Savage Mafia Kings

Chapter 31 Emma

Emma

“What is the meaning of this?” Tío Andre demanded for the fourth time.

He, Tío Jose, and a host of cousins had descended upon the dining room the moment Angel sent the message that his father would be stepping down from his duties as head of the Castillo family.

I expected nothing less…but seeing Tío Andre again made my skin crawl.

I leaned into Angel, who wrapped an arm around me; his eyes, dark and sharp, were trained on the man as well.

“Where is Gustavo? I want the words to come from his mouth.”

“My father is dying, Tío,” Angel said. “He has stage IV pancreatic cancer, and it’s spreading everywhere. There’s nothing to be done but manage his pain.” The smile that stretched across his face was an ugly thing, but somehow, he’d never looked more handsome.

Tío Jose let out a laugh, as if Angel had said something hysterical. “No, he isn’t,” he insisted, as if he hadn’t noticed Gustavo practically withering away in front of them all. “He would have told me and Andre if he were ill.”

“His latest scans are in my office,” Angel assured them.

“Manny, run and fetch them for us?” he called to his cousin.

“They’re in a manila envelope in the top drawer.

” Manny took off running, and Angel shuffled us so he was sitting in the chair that he’d yanked his father out of, and then he pulled me into his lap.

“There are chairs that I can sit in,” I said, watching as the men all argued with one another and cast wary looks our way.

His hands circled my waist, holding me in place. “I want you close,” he said.

“Sitting beside you is too far away?”

He glanced up at me; the ghost of a smile was on his face. “Yes,” he said simply.

I wanted to lean down and kiss that almost-smile…and when I realized that there was nothing stopping me, I did just that, smacking my lips against his. “By the way,” I said, low and only to him, “I am still filthy and cold.”

“This won’t take long,” he promised, but he didn’t offer to let me go shower on my own again. Dealing with his father and being around his family had made him clingy. “Then, I promise that I’ll put you in the hottest shower you can handle.”

I giggled, half-hysterical. Everything was taking on a surreal tinge: the “going into shock” theory was becoming more of a reality. “Promises, promises.”

Manny came bursting back into the room, holding the envelope aloft. “Give it to Tío Andre,” Angel instructed. “He can read it out for us.”

I watched the man open the envelope and saw the moment he realized that Angel was telling the truth.

“Stage IV pancreatic cancer,” he said. “The chemotherapy isn’t working.

” He passed the packet of documents to Tío Jose for him to look at it too, as if they needed to confirm it for themselves.

I leaned back against Angel’s chest and watched the news settle over them.

Most of the younger men looked happy, even relieved, but the older men’s faces grew hard.

“Where is Gustavo?” Tío Jose asked.

“I’m sending him to hospice,” Angel said. “He’ll spend whatever remaining time he has there.”

“Which hospice?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Angel said with a careless shrug. “No one is to visit him; the man dies alone.”

There was an uproar because of course there would be after such a proclamation.

My heart kicked in my chest, fear bubbling in my stomach; I was ready to throw myself in front of Angel should any of these men turn on him.

Omar and Lili, it seemed, were poised as well because they came to stand by Angel’s side.

“You cannot stop me from seeing my brother,” Tío Jose spat.

“He touched what was mine,” Angel said, gripping me. “He worked with Luis Rojas to have Emma abducted; their goal was to kill her…and our child.”

Another uproar that was even louder this time. “Where is the proof of that?” someone shouted from the back of the group, closest to the door. I couldn’t see who it was, but it sounded like Stefan.

“David is dead,” Angel said, “because my father let a Rojas into our home.”

“That man could have broken in,” Tío Andre insisted stubbornly. I laughed at that one, and the man’s eyes fell to me. My stomach roiled, and I pressed myself back into Angel even more. His arm tightened around me.

“Our security system is top of the line,” Angel said. “No one is getting in unless they have help from someone inside the compound, or they know the codes. Either way, it would be a betrayal. The ultimate betrayal because he didn’t sic his dog on me; he went after my wife.”

Manny looked at me and seemed to take in my appearance for the first time. “Are you okay, Emma?”

Sweet boy. “I’m fine,” I assured him. “Just…filthy, really.”

He moved closer; Angel eyed him, but he allowed it. “You’re all scratched up.”

I shrugged. “I ran through the Everglades; there’s a lot of brush.” My arms and face began to sting, as if they had been waiting for me to bring it up to make their presence known. “There’s antibacterial cream in the first aid kit upstairs, right?” I murmured to Angel.

“I’ll take care of you, mi esposa,” he promised, and for the first time, I believed him.

