Chapter 10
CHAPTER 10
MARIA
I lay back on the bed and stare at the ceiling, trying to figure out just what I’ve gotten myself into and whether or not this is going to turn out to be a good idea.
Working with the Ruthless Kings, it’s… it’s a lot. I don’t know if I’ve taken on something more than I can handle, but I’m not willing to pass up the chance to get out from under Las Rosas thumb, even just for a little while. I’m sure they’re going to notice that I’m gone soon enough, but hopefully I'll have a plan by then. They did send me to get information on the Kings so I can always use that to my advantage. If they figure out I’m working with the very people they’ve been trying to take down, I’m sure there’ll be backlash, but I can’t keep going along with their demands.
Besides, now that I’ve spilled everything to the Kings, they’re not going to let me walk out of here and go back to Rayo and his demands for me, they’d be crazy to let that happen. No, I can tell they want to use me, make me into some double-agent, playing both sides to get what they so clearly want from me. I don’t know if I can play both sides like that without getting caught, but I can’t keep going along with what El Serpiente wants.
Besides, the Kings have already treated me better than Rayo and his men ever have. Beast, the leader, told me that I had a place in his house as long as I played by his rules—and that meant not leaving without an escort, not stepping outside this place without someone there to keep an eye on me. Given how I stole from them, I figure it’s to be expected. I know I really should be grateful for their kindness in the face of what’s going on, but I can’t help but wonder if they’re going to twist me to their whims just the same way Las Rosas did.
All of this is such a mess, and I can’t figure out how I’m meant to navigate it. Is this the best thing for my father? I don’t know. I figure that, with the help of these men behind me, I stand a better chance of getting him free than to play along with whatever horrible plan Rayo and his crew want me for.
I know I need to be more careful. I shouldn’t have spilled everything to Malo the way I did, but there’s something about him that tells me he’s not like the other men here, something that draws me in, despite my better judgement. Maybe it’s just the intensity of the moment we shared that night, maybe it’s knowing that he was sneaking off to take drugs and probably has plenty of reason to want to keep that hidden from the rest of the guys here. It’s something I have over him, at least, some leverage I can use to get what I need should the time call for it.
I don’t know where this side of me is coming from, this part of me that’s so willing to double-cross and scheme to get what I need. I suppose it’s not as though I had much of a choice, since Rayo snatched me up from my father's home and dragged me down here, telling me that I was going to work with them or my father was going to die. I’m still not even sure I actually believe that they would have killed him, but there’s no way in hell I was going to take that chance.
I feel like they need him, need his expertise to get what they want, but they’re ruthless— harming my father isn’t out of the equation, even if they will leave him alive.
The Kings have to help me. They hate Las Rosas as much as I do, right? I saw it written all over Malo’s face when I admitted that was who I was working for. I can tell the two groups have a history, and I’m not sure which one of them is in the right—hell, if either of them could be, given how dark this world is.
I can still feel the pressure of the gun that Malo pressed against my head, the coldness of it, the way he glared at me as though he wanted to end me right then and there. He was quick on the draw, like he’s used to using his weapons to get what he wants, and I’d be lying if I said it didn’t scare me. I’m here, in the compound of another criminal organization, being instructed that I can’t leave without someone there to keep an eye on me. Is this really any different, any better than what I had back with Las Rosas?
I get to my feet and pour myself a glass of water from the small sink next to the window. This room is a little nicer, at least. And I’m allowed to wander around the house, just not go outside. I stare out the window, where there are a few men down below, working on their bikes. They look rough in their leather jackets, their scars, the bulge of the guns beneath their clothes. I know it should scare me more, but I feel as though I’m numb to all of this, numb to all the terror that should be coursing through me right now.
I wander out of the room, pulling the door shut behind me, and glance around. The place is quiet, light streaming in through a few windows. It’s nice here, feels… almost peaceful, compared to where I was staying before. Every time I tried to sleep back there, it felt like there was a siren tearing past, another screaming fight in the street. Nobody would try to cause that kind of trouble here.
