26. Amorette
AMORETTE
“F uck.” Blanca paced the commons. Every few steps, she stopped and stared out the window as if willing Jorge to come running through the trees.
“He’d text you as soon as they got here, right? You don’t need to stare at the trees.” I sat on the stairs and watched her wear a circle in the stone.
“The last message was two hours ago, Amorette! All he said was I love you. You know how many times that man has told me he loved me in my life? Twice. When Papa died, and when I started working for the brothers.” She turned to face me, and her dark eyes seemed scarily large in her pale face, set off even more by the white sundress.
“I can’t lose him, Am. I can’t.” She covered her face and took in a few shuddering breaths.
I almost went to her, but something kept me planted on the stairs.
When she lifted her head, she whipped around to face me, her dark hair flying behind her. “What am I supposed to tell mamá? He has to come back.” Her chest quickly rose and fell as she turned back toward the glass.
“There’s nothing to be worried about right now. Someone would have been alerted if something bad had happened.” I stood and slowly stepped down the stairs. Edging closer, I waited for her to show any sign that she didn’t want comfort.
When I worked with battered women, sometimes they welcomed physical comfort, and sometimes they just needed my presence. I’d learned that slow movements allowed them time to see what I was doing and to shut it down if they weren’t okay with it.
Blanca wasn’t a battered woman. Quite the opposite, actually.
But she was so distraught that I was falling back on old lessons.
“Would we? Lafe hasn’t been seen in days. The men are always outside on patrol now, waiting for Vicente to attack us. How would we know!?” she yelled, still looking outside.
I hadn’t seen Lafe since I’d walked out on him. I had knocked on his door a few times, and when I went to Grey, he brushed off my concern. He’d had enough brief conversations with him over text that he wasn’t worried.
That last encounter with him had played over and over in my head. That wasn’t him. I don’t know what caused it, but he would never force me. Something had been off, and someone else had to have noticed it.
How did these brothers not care about each other the way I cared about Grace? It confounded me. Constantly.
“If something happened, and Lafe found out, he would tell us.” I wasn’t as confident as I sounded.
“Will you go with me to mamá’s if I have to go?” Her voice trembled.
Blanca wasn’t emotional. At least not in a sensitive way.
And she’d never really spoken about Jorge.
I only knew about him because of running into him in the commons kitchen, and she’d teased him about being her big, smelly brother.
It had been a fight I’d expect from much younger siblings, but it made this whole world seem a little more real to me. Not one filled with vile people.
Her phone chimed, and she almost tossed it from whipping it out so fast. “ Dios mio . Oh God, they’re back. Let’s go!”
She grabbed my hand and yanked until I ran across the courtyard with her. Even in sneakers and a pair of shorts, it was hard to keep up with her in fancy sandals and her dress.
The whirring of the blades got louder and louder as we cleared the trees. He must have texted her when they were a minute out because they had just touched down. The wind beat at us in waves until the blades slowed.
This wasn’t their chopper. Theirs was black. This one was red and silver. Yet the position of the helicopter kept me from seeing who was inside, but this had to be them. Jorge texted Blanca.
The guards climbed out first. I recognized most of them. Jorge was the last, and he made a beeline straight for Blanca. They caught each other in a tight hold and muttered low words to each other in Spanish.
I kept my gaze trained on the helicopter, waiting for all three brothers to emerge.
Andre jumped out, followed by Grey, then finally Parker.
I didn’t run as Blanca had, but I did pick up the pace.
From the dire looks on their faces, something terrible had happened.
Stress and concern tightened around my shoulders like a strangling jacket.
Was this when they’d tell me it was over for all of us?
Andre and Grey reached for me simultaneously, but I stopped short when another man came out. Matías.
I sent a questioning look to Andre, then to the other two.
Andre sighed as he dropped his arms, like he hadn’t realized he had raised his arm, to begin with. “We’re fucked. We might as well go inside and have this conversation.”
The men were off to the sides, watching us with wide eyes and pinched expressions. None of them had even attempted to leave the pad.
Grey caught my hand, and we all collectively walked toward the compound. Their moods were somber, and it was terrifying what would make the guards this freaked out.
Parker stayed on his phone as we headed toward the offices.
