Chapter 22 #2
The man I found myself not hating nearly as much as I had only two days before. Maybe miracles never ceased.
He pointed his long finger in my face, his breathing even more labored than before. “You will do exactly what I say. Do you hear me?”
I offered him a salute in return. “Yes, sir.”
“Goddamn it, Fallon. If you’re hurt, I will burn down the world.” He lowered his hand, placing the tip of his finger on my nose.
I wrapped my hand around his wrist. “Trust me.”
“Uh-huh. We shall see.”
Navarro
The Alcarez Cartel’s compound was in the middle of fucking nowhere, the area surrounded by wasteland, wild animals, dead bodies, and angry spirits.
So the local folklore suggested. What they had in land they’d lost in security, the drone pictures indicating the cartel leader had faith that his exotic predatory wildlife would maintain a safe zone.
Not on my watch.
Animals were flesh and blood, nothing a bullet wouldn’t take care of.
“You’re certain you want to do this?” Jago asked.
What I was certain of was that men would die today by my bare hands.
I was driving to burn off some goddamn steam, Jago beside me.
Kruz was in another vehicle while the star of the show, my sweet yet frustrating guest was sitting in the back.
Dressed in dark fatigues like we were in a war.
She had her hair in a ponytail, the knife she’d used to try to gut me attached at her hip.
Had I been trusting enough to provide Fallon with a gun? Yes, I had. Now I was uncertain the decision wouldn’t come back to haunt me. The one thing I could say with certainty was that she looked the part of an assassin.
That bothered the hell out of me. Maybe a slight part of me was more chauvinistic than I’d ever thought before.
She shouldn’t be in the line of fire. Fallon should be sitting by the fire nursing a drink, waiting patiently for my return. Like rescuing a girl held like some crazed criminal and killing anyone who stood in my way was a typical day at the office.
Exhaling, I rubbed my finger across my bottom lip while still staring in the rearview mirror.
The moment I felt a tingle of heat in my chest, I knew she’d caught my gaze. Our brigade was far removed from civilization, few lights along the way, but I didn’t need to see her eyes to know they were laced with the same venom as our first night together.
With an added dimension.
Continued lust.
Perhaps considering this war was how I should think about what we were doing. Headed to a war. There would be a battle tonight and someone would lose.
And it wasn’t going to be our party.
“I’m not certain about anything except I want the motherfuckers burned to the ground.”
“Hostile today. It’s funny how being around a powerful woman can do that to you.” He laughed and I gritted my teeth, my hold on the steering wheel tightening.
“I’ll handle her. But she’s not to be placed in harm’s way.” As if that was possible.
“I’ll see what I can do.”
We were headed into a desolate area, a location known only as the Devil’s Point.
Any why? Because the Alcarez Cartel leader was a true sadist, what many of the locals called the bestia demoniaca del infierno .
Demon beast from hell. Catchy. The locals had yet to learn we were the true lords of hell.
“What did you say or do to Eduardo to encourage him to provide us with additional troops?” There were at least a hundred and fifty of Eduardo’s soldiers trailing behind us, every man prepared for a shit storm and a possibility of excessive funerals.
That was the way of our world, something that couldn’t be avoided.
“I simply told him his empire was in peril. I have no issues taking control of his territory even from Barcelona. We’ll simply keep a handful of our men, nurture others to join with decent incentives and provide a permanent leader.
Eduardo isn’t a stupid man although he does ridiculous things. He knows I’m dead serious.”
“I won’t be volunteering for a bump in pay.”
Jago laughed. “Don’t worry, Navarro. I wouldn’t dream of it. You’re not cut out for living in squalor.”
I threw him a look, shaking my head. “I’m not the one with expensive tastes. I am curious. What incentives would you offer?”
“All the usuals. Better pay. Better benefits. More vacation and matching their investments.”
“You mean you explained to him we were attacking the people responsible for putting him in the hospital.”
