Chapter 41
CHAPTER 41
MARIA
T he door swings open, and I breathe in a sigh of relief when I see Malo stepping over the threshold to greet us.
“Oh, thank God,” I greet him, and I wrap him in a hug before I can stop myself. Everything has been so tense here, my nerves fraying at the seams the longer we sat here waiting for something to happen.
“You two okay?” he asks me, and Bella and I nod. Bella is starting to get tired, but I know they’ll be no chance she will get any sleep tonight. It’s not that kind of evening, not by a long shot.
“Good,” he replies, and he pulls away from me. “Maria, I need to talk to you. Alone.”
“I’m going to bed.” Bella stretches, stifling a yawn as she gets to her feet. “Where’s Beast? I need to talk to him.”
“Downstairs, in the bar,” he replies. Bella heads down the stairs, leaving the two of us alone, and I turn to Malo, raising my eyebrows.
“What went down out there?” I demand. “Why was there only one man? What’s going on?”
“They sent someone out to offer us a deal,” he explains.
“A deal?” I ask, knitting my brows together.
He nods, grimacing. “Yeah, they said they would get out of Houston if we dropped all investigation into the human trafficking,” he replies.
My heart drops. “No way,” I breathe. “You didn’t… I mean, you didn’t take that, did you?”
He shakes his head at once. “Of course not,” he replies. “You know I would never do something like that. Neither would Beast. He’s just asked for some time to think, making like it’s a possibility. At least for now.”
“So what’s the plan when the time is up?” I press. I need to know what’s going on here, I need something to make sense of all of this. I can feel energy tingling in the tips of my fingers, lighting me up from the inside out. All I want to do is get out there and take them on. My trigger finger is already itching.
“There’s someone tailing the man they sent here to deliver their proposal,” he explains. “He’s going to report back to us with a location as soon as he figures it out, hopefully, it’s the place where they're operating from. Once we have something we’re going to go after them.”
His face hardens when he says that, and I can tell how ready he is for this fight. Just like me. I feel it, too. I feel this thrill, this finality hanging over tonight, and I’m ready to take it on, once and for all.
“I’m coming with you,” I tell him, and I turn to head down to my room and gather everything I need.
His face drops, and he follows after me. “What the hell are you talking about?” he grinds out.
I shoot a look at him over my shoulder. “You think I’m going to leave it up to chance whether my father gets out or not?” I reply, matter-of-factly. If he thinks he can just brush me off that easy, he’s got another thing coming.
“No, you’re not,” he tells me, leaning in the doorway to my room and crossing his arms. I turn to face him, eyebrows raised. “You think you get to make that choice for me?”
“I don’t need to make it for you,” he replies. “No way is Beast going to let you come with us?—”
“That’s why I’m asking for your help,” I tell him, changing my approach slightly. I need to get him on my side. Just find some way to convince him to let me ride with him, let me come out there.
“You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into,” he warns, and I tighten my fists at my sides. I know he’s just trying to protect me, but it annoys me, being brushed off like this.
“Yes, I do,” I reply. “They had me under their control for weeks, remember? I know what they’re like. And I want to be there with you when you take them down.”
“Being on their side and fighting against them are very different things,” he tells me, cocking an eyebrow.
“I’m well aware,” I shoot back, voice taut. “But I know how to handle myself. Ask any of the guys, they all saw me at the shooting range, while you were…”
I trail off before I can finish that sentence, though we both know exactly where it goes. When he was overdosing. When he was on the brink. When he made a choice that could have put him in the ground. His face shifts slightly.
“Yeah, I get it,” he mutters. “But that doesn’t mean I’m going to put you in the middle of a fucking warzone!”
“You’re not putting me there,” I point out to him. “I’m asking to be there. Please, Malo, just listen to me, I know I can help?—”
“No way,” he tells me. “No fucking way.”
“And what about my father?” I blurt out, as he turns to head back down the corridor. I follow him; the place is filled with other Kings, preparing for their all-out assault on the Las Rosas Negras compound. I hardly notice any of them. I’m just trying to get him to listen to me, to trust that I’m actually capable of what I’m telling him I am. I know it must be hard for him to believe, but I need him to be on my side here. I need him to bring me with them.
“What about him?” he shoots back.
“He’ll be with them, I know it,” I tell him. “I need to get him out.”
“I already told you, we’re going to do everything we can to get your father out alive,” he retorts. There it is—they’re going to do everything they can but it’s not enough.
“I need him to get out of there, Malo, you don’t understand,” I plead with him. “I can handle it myself. You won’t even have to worry about him, I’ll find him and?—”
“Yeah, but I’ll have to worry about you,” he shoots back, and the sincerity in his voice catches me off-guard. When he stops in his tracks to face me again, I can see so much written on his face – dark circles beneath his eyes, skin drawn from the dehydration and exhaustion of his ordeal. But, most of all, the fear in his eyes. Fear of losing me? That’s what it feels like…
“I promise you won’t,” I tell him. “I can handle myself. I’m good at this.”
