5. Maksim
MAKSIM
From the second I arrived at the Garcia Cartel’s compound, I felt like I was being swindled.
Conned.
Deceived and duped and disrespected.
To start with, Arturo Garcia was overly apologetic. He greeted me and Viktor as soon as we got there after the short flight, showering us with praise about how good we looked and complimenting us with other odd mentions that fell awkwardly in the middle of small talk and baseless flattery.
In my opinion, one sorry was enough. If someone meant it and the recipient was listening, a single apology would be adequate. Repeating flowery bullshit about how upset he was that this supposed mistake had happened was a giveaway that something was rotten.
Is he covering something up?
Is he trying to avoid my beating the shit out of him?
Is he clueless of how to read a room and look like a leader, much less act like one?
Or is this how he always is?
He left us for a moment in a sunroom where we were given coffee after getting there.
Viktor leaned over to whisper, “Is he always this much of a kiss-ass?”
I shrugged. “I never deal with him personally.” Dean usually arranged the deals with someone from the Cartel, and I supervised what he did.
If I had to make and babysit deals on a one-on-one basis, it’d take forever.
Delegation was key. But having our shipment end up in enemy territory was a grave enough incident that I’d take the helm of investigating it instead of leaving it up to Dean.
Over coffee, Arturo painted the picture of a simple mishap happening with communication.
“You see…” He paused to chuckle, like everything was well.
I don’t fucking see, you asshole.
“We originally had a different, smaller shipment arranged to head to Texas. And bear in mind, this was not the same kinds of guns that were supposed to go to them. You’re still our arms distributor throughout the continent. Of course you are.” He smiled wider.
The number of times you’ve said of course makes it mean the opposite.
“It just so happened that the other shipment coincided on the day of your shipment. Some wires were crossed—here, not with you, of course—and it seems that yours went to them.”
“It doesn’t seem that way,” I replied coolly. “That is what happened.”
“Regrettably,” he said, frowning and donning an immediate expression of discomfort. “It pains me that such a mishap could have happened like this.”
If you say mishap one more time, it will prove that it wasn’t one at all. He was being too fucking careful with his words there.
“And it won’t happen again,” he promised. “I have already arranged plans to investigate who in my employ has dropped the ball, so to speak, and you have my utmost sincerity that this will not happen again.”
Cue his smarmy smile that didn’t convince me of anything good.
That hours-long conversation of his kissing ass, repeatedly apologizing, and exaggerating his flattery of us had already kicked me into suspicion.
But when he added his idea of showing good faith, I wasn’t sure how to react.
“To make up for this mistake, I would like to suggest a demonstration of the friendship our families can maintain.” He glanced at one of his men with a nod.
“Of course, you will have noticed that we immediately refunded the payment you’d given us for the lost shipment.
I only want to remind you of that so there are no grounds for any concerns of theft from our part of this arrangement. ”
I nodded, obliged to confirm that we had noticed the refund and that the money was back where it belonged after he’d botched the shipment.
It was what triggered us in advance of the handoff that something was wrong.
“What are you proposing?” I asked with a blunt tone that suggested he should be groveling to make amends with us.
“I am heartily willing to show that we honor this alliance and friendship with the offer of my sister, Carina Isabella Maria Garcia, in marriage.”
I didn’t move.
I didn’t blink.
Did he seriously just throw that out there?
His sister?
He’s arranging a marriage to get on our good side again?
Strategically, it wasn’t a bad move. Arranged marriages were nothing new. When they were orchestrated, they often represented a solidification of a merger or alliance.
It wasn’t what I had been expecting, though. If he’d offered to throw in a bonus or surplus with the next shipment, that would’ve made sense. Or if he’d suggested more checks and balances throughout our process of shipments, I wouldn’t have been shocked.
But his sister?
Before I could commit to reacting one way or another, I racked my mind for whether I’d ever met his sister. The use of her full, formal name wasn’t going to throw me off.
Carina…
I couldn’t put a face to the name. I was aware that he had a sister, only because I remembered my father commenting on how upset she had been at the funeral for her parents.
As a woman in the patriarchal setup of the Cartel families, she wouldn’t have established a reputation for herself. And why would she? These Cartel daughters were often only discussed when the topic of marriage was raised. Same as the Mafia princesses in our world.
“You want to arrange a marriage between your sister and me?” I asked at last.
He held up both hands in a miniature shrug. “Or any of your brothers or cousins. Adrik is clearly unavailable with his recent marriage.”
I supposed if he were trying to appease us starting from the top, I would be next in line, the successor after Adrik. But now that he was expecting a child, I’d still be a spare should he have a son, and that son would eventually take over.
“Perhaps we can have a moment to discuss this,” Viktor said, clearly sensing that I needed a moment to formulate a real reply.
“Sure, sure. Of course, my friends.” Arturo stood and laughed lightly.
