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My chest remained tight as I headed down the stairs. Almost immediately, Antonio closed the distance. In his hand was an envelope.

“This was just delivered for you, Madame Morales.”

As soon as I accepted it, he started to turn away.

“This is a terrible situation, Antonio, a horrible tragedy, but we can be friends.”

He didn’t bother turning to face me again, but his statement resonated in the darkest recesses of my mind. “The sooner you learn there is no room for friendship in this business, the better off you’ll be. Trusting anyone can get you killed.”

I watched as he headed for the front door. My father had tried to keep his three children protected from the ugliness, but I’d learned early on remaining in the dark was dangerous. Perhaps that’s why I’d accepted the role asabogada.

Several hitmen remained just inside the residence, their presence unnerving. I returned to my father’s office and his scent immediately hit me. Every piece of furniture and every work of art on the walls reminded me of him. The ache remained, but instead of sadness, I felt rage.

I tore open the envelope just as Emiliano walked into the room.

“What is it?” he asked after I’d had an opportunity to read the enclosed card.

“An invitation.”

“From?”

“Jago Torres.”

“The brutal drug lord of the Torres Empire. What does he want?” His snarl meant Jago was someone I’d need to watch out for.

“A meeting. To talk terms on our continued peace.”

Emiliano exhaled. “And so it begins. What do you want to do?”

“What do you know about him?” He’d kept up with the business even while living in New York.

“What I know is that he’s considered a monster, a vicious leader with zero conscience.”

The glint of early morning sun splashed across a photograph on my father’s credenza. I moved closer, hesitating as if by some sense of reverence before lifting the heavy frame. Five smiling faces stared back at me. Mama with Bella on her hip, Marco trying to stand as tall as possible next to our father, and me crouched on one knee, my long arms outstretched. It was as if I was welcoming the world to our little family.

We’d been happy, finally going on the vacation my mother had bugged Papa about for months. He’d always been too busy. The ache in my stomach swelled.

Less than two months after it was taken, my entire world had shattered.

There were no recent pictures. After the tragedy with our mother, our father had refused to allow our photographs to be taken in public. We’d gone to private schools or been homeschooled. We’d had few friends and never attended banquets or balls. Even in privacy he’d opted to forgo portraying the happiness experienced inside the household. It was just another weakness to be used by an enemy.

“Daddy, I love you. I’ll do everything I can to make you proud.”

Very gently I eased the picture back to its original position, rubbing a single finger across the top of the frame before answering. “Why not see what this brutal leader has to offer? Make the arrangements. Tonight. Seven p.m. There will be no other time allowed and I will go to him. Is that understood, Emiliano?”

When he didn’t answer right away, I turned all the way around to face him.

If my commander had any weakness, it was his inability to mask his emotions. He was surprised as well as concerned, but he’d known me long enough to know when my mind couldn’t be changed.

“I’ll see what I can do.”

CHAPTER 5

Jago

“It would seem Genevieve Morales accepted your kind invitation.” Navarro Delgado was my commander, a man I’d known for years and perhaps the most vicious soldier I’d ever worked with. He and I had trained together, my father harsher on both of us than many of the others. He had a watchful eye, a proclivity for violence, and dark cravings for sexual relations. He was the perfect blend of being emotionless while born without a conscience.

Yet I could tell by the look in his eyes he was holding something back. He was also ready to burst into laughter, my soldier shifting something back and forth from hand to hand.