Chapter 21 #2
Fallon finally lifted her head, her eyes burning with the same heated defiance and anger that I’d first seen inside the club.
“I’m not a fool, Navarro, nor was I completely a Daddy’s girl.
We had few friends, no relatives, and my father insisted we speak English from day one, even though I overheard him from time to time speaking fluent Spanish. ”
The flash in her rebellious eyes told me she was holding something back. “What else?”
“Isn’t that enough?” Her sigh was heavy and I noticed she was twisting her fingers around her glass.
“He had a locked room. We were never allowed inside. When we moved to a larger house, he handled moving the items, whatever they were, to another locked room. That I broke into when I visited my father’s house ten days ago. ”
“You broke in.”
She shook her head several times as if in disbelief. “When I suspected he’d disappeared after Brooke was taken, you bet I did. I used a fucking crowbar and snapped the goddamn lock.”
“That’s when you learned the truth.” Now I made a statement.
“Yes. He had notebooks, details about his past. I have no clue why he kept them, but I realized just how different life had been in Spain. It took me hours of going through everything, including his bank accounts. I just didn’t understand how ruthless my father had been or my uncle for that matter.
I’d remembered him reading me stories as a kid, not as the head of some powerful cartel. ”
“You finally put the pieces together.”
Her hand was shaking as she brushed it through her still damp hair.
“Enough to remember a boy in a forest who’d saved me.
I could barely believe it was the same young man I’d dreamt about from time to time over the years.
What I do know is my father blamed you and the Torres Cartel for killing my mother, my uncle, and his family. ”
I chuckled and took a sip of my drink while she glared at me as if I was making light of the freak show we’d both lived through. “Did he happen to mention his part in the war fought on the streets of Barcelona?”
She closed her eyes, her soft lips becoming pursed in a way that created a strong need to kiss them.
“There was only mention that he knew it was time to leave his homeland. Now, I can see why he pretended as if we didn’t have a past. After discovering his copious volumes of notes, I could easily tell whatever position he’d held within my uncle’s regime had had nothing to do with numbers. ”
“What do you mean?”
“It means I know scientific formulas when I see them. Most of them were old, some in pencil that had faded over the years.”
I moved toward the ottoman she wasn’t using, sitting down on the edge so we could stare at each other eye to eye. Only she was as uncomfortable as she’d been moments before we’d fucked. She was both terrified and taunted by my close presence.
“But not all.”
Even her laugh indicated nervousness. “Not all. One had been written in a Sharpie and he’d ripped off the page.”
I half laughed. “But it bled through.”
“Yes. I’m no chemist and there were no notes regarding what the formula was for, but I could tell whatever it was might have been the single most important thing to him.
Everything was left in disarray, but I could swear he wanted me to find details about my past. Maybe he was just attempting to rid himself of extreme guilt. ”
“Let me guess, Fallon. Your father knew I’d arrived in Mexico.”
“There was a photograph of you after you arrived. Taken by a telephoto lens. There was no mistaking you in comparison to the picture of you with Brooke. The photographs were side by side. Either he left to handle killing you himself or…” Every sound she made highlighted her exasperation.
“Or he fled to save his own skin, luring you to Mexico.”
After nodding, she threw her head back and groaned.
“He traveled to Mexico more than once, including several days ago.”
“How do you know that?”
I chose my words carefully. There was no sense in keeping her on edge. However, she deserved the truth. “He worked with Eduardo on a formula to make cocaine highly addictive.”
“My God. I can’t believe it, Navarro. Why would he act like he didn’t care about his daughters after the love and care he gave us for twenty years?
It just doesn’t make any sense. The only thing that did was that you were responsible for my sister’s kidnapping like he was convinced you were of our mother’s murder. ”
I pulled her hand into mine, surprised she didn’t try to pull it away. “Do you want to know the truths as I know them to be, Fallon, or would you prefer to live in a bubble, pretending you don’t have a past?”
When I pulled her fingers to my lips, she sucked in and held her breath. Her eyes were wide, misted over from the level of emotion that we both felt but I refused to allow to be seen.