I explore the house a little. There are about a dozen other rooms like mine, some clearly occupied, some empty, as though they’re waiting for new guests to arrive. I wonder if there are a lot of people coming and going here. Do they provide sanctuary, or is this just where they keep their prisoners? I’m not sure which one I fall into. Not sure I want to know, either.
As I reach the small kitchen area, I hear a couple of voices—two women it sounds like. I pull back, listening to what’s being said, hoping I’m not giving myself away.
“I just don’t know what it is.” One woman sighs. “I’ve been feeling like this all week, but it can’t be a stomach bug, otherwise you would have caught it, right?”
“I know,” the other replies, sympathetic. “I’m sorry. If there’s anything I can do, you just tell me, okay, Bella?”
I peep around the door to get a look at what’s going on. There’s a young woman leaning against the sink, clutching onto a glass of water as though for dear life, and another slightly taller woman beside her, her hand on the smaller woman’s back. She looks a little shaky, her face drawn and pale, and I feel the urge to offer help, but I bite it back at once. I know it’s none of my business, and I shouldn’t be putting myself in the middle of anything I don’t have the right to.
I’m about to head back up to my room and leave them to it, when my foot hits a floorboard in just such a way that it lets out a loud creak. The taller woman’s head snaps around, and I offer them a small smile and a wave.
“Hey, sorry to disturb you,” I blurt out. “I was just, uh, looking for something to eat.”
She shifts her weight so she’s standing a little in front of the woman called Bella, as though protecting her from me.
The woman, Bella, smiles at me. “It’s fine,” she assures me, waving me in. “The fridge has just been restocked. Someone should have something, I can’t keep anything down.”
“I’m going to head down to the pharmacy, grab something for your stomach,” the other one woman replies, not taking her eyes off of me as I make my way around the large table in the center of the room and toward the fridge. I’m not exactly hungry, but I don’t want to make it seem like I’ve just been snooping around for no good reason.
“See you in a bit, Harley,” Bella replies, and Harley nods to her, hitting me with one more hard look before she heads out. I can tell she’s not entirely sure of me, and I hope I haven’t given her reason to be pissed. The last thing I need is to make enemies here as soon as I’ve arrived, though I’m sure news of my presence hasn’t gone unnoticed.
“Do you want anything to eat?” I suggest to Bella, who shakes her head and groans, planting her hands on her stomach as though she can’t even imagine it. She seems a little less closed-off than everyone else who I’ve met here so far, and I wonder if she’s someone else who had to take advantage of the kindness offered by this questionable group.
I grab a bottle of water from the fridge and crack it open, taking a long sip as Bella watches me. I wonder if she’s trying to figure out what I’m doing here. I wish I could just come clean and blurt out the truth of everything that’s happening inside my head right now, but I know I can’t go spilling that to everyone. I have to be careful, cautious, and consider who I can actually trust. The last thing I need is to let myself get too comfortable, just because I’m out of Rayo’s clutches. I don’t know exactly how this world works yet, far from it, and any wrong move could be enough to condemn me for good.
“You staying here now?” Bella asks, and I nod.
“I’m… I’m Maria,” I tell her. It’s the first time I’ve used my real name to introduce myself in a long time, but I figure they already know enough about me as it is. It’s not going to do me any harm to tell them my name, is it?
“Good to meet you, Maria. As you probably heard my name is Bella and my friend you just saw is Harley,” Bella replies, offering me a warm smile. She has a sweet aura about her, and I feel myself starting to relax slightly. I know being here is going to be far from easy, but at the same time, I at least know I’m not going to be at the beck and call of Rayo in the future, and that has to count for something, right?
I just have to pray I’ve made the right decision coming here, and putting my safety into the hands of the Ruthless Kings. Because if they turn out to be as much a danger to me as Las Rosas, I don’t know how I’m going to make it out in one piece.