33. Andre
ANDRE
“S he should stay here,” Lafe argued as we gathered in my office. We had ten minutes before we had to leave, and Grey still hadn’t shown up.
“We’ve gone over this. Vicente most likely already knows about her. This is our chance to test how much he knows,” Parker rested one elbow on my desk and pressed his fingers against his temples.
My baby brother always took over the space like he owned it. Now wouldn’t be any different.
“Of course, he fucking knows, you f?ne. You had her at Mea Culpa for lunch with one of your top men. ” Lafe threw up his hands as he paced around my office. He pulled a small cylinder out of his pocket.
“Lafe!” I barked, bracing my hands against my desk. “Not right fucking now. Not tonight either.”
“Sorry. You don’t get to make that call. I know I fucked up before, but there’s no fucking way I’m going to walk into that club without something in my system.” He pulled the cap off and sniffed that shit right off the spoon attached to the lid.
I hated Vicente for putting him in charge of the drug runners. But what was one more offense in the long line of reasons I hated him?
Reaching into my top drawer, I pulled out my migraine medicine. Today had been a great day. But with this last-minute fiasco orchestrated by Vicente, I could feel the ghost of one trying to press against my temples.
Grey and Amorette burst through the door, and I had to do a double-take. Grey was in his standard black fighting shorts and a muscle shirt. Amorette, though, sometime in the span of an hour turned herself into a sex kitten.
She had a bright red dress hugging her curves and accentuating her tits. Her obsidian hair fell in cascading waves around her shoulders, and her lips were painted blood red.
“You need to stay here.” I pointed at her.
Her eyes rounded as Lafe crossed his arms and nodded in agreement.
“You were just on the side of her going with us.” Parker, ever the troublemaker, quirked a brow. “What changed your mind, dear brother?”
I sneered at him. “I was on your side, until she walked in here like a fucking magnet for trouble. Vicente won’t be able to resist the temptation with her dressed in his favorite color. Was this your idea?” I glared at Grey.
He had the same bored look he always had when we spoke. “No. Blanca helped her get ready, but I’m not leaving her here. The soldiers are too interested in her.”
“They’re our men. We’ve vetted every single one and their families,” I argued. Because why the hell not. I was so fickle in that moment, but shit, my nerves almost had me backing up against the wall.
“You know, like I do, things can always change. A few of the men were staring at her with too much interest today.” He draped his arm around her chest and molded himself to her back.
Great. Fucking great. He was getting attached.
“Are you sure you’re not just in lust over a magic pussy?” Parker smirked and twisted his seat from side to side as his gaze licked over Amorette.
Mm. More like someone else wanted to get a taste of said pussy.
“Can you all speak English, please?” her voice was firm, and her pouty lips pursed to make her point.
I wiped my mouth with my hand to cover the grin trying to break free.
Not the time, Andre. Really not the fucking time.
As much as I hated to admit it, Grey was right. Vicente was a master board player and with the weird things happening lately, we needed to be cautious. Amorette was safer with us, even if she was in Vicente’s potential line of sight. And there was no fucking way any of us would miss this fight.
Grey wasn’t worried, but I was. Bruno fought dirty.
Always. And when it looked like he would lose, he went for kill shots to take his opponent out quickly.
I had done as much as I could to tip the scale in our favor, but there was only so much available to me before we risked getting our heads taken.
There was one thing I could do to alleviate my stress minutely.
Setting my face in a scowl, I caught Amorette’s attention and held it. Leaning forward, I injected every bit of malice I possessed. “You will stay with one of us at all times. All times. Am I understood?”
She gulped. “I understand. For the record, I won’t be running anymore. I’m done with that.”
A tick pulsed under my left eye as I looked for any sign she was deceiving us. She locked gazes with me, her breathing was normal, and her expression daring. Amorette seemed genuine.
“Good. Do you know what’s about to happen?”
Lafe shifted from foot-to-foot off to the side, the drugs already starting to work through his system.
“Grey has a fight,” she answered with only a little hesitancy. I flicked my gaze to Grey, who squarely met my stare.
“Grey has a fight with the best and dirtiest fighter under Vicente’s rule.
