Chapter 34
Alonzo
As soon as Alex drives away, I head to the backyard and unload my pistol at a dead tree log.
“Jesus Christ, is everything okay, hermano ?” Santiago asks.
I’m so consumed by rage that I forgot he’s still here. All I can think about is releasing some of this pent-up anger.
“Everything’s fine,” I say. “What are you still doing here?”
Santiago scoffs. “I can tell everything is fine . What happened? Did Alex leave?”
“Yes. She’s gone.”
Santiago studies my face. I taught him everything he knows about reading people, and now he’s using it on me.
“What?” I say.
“You really care about her, huh, hermano ?”
“Were you eavesdropping, hermanito? ” I make sure he knows I’m not in the fucking mood. “Are you gonna gossip with grandma and our nosy tias later?”
Santiago chuckles and shakes his head. “Whatever, man. I came to San Marquez because you asked me to come and check on Alex. And now you’re scolding me because she stormed off on you?”
I shoot him an annoyed glance.
“I’m not an idiot, Santiago,” I say. “You’re still in town because you have a college booty call. You were already in town when I called you yesterday night.”
The muscles around his eyes tense. “Are you going to tell the big guy?”
I shake my head. “Of course not. I don’t work for Nuestra Casa anymore, and it’s none of my business if you decide to slack on the job. But just remember that if shit goes down in San Antonio and you’re not there to stop it, well, there will be consequences. It’s gonna be a bad day for you.”
“I know that. It’s my choice to make,” he says, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. “And I know it’s none of my business, but you should go after Alex.”
“You’re right.”
“I know I am,” he says with a triumphant smile.
“Yeah, you’re right that it’s none of your business.”
Santiago’s smile vanishes. “I’m going back home. Next time you need me for something, don’t bother. Call someone else. Maybe Gustavo will pick up the phone this time if he’s not too busy.”
Santiago strides back to the cabin. I don’t bother to stop him, but he is right that I should stop Alex. Although what difference would that make? Even if I want to go after her, she’s already made up her mind. To her, this was all just a fucking fling. She made it clear she has had enough.
Clearly, I’m a fool for thinking what we had was much deeper, that I could trust myself to love again after what happened to Esmeralda.
And yet, she looked visibly upset when she ended things. There was doubt and pain in her eyes. Why?
I reload my gun and unload another magazine into the log.
Fuck.
???
I pull into Jacob’s club.
I’m not in the mood to see him again. He’s probably going to ask me about his rat problem, and what the fuck am I supposed to tell him?
Even though Alex tossed me out like an old rag, I will not turn her in. And maybe that’s foolish of me. Obviously, she meant more to me than I did to her, but I can’t find it in me to hand her over for Jacob to kill or worse.
I can’t.
Jacob meets me at the entrance of the club. Loud music spills out of the building when men open and close the door behind him. When Jacob sees me, he opens his arms to hug me, which is odd because he’s never done that before. He must be in a great mood.
“Alonzo! My guest of honor!” he says, approaching me with open arms.
I recoil and stare at the reapers beside him, guarding the door.
“Not a hugger? That’s fair,” Jacob says. His breath reeks of cheap beer. “Come on in. We have a lot to discuss, and I have that whiskey you really like.”
Jacob’s men step aside, and he walks me in. The club is dim, but I immediately realize he has a full house tonight.
“Are you celebrating something?” I ask him, walking past smelly old men.
“Just the return of our most popular dancer,” Jacob says, looking at me with a big grin. He points to the stage at the back of the club.
What. The. Fuck.
Alex is dancing on the stage. She leans forward and shakes her chest at a group of old, disgusting men standing by the stage. They insert money into her bra and high-five each other.
I reach for the gun at my hip, but before I draw it, I remind myself that there will be consequences if I unload my gun at those old bastards. I’m outnumbered and outgunned here.
Instead, I ball my hands into fists and squeeze them as tightly as possible to keep the anger in check. It’s the hardest fucking thing I’ve had to do in my life.
I follow Jacob to a booth where Ben is waiting for us. It’s the same booth where I first saw Alex dancing here. Fuck.
“Alonzo!” Ben yells over the loud music. “Come, take a seat. I heard you stopped by last week. I’m sorry I wasn’t here to meet you.”
I sit across from him and nod. My throat is tense with rage, and it’s hard to speak. “It was a quick stop, as I’m sure this will be.”
Ben frowns. “Nothing new for us?” he asks as Jacob squeezes himself in the booth beside him.
“None,” I say, turning to the stage. Alex is looking straight at me. Even though she’s dancing casually, her face wears a shocked expression. “It’s a lengthy process.”
“What’s the hold up, if you don’t mind me asking?” Jacob asks. He grabs a bottle of whiskey sitting in the middle of the table and pours some into a glass cup before sliding it to me.
I grab it and take a quick drink.
“The hold up?” I ask, turning to look at Alex again. She’s now dancing at the other end of the runway but still looking in my direction. “It’s just not that simple to break into a government building. I’ve been studying the entrance and various exits, but they have that building tightly guarded.”
Ben nods in understanding, but Jacob only stares at me. He’s not buying the explanation.
“Look,” Jacob leans closer. “This side hustle I told you about can grow into a multi-million dollar enterprise, Alonzo. I need to find that fucking rat and make sure they can’t speak another word of my business to anybody.”
I look between Jacob and Ben. “I don’t know what to tell you, gentlemen. It just doesn’t work that way. The job will get done when it gets done.”
“It’s been months. Maybe we called the wrong brother,” Jacob says under his breath, loud enough for me to hear.
“What did you just say?” I ask him.
“Nothing,” Ben jumps in. “Jacob is just worried about his other businesses. Anything that affects the operations at The Den can jeopardize his solo ventures.”
Jacob looks over at Alex, who is still staring at us from afar. His lips creep into a small grin.
Oh. They’re fucking .
My hand goes to my waist again. This is not the time and place for this. Besides, Alex never…
She never saw me the way I saw her. Shit, I don’t think I even know the real her. I thought I did, but clearly, I was wrong. She was fucking Jacob this whole time because to her, I was only a goddamn fling.
I take one last drink of whiskey and get up. “I just remembered I need to be somewhere tonight, but I’ll keep you both informed if anything new comes up.”
Jacob nods and smiles a devious grin.
“Have a good night, Alonzo,” Ben says.
I leave before I say or do something I will regret. Not only am I outnumbered in the club, but Jacob and Ben are still working with Nuestra Casa . They’re basically untouchable. For now.
Jacob’s grin pops into my head again when I’m back in my car. There was a flicker in his eyes when he smiled his goodbye. It happened so fast, and I was so desperate to get the fuck out of there, that I didn’t have time to process what it meant.
Now that I’m here in the quiet parking lot, my brain can decipher the expression.
Some of a bitch. He knew. Jacob knew I was seeing Alex. Why did she tell him? Was I being played somehow?