“Perhaps we can step outside,” I said, not wanting to discuss anything with my brother in here where anyone could be listening. “Get a breath of fresh air before we reconvene this discussion.”
Arturo had his men lead us out toward an extravagant outdoor entertainment area.
It seemed that some leaders and men within the Cartel were partying it up.
Women in bikinis surrounded a pool. Cartel thugs laid out in the shade with drinks.
Latin hip hop sounded from further back as Viktor and I walked toward an ornamental garden.
“What the fuck?” I whispered. “That’s his first idea for proving we’re still allies and in a partnership?”
“Hey, it doesn’t have to be a bad idea,” he mused, almost mocking me as he lowered his sunglasses to look over them. Ogling the women at the pool had him smiling slyly. “I mean… Some of them don’t look so bad.”
I glowered at him. “Shut the fuck up.”
Viktor was a smartass on the regular but also extremely cunning.
“Relax,” he drawled, making sure to keep his expression light and friendly should anyone be watching us too closely. “It’s not like it’d be a real marriage.”
I frowned slightly. “You think he’s bluffing?”
“Oh, no. No. I think he means it. He’s ready to hand over his sister in a legitimate wedding. I mean that it doesn’t have to mean anything.” He slid his sunglasses back up and raised his brows. “Not like it means something to Adrik and Elena.”
As in love.
“I know that,” I bit out. Very rarely did arranged marriages ever result in anything resembling love. I wasn’t on the hunt for that, anyway.
“It’d be an arrangement,” he said. “Nothing more.”
“I know that. It just seems too suspicious.”
Viktor nodded. “It does. But look at it this way. Any woman he gives you would be a means of intel on what the fuck is going on down here.”
He had an excellent point there. Without a doubt, this engagement would begin with a thorough interrogation.
“That goes two ways, though,” I reminded him. “He could be giving me his sister so she can spy on us.”
He huffed. “Then you’ll just have to be that much more fucking careful about what you say, won’t you?”
I shook my head, trying to pick at this until I saw his ulterior motivation. “What’s he after?”
“Maybe nothing more than realizing he fucked up and he doesn’t want to lose us in this trade agreement.”
“Do you really think that?”
“No. But I think letting him think that he’s convinced us is the first step to moving forward. What does he have to lose? His sister. What do we have to lose?”
I wasn’t sure about that yet, but it was the very question that ran through my mind. “I’m stuck on the side of wondering what we have to gain.”
“Intel,” he stated simply.
I had no argument against that. Annoyed that there could be a benefit in marrying this Cartel leader’s sister, I tried to stay pragmatic, to avoid letting emotions get in the way.
I hadn’t considered settling down anytime soon.
I was too dedicated to my responsibilities.
I was satisfied with random fucks and giving my all to my family.
A wife?
Even from an arranged marriage?
That sounded like an obstacle to what I did and what was expected of me as part of the high-ranking members of the Bratva.
I let out a deep sigh.
“In the spirit of keeping a closer eye on an ally who might want to secretly split from us, it would make sense. Assuming this sister would even know anything.”
“Doubtful,” he inserted.
“And assuming she’d talk.”
“You’d make her.”
I rolled my eyes.
“But that’s the vibe I’m getting too. He gave our guns to the fucking Hernandezes?” He shook his head. “He can say that he’s not trying to break any trade agreement with us, but maybe he actually is and he’s covering his ass now.”
“And if he’s being courted by another power, that could very well mean that it’s the work of fucking Gregori using his network to angle in and cut us off with trade.”
He nodded, his stance stiff and angry. “That’s exactly what I’m thinking too.”
“Fuck it.” I ran my hand through my hair and dreaded how much my life was changing.
It already had been, with my father dying, my older brother stressed and taking charge, learning that my supposedly dead uncle wasn’t dead but alive and forming a network to attack us…
And now a wife?
I tried not to get hooked on that. That I’d have someone with me so intimately when I preferred to solve problems for the family. Not to make my own family.
It would be an arrangement.
Nothing more.
“I guess…” I exhaled again. “I guess it’ll be a deal, then.”
“Within reason,” Viktor added.
“Of course,” I said, mocking how Arturo had overused that term today. “I’ll take his sister and we’ll bring her back today. Fuck him if he wants to drag this out and make some big production out of it.”
My brother nodded. “Good. That’s less time for him to try to spy before anything legal is signed.”
“And once she’s with us, I’ll figure out what the fuck she’s after.”
He patted my back and laughed once. “I have to admit that I didn’t see this coming.”
“Neither did I,” I growled. “Arturo can assume we still have faith in them as a trade partner, but I’m not convinced he’s not trying to mess with us.”
“Me too. Until it’s clear what he’s scheming and if that shipment was just a mistake, you’ll be able to get some insider intel on our turf.”
I liked that summary the most. With the threat of our uncle being out there and at large, we needed to be informed and one step ahead of any enemy so we could continue staying on top and ruling the empire we’d all shed blood, sweat, and tears for.