Chapter 20 - Santos
SANTOS
When Guillermo told me to jump, I didn’t ask how high, I asked when and where.
It was the bittersweet pill I was forced to swallow anytime he called me up with a favor. Just his name flashing on my caller ID was enough to remind me that I was permanently indebted to him until my corpse became food for the bugs.
I was a king in my own right, at least on this side of the country.
But my cousin never failed to put me in my place at any chance he could get.
He loved to remind me that I was here because he allowed it to be.
Los Muertos was a life sentence, you either died for the cause, or you died a traitor, but you’d bleed out for them no matter what.
He saw the Black Crow Brotherhood as an extension of his power, not as an alliance. It was a dangerous line we teetered and if Zerkos found out I was trapped so far under his thumb like this, he would probably start a war over it.
One we wouldn’t win.
It was only supposed to be six years, that was the agreement we had struck.
But nothing was ever that simple, my cousin was a mastermind pulling too many strings I couldn’t see and the minute that tattoo was branded to my skin, I knew I had to play it smart if I wanted to be my own man ever again.
He kept me under his thumb, threatening to put my younger siblings and cousins through the ringer.
Constant menacing that they would be given the worst of the tasks needed from his gang.
The kids had it the worst, they were forced to kill rival gang children to send messages, and they were always running a corner to sell drugs to the dope heads.
It was the sickening part of that life that I refused to accept, and he knew as long as they were around, that he had me too.
I would do anything to keep my siblings free from the stain that came with this life.
At this point, I found it easier to go with the current, instead of fighting his demands.
He wasn’t unreasonable by any means, and his asks weren’t ludicrous.
Two or three times a year he called me to Ocean Valley, threw a photo my way and expected the job to be done clean and correct.
It wasn’t like there weren’t other hired guns he could use and wasn’t like the men closest to him weren’t capable.
It was a power move to let me know he owned me, and like a dog I came running to the one who held my leash, every time.
I got the call right after I had herded Zerkos back into his room last night to keep him out of Kane’s.
There was a part of me that was absolutely writhing in agony out of jealousy.
She had said it herself that she wanted me, but yet she crawled into his bed just the same.
Again. It was a mind fuck and I had to keep reminding myself that she only chose me because I was the safe option.
She chose me because I was probably the one friend she had left at this point.
Friend.
By morning, my plane ticket was already bought, and my bag was packed for the weekend. I wasn’t happy to be leaving. Even less happy to see her coming out of his bathroom in just a towel.
Why was I overthinking a shower?
I was even less happy to be telling her I was leaving and seeing the letdown look in her eyes like I was to blame.
And then Zerkos dragged her naked body into his room like she was his property and fucked her loud enough that Mateo and I would hear. Kane stood by the door. His fists clenched so tight you could see the white of his knuckles wrapping around the bone.
I wasn’t ready to let anyone into my head yet and realized maybe Guillermo’s call was a blessing in disguise. I took the opportunity and headed out as fast as I could.
Ethan was waiting at the elevator, and I lifted my chin up to greet him as I piled my way in.
“Do you need a ride?” he asked me, but I shook my head at him.
“I’ll only be gone two nights max, I’ll keep my car at the airport, thanks,” I said to him as the doors opened letting us out on the ground floor.
“I need you to keep an eye on everything, let me know if anything strange happens, anything odd, or different.” He raised his eyebrow at my vague request, so I leveled with him. “Let me know if Zerkos goes Berserk, okay?”
Ethan laughed at the request and said half-jokingly, “You mean more than he already has? Or is there a certain threshold we’re tolerating?”
“Just keep me in the know, if anything happens. Anything,” I stressed, knowing that it was going to be impossible to focus on whatever job Guillermo had waiting for me in Ocean Valley.
I had to trust my brothers to take care of Cecilia and keep things afloat here.
I closed my eyes as soon as I boarded the plane, and let my memories haunt my dreams.
20 YEARS OLD
“Woooooohooo!” Cecilia screamed in the passenger seat of the Audi convertible she somehow talked me into hotwiring twenty minutes ago. San Diego always had that effect on her, in fact, anywhere outside Ocean Valley did.
