29. Andre
ANDRE
“Y ou should have the pictures in your inbox,” Hannah said before the line clicked.
Well, fucking hello to you too.
Hannah was one of my best employees. Efficient, skilled, and lacking people skills. But who needed those? They were a waste of fucking time for the most part.
I clicked open my email, and there it was. Parker’s brilliant idea actually worked. Better than worked. Now to decide what to do with them.
Each image on the screen showed a very telling story of how Amorette Monet Black, an up-and-coming domestic victims advocate and attorney, was not here against her will.
They were taken at a distance, but the quality was such that the photographer was within five feet of the table.
Thanks to Parker’s planning, he had Rod reserve the most visible table at Mea Culpa.
Not only were they in full sight of anyone entering or leaving the restaurant, but the marina and passersby as well.
Genius.
The first image was Grey politely pulling out a chair for her, and her smiling up at him so sweetly. I snorted. I couldn’t fucking stop it. Had Parker filled Grey in on what he was doing? Because this wasn’t Grey. He couldn’t give two shits about manners or appearances or anything so useless.
That was more Parker’s game. Or mine. You play the cards that allow for the best outcome. Always.
The next was Parker reviewing the images in the file with her. His index finger pointing something out, her bent over it, lost in thought. Grey’s profile as he studied her was also visible.
The Institution was so well known in South America, and by default, our family, that anyone, civilian or not, would recognize them.
The time stamp was every five minutes on the rest of the pictures. Each one, Amorette was a little more relaxed and happy. She was rolling with laughter in some.
I had to admit, Grey caressing her neck was a nice touch.
Glancing at my clock, I pushed my chair away from my desk. There were a million and one things I needed to do, but for the moment, I wanted to bask in something finally going right.
The one question taking up my mind—release the pictures to the press, or show Amorette as leverage?
Either way, her rabid fight to return to the US would wither to practically nothing. I was still on the opposing side here. She was a sweet piece, but nothing worth losing one of my brothers over.
Except, Parker thought she could be of use.
I rolled my eyes. He probably wanted to fuck her, and it was clouding his judgment.
Sighing, I stood and stretched. A run would help invigorate me, provide a little motivation to deal with Vicente’s goons.
The burner cell rang on the desk. That was strange. It was the one I kept—we all kept—for emergencies only.
I snatched it up, hitting the green button.
“Yes?”
“We have a problem.” Parker’s dry, unbothered voice came down the line.
“I don’t like those words. What kind of problem?” I paced around the office, needing to move. Seconds went by with only the sound of Parker’s breathing. The bastard held me in fucking suspense. Parker knew I hated that shit.
“Well, either Vicente believes we’re liabilities not worth keeping around, or there’s another player on the board pretending to work for Vicente.”
Shit, shit, shit.
Swiping my hand through my hair, I spun around and logged back into my computer. I needed to see what open jobs I had on the table and what he asked for.
Grey always bit my ass about it, but I kept detailed notes on every single interaction with Vicente. Who he targeted, why, and the outcome.
Even for my brothers.
They’d think I was crazy, and maybe I was. I was the paranoid creature Vicente molded me into. But this way I could keep a clear record and not forget a single thing that could be used against us at a later date. And if there seemed to be a loose thread…
I took care of it before it became an issue.
Shit. There were three open requests between the four of us right now for Vicente. I needed to check on the progress to see where we stood. If anything had gone wrong. But if it had, we should have been notified.
“What the fucking hell happened?” I shouted.
“Our pendejo brother—” A litany of Grey’s cursing filled the background. “Escorted our little love to the bathroom with Blanca, giving this man a perfect opening to corner them.”
“Did you bring him w—”
“Now, brother, I would have loved to. No one gets answers quite like you do, but unfortunately, no. Our little love apparently has a will of steel when it comes to taking care of business.” His smile came through loud and clear, but I wasn’t seeing anything to fucking smile about.
“What is that supposed to mean? Are you okay? Is Grey okay?” I spat, finding the document I needed. It was in Excel, with different tabs for each type of interaction in chronological order. Color-coded too.
“Why yes, I’m glad you asked. It seems Little Love doesn’t like it when someone she cares about is threatened.” He chuckled. “I’m sure Grey could have handled it, but this was the best-case scenario. Amorette took care of the gunman. While not ideal, this is a perfect solution to our problems.”
“Is she there with you now? Where the hell are you?”
“We just docked. Grey is carrying her inside.”
“What do you mean she took care of the gunman? I wish you’d fucking tell the story instead of dancing around the details!” I locked my computer, then my office, and took off toward the back doors.
I needed to see both of my estúpido brothers to ensure they were okay. And maybe, just maybe, Parker will have explained what happened by then.
“Amorette was the straggler, and when she came out of the bathroom, she had the perfect opportunity to snatch the man’s second weapon right out of the back of his pants. Who carries a gun visible like that?” He scoffed.
“She saved Grey?” My steps slowed. Why would she save one of her supposed captors?
“Oh yes. But they’d already made up. If we’re splitting hairs, the gunman was technically aiming at Blanca when Little Love shot him.
Did you see any weapons training in her background?
Where’d she learn to handle a gun?” he mused.
The sounds of his footsteps meant he was coming toward the compound.
“Why was Blanca with you?” She wasn’t part of the plan.
“Because she wanted to see some friends. Stop being an ass.” Parker sighed just as I rounded the corner.
There Grey was, leading a blank-faced Amorette through the door. His brow furrowed as he watched her. His lips were moving, but there were too many people and too much space between us for me to hear what he said to her.
