Chapter Twenty-One #2
Pete had just finished telling the team what had happened in Juárez with Rafael Quintero and the threats he’d unwisely made against my friend Cole’s wife, Mia.
Yes, she was Pete’s sister, but the anger burning through me was for Cole.
He should’ve been told. Takeback as a whole should’ve been told we needed to keep an eye on the situation, to make sure the danger in Mexico wasn’t going to make its way up north.
Further from that, they needed to know now, because Mia was currently operating with them.
“You need to tell Cole.”
Pete’s not-so-happy gaze landed on me. “Rafael’s been taken care of.”
“And Carlos? Unless Tom is full of shit, you have a credible threat gunning for your sister, yet you’ve got some hang-up about telling her team that I don’t get.”
“He’ll be taken care of,” Mason put in.
“As fun as it would be to tear through Juárez and liberate the people from the cartels, you know that’s not gonna happen. Carlos goes down, within a week someone will take his place.”
“It’ll be—”
I cut Mason off. “Cut the shit, you’re not a murderer. You’re not gonna track down every male relative and preemptively kill them. There will always be a threat, and Cole needs to know. Again, I don’t understand what the big fucking deal is.”
“So your loyalty is with Cole?” Mason seethed.
From beside me on the couch, Catarina grabbed my forearm.
“That was way the fuck out of line,” Fallon piped up. “Jack’s right, Cole needs to be told. But you know who else needs to know? Mia. But, hey, you wanna talk about loyalty, Mase? You got Pete’s back on this but don’t talk to the rest of us?”
“Fuck,” Pete growled and got to his feet. “This is on me, not Mason.”
“You’re right, it is,” Ryan easily put in.
I glanced over to the table off to the side where Aiden and Gavin were sitting. Both had identical frowns.
Ryan and Fallon were sitting on a couch at opposite sides, an empty cushion separating them. Mason was in a chair next to Ryan, and Fallon across from where Cat and I were sitting.
Pete was now pacing.
The room wasn’t huge, but it was big. Still, it was now suffocating. Every man in the room was giving off seriously pissed-off vibes.
“I fucked up,” Pete admitted. Then growled, “She’s my sister.
She’s all I have. Fuck.” He tore his hands through his short-cropped hair.
“I lost it. The women he had, and the little . . . fuck, she was a kid. A little fucking girl. I snapped. He had my sister’s picture.
He said . . . Christ . . . I came home, and that’s when I fucked up.
I should’ve gathered the rest of you and told you. I should’ve told Mia and Cole.”
Pete stopped moving and dropped his head forward.
After a pregnant pause, he confessed, “I couldn’t repeat it.
I didn’t want Mase to know, but I was dying inside.
I didn’t want him telling the rest of you, speaking those words out loud into the universe.
I don’t know, I just wanted to pretend that some sick fuck hadn’t gone into great detail, telling me all the ways he was going to violate and rape my baby sister, then rent her out before he sold her to another sick fuck who would do the same. ”
I thought about my sister and my nieces. As soon as the thoughts flitted in, I shoved them away before the bile rose any higher.
“You did what you had to do, and that includes taking the time you did to process what happened,” I began.
“That’s done. Now, Cole and the others need to be told to keep an eye.
It’s not like they don’t already, but still, they need this intel.
” I stopped to look at Mason. “We’ve got an op to plan.
Are we good to do that, or do you and I need to talk? ”
Mason lounged in his chair, holding my gaze.
“Fallon’s right, that was a shit thing to say,” Mase admitted.
“It was. But just so we’re clear, the loyalty you brought into question was for Mia.
And to be clear on one more point, my loyalty doesn’t extend only to one person or team, nor does it end.
When you have it, you got it for life. Just because I no longer work with those men, they are still my brothers, and I will never not have their backs.
But make no mistake, this team has my full commitment and loyalty too. ”
“You’re heard,” Mase said.
Good.
Time to move on.
“I love my sister,” Pete unnecessarily clarified.
“Never thought you didn’t. Which again begs the question why you wouldn’t want more eyes on her.”
“Because for as long as I can remember it’s been me taking care of my sister.
Me making sure she’s safe. Me protecting her.
” Pete stopped, glanced at Mason, then continued.
“Me and Mase. I know Cole loves her, I know he’d give his life to protect her, but that doesn’t mean she’s still not mine.
I’ve never had to answer to anyone about how I provided for my sister.
Further from that, Cole is my friend too.
They spent a long time apart, and I didn’t want anything fucking up them getting back together.
“But you’re right. With Carlos in play, they need to know.
I’m being a stubborn asshole about this.
I don’t want my sister worried when, after twenty years of living in misery, she’s finally happy.
” Pete paused again to suck in a deep breath.
“I screwed up. You all have my apologies. Before we get back to it, I have to call my sister. Then I need to talk to my brother-in-law and endure a well-deserved ass chewing. If anyone has something to say, now’s the time to say it. ”
No one said anything, yet the room remained stifling.