“That’s what I’ve been asking myself since I boarded the goddamn plane. The only reason I followed through was adrenaline and the need to protect my sister.”
“I understand. Just like I do everything I can to protect Maya. Sadly, in the world where we both were born and bred, there is no hiding from our pasts or finding a secure location where we can attempt to fool ourselves danger isn’t lurking behind every corner.”
“Then why bother trying to have a normal life?”
“Because not every day is filled with violence and bloodshed. There can be some joyous moments.” I sounded like a goddamn hypocrite.
“What happened, Navarro? I know the two families were close. What set them off? Why the betrayal?”
Telling her my belief that everything had been my fault wasn’t going to solve anything.
Yet the guilt would continue eating at me for the rest of my life.
“My brother was a well-trusted soldier in Rafael Torres’ empire.
The two families, the Aldero and Torres Cartels were the most powerful criminal syndicates at the time.
They ruled the entire country. Now, there are a half dozen with strongholds as influential as what was held twenty-five years ago. ”
“So I’ve heard. The wife of the man you work for combined her inherited cartel with the Torres Cartel, creating another extremely powerful regime. Yes?”
I chuckled. “Now the Morales-Torres Empire or vice versa depending on which spouse you talk to. How fascinating. You know more than you’ve let on.”
“Only a little, Navarro.” She at least allowed me a slight smile. “I do pay attention to conversations.”
“I’ll need to keep that in mind.”
The touch of her soft skin against my lips had a calming effect. I took a few seconds, kissing her knuckles before allowing Fallon to pull her fingers away.
“Twenty-five years ago, the alliance between the two families was strong, the product of an earlier turf war that had left dozens dead. The pact they’d agreed on was passed down to another generation and there was no reason for Rafael Torres to believe a man he considered a friend would betray him.
Then word that my brother had disappeared turned into concern that Lucian had betrayed the Torres organization.
I remember the anxiety, my mother and father both shaken while trying to convince Rafael there was no way Lucian would become a traitor. At least not willingly.”
“Then what happened?”
I felt my chest tighten as I thought about the day I’d found him, his body broken and bloodied.
“There were a few business discrepancies, which left nerves running high. Lucian was taken from his home, beaten when he wouldn’t tell Valentino or his soldiers what they wanted to know.
After that he was tortured, but my brother was strong.
” I gulped half the drink, loathing the emotion that I’d learned to shove aside as if unwanted.
Maybe that was the problem. I needed to remember.
“When he still didn’t break, they brought in the Brain, as your father was called.” I was matter of fact, but the words still stung.
She immediately sucked in her breath, trying to look away, but I captured her chin, forcing her to look in my eyes. “Navarro. I am so, so sorry.”
“It’s not your fault, but I need you to hear me, Fallon.
I need you to understand. My brother was given a truth serum and told Valentino everything he wanted to know.
When they were finished, they tossed his bloodied body in the same location where I killed that fuck who hurt you.
But he was alive. My brother was alive. He told me what had happened.
I had to go for help. By the time I returned, the real magic of the drug that was used on him kicked in. ”
“What do you mean?” Her voice was barely audible.
“I mean his organs crashed. He would have survived the attack if the Brain hadn’t given him the goddamn drug.”
She gasped, jerking back instinctively, but I held her fast. “No. No…”
“Yes,” I hissed. “Whether by accident or design, your father killed my brother. From there, things got messy. New wars broke out, warehouses destroyed, soldiers on both sides killed. When Valentino had enough, he ordered a hit on Don Torres, but things went wrong. Instead of Don Torres and his family being in the car, mine was. The car exploded just outside the Torres mansion.”
“Oh, my God.” She gripped my hand, leaning forward. I continuously noticed her quivering lip and for some reason, the sight of it grounded me.
“What happened afterwards I barely remember. I was made a soldier in the Torres army. But that wasn’t enough. I went after Valentino and his family in retaliation. I wasn’t the only soldier doing so, but it was very personal for me. The killing continued, innocent people caught in the crossfire.”
“And my mother died.” She was repeating what she’d already suspected, taking in the news and never blinking. Not once.
“Not by choice.”
“What happened to the Aldero world?”