Jago snorted. “Something like that.”
If anyone would have suggested twenty years ago that at some point in the future the world of the Torres Cartel would be handled like any other legal corporation, I would have put a bullet in their brain.
We’d been ruthless in our activities, true savages who left broken bones, destroyed families, and bodies in our wake.
We’d worked hard and played harder, acting as if we had the world in the palms of our hands and that no one could touch us.
Maybe we’d had a death wish and simply hadn’t admitted it.
As with life, every aspect of day-to-day operations and our expectations had been required to change, or our powerful organization would have been left in the trenches.
Emails.
Spreadsheets.
Employee benefits.
Online meetings.
Overseas banking.
Stock options.
Fuck. We were a regular Fortune 500 company.
Every high-ranking member of the combined Torres-Morales Corporation was filthy rich with money to burn.
“I still think putting a bullet in Eduardo’s brain is the best course of action,” I told him just as the voice on the GPS on my phone barked out directions. We were less than two miles out from the turnoff. Another modern convenience that kept the wasted hours to a minimum.
“You’re living in the dark ages, my friend. Maybe having some feminine style in your life will smooth out the rough edges.”
“Right. Just like occurred with Genevieve. I’m curious. Has she insisted on being one of your MMA contestants?” I threw out. Jago owned a seedy bar that doubled as a sports bar where the entertainment was based on men beating each other for sport and money. Even in my mind, the game was barbaric.
Or maybe just boring.
“Very funny. Speaking of which, are you bringing Fallon to Spain?”
“You keep asking.”
“You keep ignoring. I don’t think you have a choice given what you know about her lineage.”
Lineage. As if she was a prized piece of china passed down within the family for generations.
“What happened to the Aldero fortune?”
“The estate was sold at auction, Pops taking over the territory. Why? Does Fallon want to get into the family business?”
“Maybe so.”
He snorted. “I guess she is coming to Spain after all.”
I’d had less than five minutes to explain what I’d learned and discovered.
Including the threat she’d received. We’d talked about Fassi and the possibility Salvatore Aldero was working for him.
We agreed it was vital we figure that out.
What I hadn’t pressed was the possibility that lies had gone much further than either one of us knew about.
We’d spent far too many years recovering from losses, the man right by my side when his father had ordered the retaliation hit on Valentino and the man’s family.
The two of us had been the front runners, tracking Valentino’s activities and providing the necessary details to ensure a successful strike. We’d made it happen.
“Just in case you forgot, I’m sitting right behind you and I happen to have excellent hearing. Why would either one of you think I have any desire to head to yet another country? My life is in California. Although…” Fallon hesitated on purpose just to taunt me.
Jago and I glanced at each other at the same time, a smile on his face.
Her father had purposely kept his daughters from learning anything about their past lives.
Doing so had been meant to protect them, which I understood.
What he hadn’t comprehended was that keeping them in the dark had left them unprepared for how to handle their pasts when faced with the truth.
What had she discovered in the man’s things?
Once news of their survival was presented, there would be some within other cartels and crime syndicates in Spain as well as several other countries who would enjoy acting on their own need for revenge.
Rafael had learned after Valentino’s murder just how far his acts of betrayal had gone. From what I remembered, the treacherous man had been intent on crushing other smaller crime syndicates as well as overthrowing the Torres Empire.
How could I explain to her that once the news spread, there was nowhere on earth where she or her sister would be safe?
Her father was another story.
If the man was still alive, he’d be ripped apart, first come first serve like an all you can eat buffet.
But every other bastard would need to take a number. I’d thought him dead for all these years. I’d believed the Brain had succumbed to the fiery explosion. Not his wife. Certainly not his daughters.
The intel had been wrong. Why and how no longer mattered.
While I’d like to say the past should be forgotten, Jago was correct.
Karma wasn’t on our side nor was it kind.
The past had returned, colliding with the present.
There would be additional bloodshed.
And there was nothing I could do about it.