“We have to focus on taking down the cartel,” he counters. “We can’t let anything get in the way of that. Everyone has to be focused. Everyone who’s coming on this mission.”
I part my lips to try and argue with him further, but he lifts a slightly-shaky hand to stop me.
“I can’t argue with you about this anymore,” he tells me. “I need to prepare.”
“Malo!” I yell after him, but he’s already gone, running on fumes, already made his mind up about what is going to happen here. Fuck! I want to scream, tell him to come back here and talk to me, but I know it’s not going to do a damn bit of good. He’s already made his mind up.
And I just have to stand here and hope, somehow, that there’s another way for me to get down there. Because if they think I’m going to leave my father’s rescue up to chance, they’re very mistaken.
I have the gun at my side, that’s something, and Bella is probably stashed away in a room by now, safer here than she would be anywhere else, so I don’t have to stick around and keep an eye on her. I need to follow them out there, one way or another. There has to be someone willing to take me, even if Malo is digging his heels in and refusing. It’s not going to be that easy to get me to drop this, not with all that’s at stake.
Outside, there’s so much chaos as everyone prepares, nobody even pays attention to me. I look around, searching for someone who might be willing to give me what I need without spilling it to Malo, but I can tell that they’re all going to fill him in the moment I even ask. Shit! What the fuck am I going to do?
I can feel frustrated tears pricking my eyes, and I do my best to pull myself together. I need to stop freaking out like this. I just feel like I’m finally close to getting my father back, and I’m being stopped before I can take this final step. I know he’s with them, I’m sure of it, I’m certain they’re using him as some kind of leverage now they know that I’m working with the Kings. And if things go wrong… I know the Kings will prioritize taking down the cartel over my father.
Maybe it’s selfish for me to be so focused on one thing, but it’s hard to give a damn right now. I head around the compound, trying to keep the panic from getting the better of me, but it’s already starting to shoot through my body. I have to go back to my room, pull myself together. If I’m a mess, it’s even less likely that anyone is going to?—
Just as I reach the bottom of the stairs, someone grabs my hand. I turn, and see Bella standing there.
“Bella?” I ask, confused. “What’s going on?”
She lifts her finger to her lips, and leads me toward the back door. I follow her, no idea what’s going on, but willing to do whatever she wants right now, as long as it gets me out of my head for a moment.
Once we’re out of earshot of the rest of the Kings, she glances around to make sure we’re alone, and then leans in to fill me in.
“I heard what you were saying to Malo,” she explains, speaking quickly, as though she’s worried we’re going to be busted at any moment. “And I agree with you. I think you should be able to go out there.”
“Thanks,” I sigh. “But I’m not sure?—”
“And I think you can,” she continues, nodding at a figure moving toward the far side of the compound. “If you ride with her.”
Harley walks out of the darkness, dressed in a leather jacket and carrying a helmet beneath one arm. She eyes me, looking me up and down.
“What are you doing here?” I ask her, confused. “Why are you being allowed to ride with them when I’m?—”
“I’m not,” she shoots back bluntly. “I’m out here because I know Dad’ll try to stop me if he catches wind of it. If I can hide out ’til we’re on the road, he’s got no choice but to take me with him.”
“Harley, you have to take Maria too,” Bella tells her. Harley doesn’t look convinced. I can tell this is a hell of a big ask for her. It must be difficult for her to believe that I’m not going to screw this up, given everything that’s happened, given the fact that I’ve been involved with the cartel. She might have more trust in me than she did before, but that doesn’t mean she’s going to risk blowing her cover when she wants to go out and take revenge.
“I don’t know…”
“Harley, listen to me,” I plead with her. “I want this for the same reason you do. Because I want to take revenge on the cartel. I want to make them pay for what they’ve done to me and my family. I’m not going to screw this up for you, okay? I’m serious. I’ll do whatever it takes to get my father back.”
She still doesn’t like this. Bella steps forward, fighting in my corner.
“She deserves a chance to take them down as much as you do,” she tells her softly. I can hear the blazing fury in her voice, like she’s ready to go down there and take them on herself, if we don’t do it. I have no doubt, if it wasn’t for the pregnancy, she would be begging Harley for a chance on the back of that bike, and picking up a gun to fight this herself.
Harley pauses for another moment, considering, and then nods.
“Fine,” she replies. “But you need to find some leathers and a helmet. Something to keep you covered. I don’t want to get busted before we get there because they spotted you, all right?”
“You have my word,” I reply, grateful for her acceptance. “Anything. I’ll go find them now.”
Just before I rush back off into the house, I give her a smile.
“And thanks, Harley,” I tell her. “I owe you one.”
“You owe me several,” she replies, but she manages a smile. She can sense how close we are to bringing down the cartel for good. She can feel it, the electricity in the air, like the whole world is waiting to see how this night is going to unfold.
I dart back into the house to sort through a closet full of leather jackets and helmets I saw in my snooping, something to keep me incognito when I’m out on the road. It’s only a matter of time now.
Only a matter of time until I get my father back.