Chapter 37
Felix
The sound of weeping women would never fail to annoy me.
Especially now over this pendejo. Jesus was a moron, thinking that he could take on Omar Castillo on his own after the man disfigured him.
When the Castillos shipped Jesus’s body back, the Rojas family had erupted into tears and promises of retribution.
It was like none of them had imagined that this would be the result of sending him to that damned island in the first place.
“They’ll pay for this,” Luis told his wife, rubbing her back. “They’ll pay for Lyse, and they’ll pay for Jesus. They’ll pay for everyone that they’ve taken from us.”
He’s delusional, I thought and glanced at my watch. I showed up to this farce of a funeral and acted the part of the devoted, grieving former fiancé, but my patience was running thin.
“Apá, now’s not the time,” Matteo said. His voice was flat and tight, and I felt a little flair of pride. He was taking to training well. It wouldn’t be long before he was actually worth something.
“Excuse me, mijo?”
Matteo looked at his father. “This kind of talk can wait until after the funeral, Apá,” he said, “when we aren’t around all the women.”
The older man’s eyes narrowed as he looked at his son. “Are you telling me what to do, Matteo?”
“Carino, please.”
Luis practically shoved his wife away; Matteo caught his mother before her stumble could turn into a true fall. “Go sit with Tía Claudia,” he told her.
His mother toddled away, and I watched father and son go toe to toe. Definitely interesting, I thought. “You have something to say, mijo, so say it,” Luis snapped.
For a moment, I thought Matteo might disappoint me and throw the kind of tantrum he had been wont to do from the moment that I’d met the little runt. However, he took a breath and very calmly said, “You lied about Lyse.”
“That Bastardo killed her.”
“I saw her at the train station two weeks ago. She called me.”
Luis’s eyes went wide with rage. “You spoke with your sister…in person?”
“You told me she was dead,” Matteo spat, matching his father’s anger. “Madre still believes that she’s dead, but she can’t hold a funeral because you told her that the Castillos weren’t done desecrating her body. What the fuck is wrong with you?”
This was getting dodgy; they were going to start drawing attention to themselves, and I could not afford to be a part of that.
Working with Luis, allowing him to convince me that his sweet, virginal daughter was worth my loyalty, had been useful once upon a time, but now that she’d been defiled by someone other than me, we were down to the contingency plan.
“Watch yourself, Matteo.”
“No.” The word was a growl. It was a little like watching a puppy get his adult teeth; it was easy to see the man that Matteo would become with continued…shaping. “Why did you lie? Why would you send Jesus to kill Lyse?”
Luis sneered, and I had to actively stop myself from doing the same. Lyse was a traitor. She let that beast touch her. “Your sister made her choice,” Luis said.
“Only after you gave her no other option!”
“Matteo.” I had to step in before this turned into a yelling match. “Your sister betrayed us long before Jesus went to the island. She chose La Bestia over me, over all of you.”
Matteo gave me an unfriendly look. “Stay out of this.”
My fists clenched, but I bit back the rebuke that was on the tip of my tongue.
I would get my retribution tomorrow...and from the look on his face, Matteo knew it too.
Good to see that we’re both in agreement, then.
“You’re not being objective,” I said. “I know it hurts that your sister betrayed your family, but the fact of the matter is, she did, and now we all have to deal with the aftermath.”
“Who is we, Senor Suarez?” Matteo demanded. “You’re not a Rojas, and you’re obviously not marrying my sister, so what is your continued interest in mi familia?”
He wasn’t entirely…wrong. This was all starting to look like a sinking ship that I refused to drown on, but Luis Rojas and I knew far too much about each other now to let the other walk away. I’d have to put a bullet between his eyes before that could happen.
But…maybe the boy needed a demonstration of who was in charge here.
“Luis, you’ve protected your son for far too long. It’s time that he grew up, don’t you think?”
The older man looked like I’d socked him in the stomach. I might as well have. “We’re at my nephew’s funeral.”
His attempts to appeal to my kinder nature left me cold. “All the better. Let him see what happens if he continues to act like a willful pup.”
“Apá.”
Luis cuffed his son, splitting his lip with the family crest on his finger. Matteo spat blood onto the floor. “Keep quiet if you know what’s good for you,” Luis intoned.
“See, Matteo,” I said, putting an arm around his shoulders. He tensed, looking deeply confused. “Your father realized a long time ago that he was a little fish. Didn’t you, Luis? Especially compared to the Castillos.”
Luis gnashed his teeth. “The Castillos are only in power because Gustavo was a cold sonofabitch who would sell out his own children to get what he wanted.”
“So, you’re trying to be Gustavo Castillo now, Apá?”
I tightened my hold on him, effectively blocking his airway with my forearm.
Matteo was stronger than me, and with very little effort, he was able to push me away, but after weeks of me putting him through his paces, he knew that I was capable of a lot more than I let on.
He would bear those scars for years, I imagined. “Respect your father, boy.”
Matteo snarled, but he didn’t fly off the handle. “He disrespected our family when he wrote my sister off for dead. If she allowed Omar Castillo to touch her, it was because you waited too long to get her. I won’t forgive that.”
“Are you threatening me?” I asked.
He took a breath, centered himself, and shook his head. “No, I’m not threatening you.” He glanced at his father. “I’m trying to understand why my father, who has always been a man who walked tall, is suddenly cowering at your feet like a lap dog.”
“I was getting to that before I was interrupted.” I looked at Luis, who was having a hard time controlling his expression. “Your father and I have had a business arrangement for a long time.”
“I know: my sister for your loyalty.”
I hummed in agreement. “But did you know the fine print?”
Matteo’s brow wrinkled in confusion; he stared at his father. “What did you do?”
The boy was definitely sharper than his father. He had a top-notch memory, and he was nearly the size of Omar Castillo. With a little more fine-tuning, he would be truly formidable. “Luis agreed that if Lyse didn’t hold up her end of our bargain, the Rojas business operations would pass to me.”
If I had hit Matteo with a two-by-four, he couldn’t have been more surprised. “Why would you ever agree to those terms?”
I couldn’t contain my chuckle. “I didn’t exactly give your father much choice,” I said. “Your father wanted my connections, and now, he has them. And he understands full well that with a few phone calls, I could have all of you rounded up like the rats that you are and put in Federal prison.”
Luis bared his teeth, rage clear on his face. “Your sister will pay for letting me down. The Castillos will pay for what they’ve done.”
I clicked my tongue against my teeth. “You’re still thinking like a little fish, Luis,” I taunted.
“We’ve done things your way for years, and you’ve made no progress out of the small pond.
” The older man’s eyes were full of fire and hatred, but they steadily dropped to staring at the ground, submissive.
“I think it’s time that we do things my way,” I said.
“I’ll help you get rid of the Castillos for good, clean up all of the mess that you’ve made.
I won’t even make you tell your pathetic family that someone else is pulling your strings.
But all of the decisions from here on in are mine. “?Entiendes?”
Luis nodded, and I heard a strangled sound leave Matteo’s throat. “Entiendo, jefe.”