Chapter 55 Celia
CELIA
We were running out of time before Los Muertos would come for me or Santos, maybe the whole brotherhood?
They were barely a blip on my papá’s radar when I was just a girl.
A few kids in a street gang who liked to tell others they repped the Cártel.
Rafael sent plenty of men to warn them off, threatening them to stop affiliating themselves with him before something bad happened.
But the bad happened to my papá instead and Guillermo finally got what he wanted in the end. He wasn’t just a piece of the Cártel, now on this side of the border, he was the Cártel. But I would take that back from him too, along with every stolen piece Ignácio hid away.
The lack of communication on both sides was highly apparent though. According to Santos, Los Muertos wanted me dead. According to Carlito, my uncle wanted me alive. I could only guess because he wanted the rest of my abuelo's fortune, and I was his only ticket to getting inside that dungeon.
But the countdown continued, and even though they hadn’t let Santos out of the fifth floor, he’d let Mateo know exactly how many days we had left before I was expected to be delivered.
Four.
Which meant we needed to work fast. Ronan had given Cézar a few million dollars to purchase some property that was practically on his compound but owned by the state.
These would serve as temporary living arrangements for anyone who worked for the Black Crows and their family who lived in the building.
We’d spent the last two days arranging everything for evacuations, meeting after meeting with Ronan’s top soldiers to dole out tasks, so that everyone knew what they were responsible for, when the time came to move out.
Since people would be in and out, packing, and transferring over to Grimm’s Reach, there was just no way to keep the lockdown in place and maintain the security measures they established. The high-rise was open, and the elevators were free to use and access.
A terrifying feeling almost.
You didn’t realize how much a lack of freedom also translated into safety.
“You can’t keep him down there much longer. Your men are going to doubt you if you don’t present a unified front,” I said, between bites of my bagel as the three of us sat around the kitchen island eating breakfast.
Ronan growled under his breath.
“She’s not wrong,” Mateo said, snagging my bagel and finishing it in one bite.
“Keep stealing my food and I’ll have to start getting stabby with you,” My threatening side-eye must have lost it’s edge, his response only a shrug of his shoulders.
“But then your nose wouldn’t do that adorable twitch it does when I do something that annoys you.” His grin forced my stomach to do that sickening fluttering again.
It was too easy with Mateo. Too easy to fall in love, too easy to trust, too easy to just be. Whatever version of me I pulled out for the day, he welcomed her into his arms.
It was unconditional, and part of me feared I didn’t deserve it.
Ronan kept grumbling nonsense about Santos paying for his damage, but If I was the damage, then I could say he’d had enough.
“There’s a party on the second floor today,” Mateo said with an uncertain look, and Ronan’s eyes narrowed before he let out a deep sigh.
“There was no way I could talk them out of it, not with Fletcher coming home in a couple of hours, and not with the move. The Crows need this,” he reasoned, and Ronan nodded in agreement.
“It’s dangerous though. Not the right time,” he scratched the back of his head.
They’d lost a few of their older members with the news of the Archers’ betrayal.
The proof was too blinding to ignore, but old men set in their ways refused to believe concrete evidence right in front of their faces.
The next generation of soldiers stayed put, loyal to the leaders they’d followed for half a dozen years.
“My opinion may not mean much, but I think this party may be important. For morale, you know?” I said with a shrug as I spread the cream cheese on the other half of the bagel and put it on Mateo’s plate before splitting another one for myself.
“Who said your opinion doesn’t mean much?” Mateo asked, with no hesitation as he picked up the other half of the bagel and began digging into it, and I smiled at him.
“All I’m saying is, Fletcher chose to give up his life instead of helping the enemy. That speaks loudly, and his return should be celebrated.”
“You’re right. With everything we’re putting our people through, this may be a dumb idea, but it might be a necessary one,” Ronan finally agreed, “Shoving all the Crows into one room for a party is probably the safest I can keep you anyway.” He turned to Mateo, “Make sure there’s at least a dozen men working the exits and you have my green light.
Tell everyone else to stay armed, just in case. ”
Mateo rolled his eyes at Ronan, “Yeah sure, that sounds super stress free.”
“And Santos?” I asked again before we derailed the conversation.
Ronan did a dramatic exhale and dropped his head to the table.
