Chapter 50 Celia #2
My papá once told me Ignácio was sterile, and that the majority of the animosity he felt about me being reina stemmed from the fact he envied the family we had. There was a chance Carlito wasn’t even his, which was why his own mother had been dead for as long as I could remember.
Which left Ignácio believing he’d been raising someone else’s son, against his own wishes for the last thirty some years.
That must have been a bitter pill to swallow.
And I was here to soak it all in and use it as fuel.
“Cállate, zorra.” He was above me faster than I could react and the sharp sting of his palm against my face was nearly sobering.
I grasped my jaw and rubbed the sore spot as I slinked off the bed, he stood again, preparing himself for the worst.
“I need to pee,” I said, and he crossed his arms over his chest.
“No.”
“You’re going to stop me from peeing?” I rolled my eyes, “Who knows how long we’re going to be here and it’s not very clear when I might get the chance again. Is that alright with you?” I asked and he opened the bathroom door as if to check for a secret way out.
“It’s a Motel fucking Six. There’s one window.” I lifted my wrists up, a silent plea to cut off my zip ties but he scoffed at me again.
“Figure it out.” He huffed out, so I barged past him and locked the door behind me.
Okay, I needed to think fast now.
I turned towards the shower and started looking around the tiny rundown bathroom for anything that would work as a weapon but there wasn’t anything here except a bar of soap.
How hard would I have to hit him to kill him with a bar of soap?
Alright, next plan.
I sat down on the toilet to pee, looking for anything that may be a little more lethal for my mission.
I looked over the toilet and an idea came to me.
After I finished, I pulled the lid off from the tank and put it in the corner where the door would hide it once it was opened again.
I let out my best high-pitched scream and unlocked the door for Carlito.
“What? What is it?” He rushed with a slightly concerned look on his face that was almost laughable. He really was a fucking idiot.
“There’s a fucking snake in the toilet!” I pointed to the closed lid and he, like a goddamn amateur, proved why his father was keeping him at a distance. He wasn’t charged with the job of bringing me in because he trusted him, but out of sheer fucking convenience over the fact he was nearby.
I reached behind me for the tank lid and cracked it over his head, the edge of the porcelain shattering to pieces but not enough to take him out.
I raised what was left above my head again and dropped it down on him and didn’t wait to see my results.
My feet never moved so fast in my life, and I tossed the chair out of the way like a WWE wrestler as I opened the motel door and ran out.
I didn’t look back, I put one foot in front of the other and ran back towards the country road and kept going until it felt like my stomach was going to explode from cramps.
There was a lot I could tolerate, but physical exercise was not it, I was in the absolute worst shape of my life, and it showed.
The black Escalade was going too fast for my comfort from the direction I was running toward, and I slowed down, too afraid of it being my uncle already here to collect me.
But even before the SUV came to a screeching halt sideways across the road right in front of me, Ronan was already jumping out of the passenger side and pulling me into his arms.
He crushed me into his body tightly and I pressed back into him, never in my life having been so grateful for the bottomless well that was his heart; somehow, he had still been able to find love for me, after everything. Not in spite of it, but because of all the things we’d gone through together.
“Are you hurt?” He asked, both hands cupping my face while he let that look of fear break through his features.
Though it had been years, and he changed and grew so different, it was the same expression I recognized from when he rushed into my hospital room, after most of my family had been killed in the drive-by.
I shook my head and sealed my lips around him desperately, locking my arms around his neck.
Just as he whipped out a pocket blade and cut my zip ties a bullet hit the Escalade and we both turned our heads to find Carlito hobbling over, blood drenching most of his face with a gash so large I couldn’t help but be proud of myself.
Mateo burst out of the back of the SUV and planted a bullet right in Carlito’s leg, forcing him to drop to the ground with a pained cry.
“He’s mine,” I flared my nostrils at Mateo and reached my hand out for a weapon.
The weight of his Glock was comforting in my palm as I wrapped my fingers around it and the three of us walked towards my now somehow uglier primo.
The gun was too heavy, and my hands throbbed from the car crash but I held on tightly as I approached him.
Blocking out every ounce of pain so I could dish out the start of my revenge.
He propped himself up, preparing to stand as blood freely pooled out of him from multiple wounds, but before he could lift his hand to shoot again Ronan put a bullet in his hand, forcing him to drop his weapon.
“I said he’s mine,” I hissed at him, but he grabbed me by the back of the neck and pulled me until our noses were practically touching.
“I will never apologize for keeping you safe. It’s why you came to me after all, right?” He lifted an eyebrow and the smallest hint of a smile carved into his face.
It had been a long time since I’d felt anything but rage from Ronan and I couldn’t lie that small expression didn’t make my stomach flutter all the way up my throat. I returned half a smile and pushed him out of the way as I marched towards my primo so I could deliver him his death.
“Say your prayers primo, but I think God forsook us a long time ago,” I pressed my gun to his forehead. Standing over him, I kicked his gun out of reach while he clutched his hand to his chest.
He spat at my feet, “Chinga tu madre.”
“My mother? I mean, I didn’t like the woman either, but she was definitely better than yours, I think.” I scratched my head with the gun before pointing it back at him; he swallowed a hard lump before breaking down.
