Chapter 25
25
BLOOD
A passport I arranged.
Note to self: Don’t make promises when you’re balls-deep in a hot woman.
Maxine bites her bottom lip. “There is one other thing.”
“I know I’m gonna hate whatever you say next.”
“Hector wants me to throw the fight tomorrow night.”
“Shit—”
“I told him I wouldn’t do it, and that’s what we were fighting about in the alley.”
“How did it end?”
“I agreed, but there’s no way I’m taking a dive so he can bet on my opponent and win big. Not after all the training I’ve done.”
I push off the mattress. “I need a drink.”
I have way too much floating around in my brain right now. Javi’s murder, Maxine’s confession about her past and the horrors she endured, plus Hector wanting to rig the biggest fight of the night.
I return with the bottle of Jack and two glasses. I pour two healthy shots into each glass and hand her one of them. I gulp at mine, then settle back on the bed, resting my back against the headboard.
“This time, I have my escape all figured out. From the fight club, it’s only about two miles to the pedestrian crossing in Otay Mesa. I’m scheduled to fight at midnight, and then, after the fight, I disappear into the crowd. You said the turnout is going to be huge. The beauty part is from midnight until six in the morning is the slowest time at the border crossing, meaning I should be in California in less than an hour.”
“I don’t like it. I’m hearing a lot of holes in that plan.”
Major one being Maxine leaving Tijuana. I’m not ready to let her go.
“Holes? Oh no, I’ve had five years to think about escaping, and this last month in Tijuana, I’ve been able to ask around and get all the information I need to make a clean break. That and the passport make me totally prepared this time.”
I need to come up with a plan. A way to beat Hector at his own game, then get Maxine to stay. Do I want her to stay? Am I sure? Fuck, yes.
“With all the commotion, I’ll just slip away.”
I have to be subtle. I can’t go all alpha male on her. She prides herself on her strength and wanting to be independent. Me coming on like an asshole would never work. I have to play it right, make it seem like it’s her decision.
“Are you fuckin’ crazy? That plan sucks, and if you think I’m gonna let you chance going up against a fuckin’ maniac like Rodriquez alone, you must be outta your damn mind.”
So much for subtle.
“Excuse me?” Her spine goes ramrod straight, but the way her tits jiggle make me smile.
She rolls her eyes, jackknifes off the bed, nabs my t-shirt off the floor and throws it over her head. “No more distractions.”
I push out my lips, trying to hold in my grin. “Now I can’t help thinking how fuckin’ hot you look in my shirt. Faded gray Harley looks good on you.”
“Can we please stay on point?”
“Fine.” I scowl. “But maybe we can do this in a way that takes care of Hector without you having to leave Tijuana.”
“I don’t want to stay in this country any longer than I have to.”
“Even if I asked you to stay?” There, I said it.
“Please don’t make me choose between you and freedom from Hector.”
“What if you could have both?”
My question throws her, so she sips at the whiskey, then slowly shakes her head like she’s afraid to answer. “I don’t think that’s possible.”
I pour more whiskey into my now empty glass and examine the contents. “Because you don’t think I can make it happen?”
“It has nothing to do with you and everything to do with Hector.” She swallows more Jack and chokes a bit. “You forget I’ve spent the last few years under his control. I know how he works and the lengths he’ll go to.” She runs her finger around the rim of the glass. “Like what he did to Javi. A young boy who meant nothing to him, yet he used him as a pawn to mess with you mind.”
My chest tightens at the visual, but I’m not about to give up. “When Smoke and I first came down here, we came up against the cartel, and we beat them.”
“Rico Sandoval?”
“You heard the story?”
“I’ve overheard Hector’s side. How your club supposedly turned his children against him, then murdered him and took over his territory.”
“Here’s the real version. Rico’s children turned against him after they found out he had their mother killed in cold blood, and the territory we took was originally run by the Royal Bastards. Manny, Rico’s son, is now our treasurer and tech genius and Marisol Rico’s daughter is Smoke’s old lady.”
“Sounds like Rico was another sociopath, but I can guarantee Hector is way worse.”
“I agree. Rico liked to play the role and stay above getting his hands dirty. Hector likes to play in the mud, but I believe we can use it to our advantage.”
“Even if by some chance we come up with a plan to take down Hector, I have no life here.”