This is a punishment, and it’s possible Grey could be grievously injured if not killed.
” The last few words tasted like ash in my mouth.
Usually, I wouldn’t put this into the universe, but I needed to make sure she understood how important tonight was.
“You wouldn’t let him die,” she whispered, and that quiet conviction speared through my chest like a hot poker. What did I do for her to truly believe that?
“We would never willingly allow that to happen, but you don’t know our father or how evil he truly is.”
Her hands gripped Grey’s forearm, and she pressed back against him. The move was so subtle, I’d have missed it if I hadn’t been tuned into her every twitch.
“You’ll stay with one of us at all times,” I pushed.
“I said I would, and I keep my word,” she snapped, and her light blue eyes flashed.
There was a bit of the fire my brothers had told me about. I was glad to see some of it for myself. She’d need it before the night was over if the fight went the way I thought it would.
Looking around the office, I met the gaze of each of my brothers. Like always, we would protect each other. But we’d use caution and watch how we exposed our asses. We couldn’t save Grey if we were dead too.
I hope Parker and Grey had filled in Amorette on just how dangerous our world was. She might have gotten a taste at Maikel’s, but she’d been coddled while she was here with us.
“Let’s go.”
* * *
Because Vicente had orchestrated tonight’s entertainment, the fight was to be held at his mansion. Pilar knew I was coming, but I’d have to apologize to her later on for why I wouldn’t be seeing her this trip.
We should have taken the plane for comfort’s sake, but with the volatility of mansion politics, I wanted to make sure we had a quicker exit. A lift off the ground was much easier to achieve rather than a runway if the night went to shit.
Parker and Grey kept tossing me confused looks.
I was the calm brother. The one who always had a plan, a contingency plan, and when that didn’t work, I had a few bombs on hand to blow the place up and make our exit.
Right now, I was a jittery mess, bouncing my leg and checking my phone every few minutes to see if any news had come from any of my contacts.
Nothing. The lines were dead silent tonight.
The closer we got to the mansion, the more somber the air became. Except for Grey, who was oblivious as his excitement ramped up like it always did before a fight.
I glanced at Amorette a few times during the trip, and each time our gazes locked, as if she knew the exact moment I’d look at her. Each time, she also waited until I looked away.
And fuck it, but I had. I’d let her win those paltry dominance contests. There were much bigger problems that needed my attention for the time being.
The pad was brimming when we landed as soldiers, and the other high-rolling guests filed out of their own aircrafts.
Each important business associate or diplomat had a team of security that cut daggers at anyone who came too close.
I thought two groups would come to blows when the guards accidentally brushed against each other.
That showed just how high tensions were tonight.
I glanced at Parker and raised a brow.
Did he feel the brutally thick tension buzzing in the air? There was a low level of aggression that usually wasn’t present at these types of events.
Parker nodded, then turned forward as one side of his mouth dipped down into a deep frown.
Hell, we should just cut our losses and go to the private island I’d acquired last year for an occasion where we needed to go completely off-grid. If my shit-stirring brother, who couldn’t be bothered with business politics, was taking this seriously, something was noticeably wrong.
We fanned out around Amorette, because as much as she was a liability, it was too late to turn back now. I took point, with Grey taking the rear. Lafe and Parker each covered her sides.
She was so tiny, and we were all of a similar, much larger height. So most people would struggle to even catch a glimpse of her.
“Mr. Medina,” an attendant greeted, dipping his head and dropping his gaze as a sign of respect.
Ignoring him, as was expected, I passed through the open double doors.
Several elevator banks were off to the right, the metal doing nothing to take away from the grand architecture of the lobby.
We bypassed those and headed toward the back hallway.
The two elevators in this hall were for family or senior ranking officers.
Vicente never claimed us as family, even if the entire Institution knew we were all his bastards from his favorite concubines.
However, as leaders of our own respective businesses, and acting enforcers, we were afforded many of the same luxuries and respect as we would have if we were his legitimate children.
We were a few minutes late by design, which meant we’d have the reserved elevators to ourselves and not be subjected to any last-minute meetings with Vicente. Every advantage to keep ourselves and Amorette out of Vicente’s line of sight was necessary. At least for tonight.