“Don’t kill me!” He pleaded with a sob. “I can be useful, I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.”
Pathetic. No wonder Ignácio was desperate to get rid of him.
“Then be useful, where can I find him?” I pushed the gun deeper into his forehead, hard enough that if I pulled away, the indentation would still be there.
“He stays in the Guadalajara villa. Prima, please!” He cried from the pain.
“WHAT?” I screamed out, my rage fuming out of me uncontrollably at the thought of him living in the home I grew up in, the same house he set on fire twenty-some years ago. “Why the hell is he there?”
“It’s the only place he has access to. Rafa put everything in your name a few years before he died-”
“Before you killed him,” I corrected. “He doesn’t have access to the dungeons?” I asked my loose lipped primo.
“He’s got a few factories down south, but everything else locked up tight when Rafa died. The dungeons won’t even open without you.”
I laughed wildly at the revelation. “So, he’s got nothing?” The smile on my face probably looked completely out of place, but holy shit. This was unbelievable. “So, you’ve really been roughing it these last fifteen years huh?”
My primo groaned in pain, “Celia, I need a hospital.”
“Sure, sure. Just tell me one last thing, my papá’s men?” I asked.
“Went into hiding. Most of his numbers are in Los Muertos, but he’s built his own following over the last fifteen years too.
The presidente fucking hates him, which makes it hard for him to get away with what he needs.
” He cried out, raising his hands above his head, and I finally saw the mangled-up mess that was his shot-off hand.
The middle fingers were barely scraps of bone with flesh dangling off of it, while the thumb and the pinky were intact.
“Carlito you’re a fucking idiot.” I said, flipping back the safety with a loud click.
“He won’t stop. He’s expecting you. He’ll send her after you.” He said in between pained cries, but it wouldn’t save him.
“Vete al diablo.” Those were the last words I spoke to him before delivering him to the hell he deserved.
He was never meant for this life, but unfortunately, he was just too dumb and ambitious to ever get out.
Stupid and ambitious was probably the most unfortunate combination a man could be.
He could never see far enough to comprehend that he wasn’t going to make it anywhere on that hamster wheel my tío kept him in.
So, he just ran as fast as he could, never quite reaching that carrot being dangled from the string.
Did hamsters eat carrots?
I don’t know. I never had a fucking pet, and that was probably for the best. But once his body fell back, I reached into his pocket, pulled out his phone, and dialed the most recent number.
I heard the click of the call connecting, but no one spoke on the other line.
“Don’t bother coming for me today, I’ve already handled your sorry excuse for a son.
Not before he told me more than you’d ever want me to know, of course, so I guess you’re welcome.
I’m coming for you old man, and when I’m done, I’ll be wearing your teeth around my neck.
” I hung up the phone and tossed it over Carlito’s corpse.
“We’re way too close to the motel, let’s get out of here before they call the cops.
” I said, turning to face Ronan and Mateo, who were both donning very different expressions.
Expectedly, Mateo looked intrigued, excited, and turned on.
Ronan was confused, unsure, and hurt. He didn’t know this version of me.
He was going to need to make room for her too if he wanted to love me.
I looked up at Mateo, realizing the entire day was quickly catching up to me.
The adrenaline from killing someone execution style for the first time since I was fifteen years old was fizzling out of me.
“My legs are Jell-O,” I told him, and he let out a soft laugh at my honesty as he caressed my cheek gently with his thumb.
Ronan picked me up like a fucking princess and placed me in the backseat of the Escalade. I smiled at Ethan, who waited for instructions while Mateo sat in the front passenger seat, and that’s when I realized what was missing.
Or rather, who.
“Where’s Santos?” I asked Mateo. Ronan practically growled while climbing into the backseat next to me.
“All of this happened because of him,” Ronan gritted, not breaking his gaze from mine. The intensity burning deeply in that forest of his.
“No, that’s not true-”
“Cecilia, he lied to us. He betrayed us. He betrayed you. He risked your life,” he held my chin between his finger and his thumb.
“He didn’t have a choice. I would have done the same if I was him,” I whispered, “I don’t blame him, and neither should you.”
The muffled sound behind our seats caught my attention, and I looked back at the trunk to see Oksana tied up and gagged.
“What’s that all about?”
“I was gonna trade her for you, before Sokolov told me he sent you off. That’s his daughter, turns out he doesn’t want her though.” Ronan rested his ankle over his knee calmly next to me, but his hand clutched my leg tightly, like he couldn’t risk letting me go.
I frowned at his words, “Untie her.”
He raised an eyebrow at me but complied.
Oksana crawled towards the far back of the trunk and rubbed her wrists before removing the gag from her mouth.
She looked pretty terrible, but not that it was a competition because I was pretty certain I’d had a worse week than she did. The fear in her eyes said enough for her, and I let her have her privacy to recollect her dignity as I turned my head back towards the front.
Ethan drove in the direction of Cove City, but all I could think about was how many times I’d fallen under the cruelty of lesser men who believed they were owed greatness. I would bet that Oksana here knew a little something of that too. Maybe I could use that to my advantage.
She wasn’t my enemy. Men just liked to paint women against each other for their uses. Well, that could work both ways.