I didn’t have to push past our men. They separated for me as I stormed toward Grey. Parker came into view through the glass so I hung up the phone.
As I got closer, I noticed the red speckles covering Amorette’s white shirt. There were a few spots on Grey’s shirt as well. Their hands and faces were clean. That was good. Someone had at least done that much cleanup. Probably Blanca.
Parker thought we were invincible, and Grey never cared about such things.
“What happened?” I put my fists on my hips as I stopped directly in front of them.
Fury flashed in Grey’s eyes as he pinned me with his gaze. “Some cabrón thought he could corner me in a hallway. ” He glanced down at the current pain in my ass. “He had a message for us…”
“And? Don’t be an ass like Parker. Tell me the bottom-line details.” I stepped forward.
Amorette didn’t even flinch. It didn’t look like she was there at all. Her face was completely devoid of emotion, her gaze vacant.
Great. She was in fucking shock. So I couldn’t question her. This was the problem with bringing in outsiders. They never knew how to act.
“I can’t tell you more than that. Amorette shot him before I could take him down.
The only thing that came out of his mouth was that he knew who I was, and I needed to comply or we , what I’m assuming is our family, would be very sorry.
” He dropped a hand on Amorette’s shoulder and gave her a light squeeze.
Still no reaction.
“Where’s Blanca?” I left my gaze on Amorette. Her lack of reaction was starting to become concerning.
“Stayed back to spend a few days with her family. She was shaken. You know how Jorge shelters her.”
I did. He was only so successful because they worked with us. Jorge would never have been able to save her if he’d worked in any of Vicente’s other businesses.
Parker strolled in, hands in his pocket and a smug twitch of his lips.
Grey looked over his shoulder. “Can you take Amorette back to your place? I need to fight.”
Bloody someone’s face was more like it.
Parker opened his mouth, but Amorette spoke before him. “No,” she whispered. Then started shaking her head.
“No?” Grey questioned her.
“No, I don’t want to go with him, or you. I…” She sucked in a breath, her bottom lip quivering. “I can’t do this right now.” Her head started jerking from side to side.
I sent a glare around the floor and the men present made themselves scarce.
“You can go to the gym wi—” Grey tried to offer her another option, but she wouldn’t hear it.
“No!” she screamed, loud and long, fisting her hands at her sides. When she tipped her head back to look up at him, tears glistened in her eyes. The whites were now pink, making the blue impossibly large and luminescent.
“Little Love,” Parker started, reaching a hand forward, but she slapped him away.
“Please,” she cried, her voice so thick I could barely understand the word. “I need to be alone. I can’t…I can’t believe I did that.” She pinched the bridge of her nose and squeezed her eyes shut.
“Do what? Save my life? Blanca’s life?” Grey asked incredulously.
“Kill a man!” she shrieked. Then softer.
“I killed a man.” Tears started to fall.
From everything I knew of Amorette, she’d hate that she showed that weakness in front of us.
“I’m a murderer. I—Take me to the apartment I stayed in when I first got here.
Just…let me fucking break in peace.” Her top lip curled as she spat the words at Parker and Grey.
How did we get here? We had a younger, softer version of Lafe stuck in our care.
I sighed. The fury she felt, the anger. It wasn’t directed at Grey or Parker. From all my years of struggling to make Lafe stronger, I recognized this for what it was. She hated herself. At least right now.
“Come on.” I curled my fingers for her to come closer to me. “I’ll take you up there.”
“The birdcages are for—” Grey snarled in Spanish, but I cut him off.
“I know what they’re for. However, she doesn’t want to be around either of you right now. And I can’t have her running off, being stupid, when I need to be figuring out who targeted you.” I gave Grey a pointed look.
He shrugged. Bastard.
Now that the man was dead, he didn’t care. The threat, or at least the immediate threat, was gone.
“I told you what I know. Parker already got the footage.” Grey tried to touch Amorette’s shoulder, but she yanked away before he could reach her. His fury cooled to something more frightening as one of his eyes twitched. “I’ll be in the gym.”
He walked away without another word.
Amorette didn’t care as she wiped the tears away.
Parker frowned as he studied her. I cleared my throat, and he flicked his gaze to me. “My office in ten.”
I placed my hand on the small of her back to lead her up the stairs instead of gripping her arm like a prisoner.
Even though I didn’t have time for this shit, I couldn’t bring myself to bark at her or push her around the way I had before.
She seemed so soft right then, like the smallest amount of stress would have her fractured shell crumbling into something that couldn’t be repaired.
And I wasn’t a complete asshole. Or maybe it was because, in a time when she could have sat back to see if that was finally her time to escape, at the expense of my brother’s life, she saved him.
At the expense of her own morals, evidently. But she had the balls to go through with it when under pressure.
Maybe I was starting to see what Lafe saw in her the first time. It didn’t change my opinion. We were better off without anything for Vicente to hold over our heads.
We’d hold onto those pictures of her looking so cozy with Grey while laughing with Parker. As soon as Vicente realized how close she’d gotten to them, no matter if it was a ruse, he’d have a bargaining chip I never wanted him to have.
I opened the door to the apartment, and once she was inside, I locked the door from the outside.
I hated feeling like I owed her something, damn it. As I walked down the stairs to figure out what Parker had and where this threat was coming from, Amorette’s tear-stained face played over in my mind.
This life was going to break her. Hopefully, Lafe would survive that realization since he was the one who saved her in the first place.