“We’re gonna work this out.”
My dick brain wanted to say she’d have me, but since I just found out her last name, and we’ve never done anything outside the bedroom, I realize how stupid it would sound.
“You said you liked fighting, and fuck knows you’re good, but there’s other shit you could do too. Diesel says the other girls like you, you keep the bullshit down, and you speak Spanish. When you’re not in the cage, maybe you could help train them, along with fighting. Like a manager.”
“That’s a lot of maybes. I could never stay if Hector was still in Tijuana, plus I’m sure you haven’t run this past Smoke yet.”
“When we’re done with Hector, he’ll be long gone, and I don’t have to run everything past Smoke, especially not when it comes to keeping a woman.”
“Keeping a woman?”
“Yeah, that didn’t come out right.” I draw in a breath and hold it, knowing I have to do this better. “I don’t know what we got between us, but I do know I’ve never had it before. I also know I don’t want it to end yet.”
“But down the road, it might end, and then here I’ll be in Tijuana with nothing of my own.”
“Nobody can see the future, babe, but shit, if you could help me with that damn computer, I’d be grateful. Javi used to . . .” My throat closes up, and my eyes burn, so I tilt my head to the ceiling.
Maxine covers my hand with hers. “I know.”
Probably the only person who does know the deep, searing pain of losing someone without reason or cause. She moves closer and wraps her arms around me, cradling her head on my shoulder.
“Javi was me all those years ago,” I say to the ceiling. “Scraping to get by, living day to day, sometimes hungry, always scared. Being on your own too young fucks up the way a person thinks and reasons. It all becomes about getting through and holding on for one more minute, one more hour, one more day.”
“Survival.”
“Doesn’t seem fair.” I swallow hard. “All Javi wanted was enough money to buy a new pair of sneakers and help his mother out. The kid had a good heart, a curse in this world.” I blow out a breath. “Maybe him dying so young saved him future pain.”
“He wouldn’t want you to think that, ‘cause he already knew life’s struggles, met them head-on, and wanted to do better.”
“I know what that life’s like.” I gulp down more Jack and let my mind drift. “I had to leave home at sixteen, and I had nothing. I moved forward one step at a time. One fist to the face, one beatdown, one deal, one connection, until I met up with Smoke. When he and I put the club together, I swore we would succeed.”
“Now they’re your family.”
“It’s cost me, but the club saved me. I was living on the streets with no guarantee for tomorrow. Scraping, conning, hard times, when all that mattered was eating regular—survival. When you used that word before, I knew you understood how much weight it carries. How without it, there’s nothing but failure, and I can’t afford failure, and neither can you. Because what I did . . .”
She waits for more, but I can’t continue. Not now, not with everything else going on.
“Are you ever going to tell me your whole story?”
“Not today.” Maybe never.
Maxine cups my cheek. “I think hardship has made you a better person.”
“You sure you’re talking about me, babe?”
“Even at your lowest point, you still made your own decisions, your own choices. Maybe not the best choices, but still, choices brought you to this place and made you compassionate, whether you want to admit it or not.”
I shift until we face each other. “I thought we were a relationship of convenience. You using me—me using you. I didn’t know you wanted to make me a better person.”
“I guess we were both in for a surprise.” She cocks her head. “So, if I decide to stay in Tijuana, what’s this great plan of yours?”
“I don’t know yet, but whatever it is, Smoke’s gonna fuckin’ hate it.”
“Great. Your president’s going to hate whatever plan you don’t have figured out yet.”
“Something like that.”
“Sounds way too dangerous and unpredictable.”
“Absolutely.”
“Like it has no chance of succeeding.”
“Right.”
“We’re probably all wrong for each other too.”
“Probably. Your sass would end up driving me batshit crazy.”
“And your alpha, obtuse attitude would get on my last nerve.”
“I have a feeling ‘obtuse’ isn’t a compliment.”
She waggles her eyebrows, and all the reasons we’re bad for each other vanish in a poof of a dream that just might work.
I gather her in my arms, holding her tight to me. “All I know is when I wanted to blow my life to hell before, you were the only one I wanted to see on the other side of my door.” I kiss the top of her head. “You can crank me up and push my buttons, but in the end, it’s you I want in my arms.”