass door. “Wait for a minute to leave.” Her red-painted lips curled. “You would not come so fast.”
Twenty minutes later, I walked out of Nicolas’s office, a few minutes after Julia left ahead of me. Nicolas was waiting beyond the door with a shit-eating grin on his face. My words came forth in a primitive growl. “Don’t ever fucking do that again.”
“If you prefer redheads?—”
Lifting my forearm to his neck, I pressed against his throat, interrupting his words and pushing him backward. Our collective weight crashed into the wall. “If I were you, I’d think twice before you finish that sentence.”
Nicolas’s eyes bugged out before I released the pressure.
Coughing and reaching for his neck, he spat out, “ El Patr?n will hear?—”
I pulled my blade from its sheath. The sight stopped Nicolas’s sentence. “If you disrespect my future bride ever, it won’t be my arm at your throat.”
“You think you can threaten me?”
I shrugged as I put the blade back. “Seems like I just did. Buenas noches , Nicolas. I’ll report to mí padre what happened tonight.” With that, I turned and walked away.