She always became the freest version of herself when she was away from that place. I knew the sensation well myself, being away from Guillermo’s hold on me was the only time I didn’t feel like I was free-falling into a pit of darkness.
Her laugh breezed through the wind like a song I couldn’t make out the words to.
We shared a brief look and her smile stretched from cheek to cheek.
I didn’t know that I’d seen her this happy before.
Okay, maybe that was the ecstasy we sampled coursing through her system, but there was genuine joy there too, maybe just amplified.
We were on a job, and Ronan would have killed the both of us if he knew we were not only high on our own product, but that we were breaking the law while doing it.
You can only break one law at once.
That was his motto, and I never really understood why. Maybe the bail money would be less? The guy went as far as buckling his seat belt if we were lifting a car.
This was a special occasion and it demanded broken rules.
We never did this, but after we picked up the batch, Cecilia gave me those dark puppy eyes and I was helpless to her demands.
It was just a few days until the anniversary of when her family was killed, if she wanted to take her mind off of it, I couldn’t deny her that.
She may have been Ronan’s girl, but our connection was different.
I’d never gotten as close to anyone like I had with Cecilia. It was the truest friendship I’d ever gotten the chance to share. Ronan left her with me for weeks at a time, and we had no choice but to rely on each other for friendship, comfort, and running whatever jobs he sent our way.
“Watch the road!” She laughed out again, and I realized I had been staring at her instead.
The danger was that she was absolutely breathtaking. She was my best friend, and she was also the girl of someone I considered a brother to me. I shook the intrusive thoughts out of my head, refusing to let my head take me there again.
Damn, this was good E.
I could practically taste the ocean salt in the air as we drove the convertible next to the shoreline.
“Go faster Santito!” She used the nickname only she dared to call me, and my dick treacherously threatened to wake.
I let my foot get heavy on the gas pedal, forcing a growl from the Audi as it climbed up the speedometer and Cecilia’s hair beat wildly in the wind behind her.
She screamed louder and threw her hands up in the air like we were on a rollercoaster, and I couldn’t fight the grin spreading over my face.
This feeling was the closest thing to freedom I had ever known. Right here. Right now.
With her.
I shook my head again before the darkness could cloud my thoughts over the drugs and as I looked over the rearview mirror, I noticed the cop pulling out behind us.
“Fuck, we’ve got company. You ready to ditch the ride, morena?” I asked her with a crooked smile on my face and she returned the gesture in approval.
I jerked the wheel to the left taking the nearest alley, forcing another loud whoop from Cecilia as she practically landed on my lap from the turn.
“Put your seatbelt on!” I laughed at her, and she frowned her eyebrows at me seriously.
“Nothing holds me back!” She grabbed onto me as I turned out of the alley into a closed off street too fast, nearly tossing her out of the car. She burst out in laughter again before finishing, “Except maybe death.”
I pulled the emergency break, the screeching of the wheels no doubt loud enough to let the cops know exactly where we were. We jumped out of the car and she whisper-yelled at me, “This way!”
I followed her into another alley, and she chose a door at random and just her luck it was open.
“Let’s go!” She tugged me in.
I knew it was probably a terrible idea, but I could hear the sirens creeping closer and it was just a matter of time before they followed us in.
The dark hallway trembled from a booming deep bass as we made our way into the building from what looked like a service entrance. We made our way past the kitchen, giggling like idiots as the drug peaked its way into our systems.
The hallway suddenly opened up into velvet carpeting, booths, and purple ropes separating the stage from the on-lookers.
It was too dark to see anything but the spotlight on the stage illuminating the steel pole.
The cops were right behind us, their walkie talkies giving them away with their obnoxious chattering.
“Let’s split up, go sit!” She pushed me into a nearby booth and before I could protest, she was gone, like she’d never been there at all.
I was left mouth opened in the booth before I realized she was smart enough to pick one that was already occupied, knowing that if I had been sitting alone it would have been suspicious as hell.