Finally, most of the men peeled away, except for Jorge.
When Blanca tried to follow, Jorge stopped her, speaking quietly in her ear.
Whatever he said, she wanted to fight it.
She had that stubborn tilt to her jaw that said she was about to flay him with her words.
But in the end, she nodded and left, shooting me one last worried glance before disappearing.
Should I even be here for this?
Maybe not, but I wasn’t going anywhere. Knowledge was power, and these men seemed to parse it out to me as they saw fit.
Which, fuck that. Steeling myself for a fight, I squared my shoulders as we moved through the compound.
When we made it to Andre’s office, no one batted an eye as I entered with them.
Andre caught my arm and tugged me over behind his desk. At first, I thought he was going to sit me in his lap, which would be weird in this setting and also out of character. Instead, he lifted me up to sit on the side of the desk closest to the window. Then he took his seat.
Grey took one of the chairs on the other side of the desk, but Parker, Matías, and Jorge all decided to remain standing.
No one spoke. They all traded glances; some bland, some hostile, ignoring me altogether. All except Matías, whose gaze touched on me every few seconds. It wasn’t long, and it wasn’t threatening or invasive. More curious. It warmed my skin.
Why was he so fascinated with my place here?
A minute later, the door opened and Lafe stepped in. I sucked in a soft breath. He looked like hell.
Dark circles ringed his eyes, and his hair was so greasy I doubted he’d showered within the last week. Then there were his eyes. Glossy. Not present.
Andre cursed as Grey sneered and Parker just glared.
“What the hell have you been doing, Lafe!” Andre pushed up out of his chair.
Lafe slowly lifted his gaze to Andre, but there was such a small level of care that I wasn’t sure he even registered what was happening here.
He spotted the empty chair next to Grey and settled down.
This was different than when I was stuck in his apartment with him.
He had been wired then. Paranoid. Now he was like goop that was going to slide onto the floor at any second.
He had no idea what was going on. If he even knew what his name was.
“I’ll take care of this after we’re done here,” Grey said as his gaze lingered on Lafe.
“It was useless to call him in.” Parker shook his head, then turned to Matías. “We’re here. You have the four of us. And then some. What the hell was that and why did you come to our rescue?”
Matías swept loose dark hair away from his face as he leveled Parker with a glare. “You’re my brother. The four of you are my brothers. Why wouldn’t I want to save you?”
“Did you know what was happening?” Andre asked as he used his fingers to rub at his temples.
“Not as early as you think.” Matías looked down his nose at Andre. “Barely thirty minutes before his announcement–after he caught Doc.”
Grey’s hands gripped the ends of his chair with white knuckles.
I was dying to jump in, to ask what had happened to bring them to this point, but I couldn’t. It wasn’t the place. But they weren’t watching their information either.
“Can you get him away from Vicente?” Grey asked through clenched teeth.
Tipping his head, Matías regarded Grey. “Does he mean that much to you?” There was a note in his voice that made me believe Matías was jealous.
Holy hell. Was that it? Was he jealous of the brothers and their relationships? From the few encounters I’d witnessed at Matías’ house, he didn’t have friends. He barely had acquaintances.
I couldn’t imagine Vicente was the kind of man who fostered any kind of warmth in a childhood, even for his favorite.
“More than you,” Grey said through a cruel smirk. My stomach plummeted. That was harsh. But still, I stayed quiet. Observing the back and forth between them.
Matías laughed, but there was something dry about it like he didn’t do it very often. “Funny way to try and pry a favor out of me. Especially when you have nothing to trade, not with a ransom on your head. All of your heads.” He skimmed his gaze through the room, altogether avoiding Jorge.
He had something he wanted to say. It was building, and Matías was either ramping up the courage or playing a sneaky hand in manipulation.
“How did you find out what was happening?” Andre asked a better question this time.
Jorge shifted from foot to foot, pulling Matías’ attention to him. “Guard. Leave us.”
Jorge ground his teeth as he glanced at Parker. When he nodded, Jorge bowed his head and excused himself.
I contemplated hopping down from the desk, but Matías shook his head. “You might as well stay, Amorette. Since you were the catalyst for all this.”
“How is that?” Grey growled and pushed forward in his chair.