I knew that he had been holding back from me, but to know that he’d been holding back this much was shocking.

Gone was my stoic, cold man. It was a little overwhelming to suddenly be aware of how much someone loved you; I never thought it would happen for me.

“How do you know for sure that your father was the one who worked with the Rojas?” Tío Jose asked. “David could have let them in, and they betrayed and killed him. That would seem more likely, yes?”

“Father admitted to it, Tío,” Omar said. “He wasn’t ashamed of what he had done; he didn’t try to hide it or explain it away. He was upset with Angel, and he wanted him to suffer.”

It was an oversimplification, of course, but no one but us needed all of the details. “Then he wasn’t in his right mind,” Tío Andre insisted. “You said it yourself that his cancer was spreading rapidly; it’s obviously affected his ability to think clearly.”

“Then why would he be allowed to remain in charge?” Angel countered. “Even if it was dementia that moved him, he couldn’t be allowed to stay in command.”

“It should have been discussed before you made a unilateral decision.”

I laughed out loud, and both of his tíos glared at me like they wished they could set me on fire.

I stared back, refusing to cower away anymore.

“I wasn’t aware that you all were run by committee,” I said.

“Did Gustavo ask your permission for a lot of things? I didn’t picture him as the type who asked for anything, let alone to be allowed to do something. ”

“This is different,” Tío Andre sneered at me.

Anger like I had never known rose up inside of me. “I was your princesa when you had me pinned face-first to the wall,” I said. “Now, I’m just the annoying wife that Angel should shut up, right?” When he looked away, ashamed of himself, I asked again, “Isn’t that right?”

Angel snapped his fingers. “Oh, that reminds me,” he said, and in a move that almost seemed superhumanly fast, he grabbed the gun that he’d left on the table, aimed it at his Tío Andre, and pulled the trigger.

A tiny red dot appeared on his forehead, but there was a spray of red behind him as the bullet sprayed gray matter and bits of skull all over the wall.

The man fell to the ground in a heap; he reminded me of a marionette that had its strings cut.

When the reverberating sound of the gunshot tapered to nothing, Angel’s family shifted their eyes from the body on the floor to Angel, who had put the gun down again and was back to cuddling me close.

“If anyone else puts their hands on my wife, I promise I won’t be nearly as merciful,” Angel practically growled. “My father declared war on me by taking what’s mine, and I would burn the world down if anyone tried it again. Is that clear?”

There was a murmur of assent. “She’s safe with us, jefe,” Stefan said.

I wasn’t sure that either of us believed that, but if we couldn’t trust them, what kind of life would we have? I couldn’t take having to watch my back every second of the day. That wasn’t a way to live or raise a family.

“Things are going to be different,” Angel said, pushing me out of his lap so that we could both stand. “I’m not my father, nor am I going to try to emulate him. You can either fall in line and follow me, or end up like him.” He gestured to the body on the floor.

“I’m with you, cousin,” Manny was the first to say, heartily and without hesitation. “I would follow you and Emma anywhere.”

I blinked, a little shocked to hear my name in the equation…but I was Angel’s matriarch. I would sit at Angel’s right hand. What had I really thought that would mean?

Manny’s declaration was followed by more, and soon everyone in the room had pledged their fealty to Angel, and more than a few added my name to their pledge, just like Manny.

It was touching in a way that I didn’t expect, and Angel’s fierce smile was more than enough to soothe any uncomfortable feelings that I might have had.

Only a handful of weeks ago, this would have broken me, being kidnapped, chased, and then threatened followed by an execution.

My mind would have been able to handle it.

I would have been terrified and disgusted…

now all I could see was a man who would do anything for me and for our child.

He would go against his father and his family to put my needs and comforts first.

Was that love? Was it obsession? It didn’t matter because Angel was mine, and I would never give him up. He called himself selfish because he couldn’t let me go, but he wasn’t the only selfish one. I could no more leave him than he could let me.

He touched my hand and brought it to his lips. “Are you tired, mi esposa?”

I was the kind of tired that was bone-deep, but there was a need that cut through the exhaustion. “I am,” I said, “but I need —”

Angel smiled, soft and genuine, and it shook me to my very core. “A shower, I know,” he said.

“I was going to say you,” I said, “but it would be preferable to get a shower first. I would rather not get any mud anywhere else.”

His expression went from warm to smoldering. “You need me, huh?” he asked.

“If you taunt me, I could go and take care of myself,” I said, acting as if I was going to walk out of the room, but he caught me around the waist and held on tight.

“Let me come with you,” he said. “Let me take care of you.”

I leaned into him. “Take me.”