“Is this actually about him sending me off, or is it something else?” I raised an eyebrow at him.
“It’s all of it. It’s the lies, the deceits, the secrets. The years of it. That kind of betrayal cuts deeper than you could ever understand,” he said through grit teeth, a little too much emphasis on the word ever, and I knew he was still dwelling over the scars I’d left on him from my own secrets.
“Keeping him locked up down there isn’t going to solve any of that. It won’t fix it,” Mateo said to him, that serious tone he used so selectively to let us know that something mattered to him.
“You make sure the men are prepared for tonight. You go with Taylor to get some more clothes and something for tonight. I’ll deal with álvarez,” he said, handing out objectives to each of us.
“Who’s Taylor?” I asked.
“You’ll like Taylor Constance, our tech wiz. She’s sarcastic as hell, isn’t afraid of anyone, and will tell you how sexy you look with every outfit change,” Mateo laughed.
“Sounds like my kind of girl,” I said with a grin.
Ronan added, “More importantly, I can trust her to keep you safe for a couple of hours.”
“Just don’t go adding her to your harem, I don’t know if I can handle sharing you any more than this,” Mateo joked, but Ronan’s lip just twitched up in a display of dissatisfaction he was so clearly fighting to contain.
I bit through my top and bottom lip to hide the smile on my face because Ronan was definitely running through the possibility of that scenario in his head, and it wasn’t being kind to him. I slapped Mateo on the chest.
“I’m all booked up. Three holes, three dicks,” I said with a shrug, pushing myself off the seat and taking my plate to the sink.
Mateo spat out his coffee, coughing as he choked on the drink, though most of it landed on Ronan.
“Watch it, little flower,” he growled out through clenched teeth, standing up and pulling me into his body.
“I may have allowed this, but that doesn’t mean you won’t pay for it every time I have you to myself.” His coarse fingers rubbed against the underside of my jaw, pulling a shudder from my body with the threat of his words.
He captured my lips, cupping my face with both hands, urging a moan from me. We broke away, my eyes darting to Mateo at my side, who currently looked at me like I would become his next meal soon.
“It’s cute that you think you’re allowing it,” I smirked, teasing him just to get him riled up for the day.
The truth was that it was all in his hands. With the ultimatum I put out into the world like a spell, I left none of them any choice but to be mine, or not at all. I’d only ever been with one man in my entire life, and somehow this week, I’d worked my way up to three.
Oops?
My papá once said that a single man on earth would never be good enough for me. I wager this wasn’t what he intended though.
The guys reluctantly waved me off as Taylor and I got into a black Jeep Wrangler with the doors and top removed. They seemed to trust this girl with my life, so it was easy for me to say that I did too.
“Did you really let those fuckwads put a tracking device in you?” She asked me as we pulled away, handing me a pair of sunglasses.
I shrugged.
“I’ve been running for too long. Feels good knowing that someone will come after me if I disappear this time around,” I told her, and she gave me a sad look but nodded her understanding.
“I ran a long time ago too. No one ever came for me,” she said, peeling out of the parking garage and turning on the radio. Mac Miller’s “Self-Care” played on her sound system, and I smiled, knowing right then we’d be friends.
“We’ve got all day, right?” I asked her, not bothering to hide the mischief I was already planning.
“What have you got in mind?” She asked, and I somehow was able to convince her to make the drive to the Diablos compound.
I threw the doors open to the white farmhouse earning a few scowls from the bastards who thought they were tough shit, that is, until they realized who walked in and those scowls quickly morphed into expressions of uncertainty.
Maybe even fear.
I smirked in satisfaction.
“You know, you can call before you show up.” My adopted brother rasped as he sat in a chair that was reminiscent of a throne.
From the way it was positioned in the room it demanded the attention of every eye that gazed past it, to the way the others were coordinated around it.
I knew that no one else had dared sit there before.
So of course, being my papá’s daughter, I came with a backbone made of steel.
“Levantate,” I commanded him with a tilt of my chin, he fought his upper lip curling up in anger, and got up like the good boy he was, making me smile.
I didn’t have to treat him like garbage, and to be honest, this was mostly just making up for lost time-sibling rivalry and all that shit.
But he did owe me for leaving me, and I wanted my pound of flesh.