Page 34 of Bad Blood

“But Santi—”

“Don’t push me on this, Lola. I’m not in the fucking mood.”

Having her discharged poses a major problem. She’s living with me at Legado where I have Thalia on lockdown. I need time to figure out what the hell I’m going to do with her before adding yet another irate female into the mix.

One call to the Chief of Medicine. That’s all it will take. Every key player in this town owes me a favor, and he’s no exception.

Giving her a quick kiss on the forehead, I turn to Rocco. “Don’t let her out of your sight until RJ gets here.”

“Got it, boss.”

“You can’t do this!” Lola says angrily as I step into the hall.

I pause in the doorway. “I can do anything I want,chaparrita,” I tell her calmly. “I own this motherfucking city.”

“You can’t keep people locked away against their will, Santi!”

“Watch me.”

Giving her a deliberate smile, I close the door behind me.

* * *

Traffic is nearly at a standstill on the Atlantic City-Expressway Connector, but I’m weaving in and out of both lanes like I’m threading a needle, Lola’s protests ringing in my ear.

“You can’t keep people locked away against their will, Santi!”

That’s where she’s wrong.

I can, and I have.More than one, in fact.

I hit the gas harder as my mind drifts to the Colombian princess locked away in my penthouse on the top floor of Legado.

Which is precisely the moment my phone rings.

I don’t have to look at it to know who it is. I’ve been expecting this call. Any man remotely connected to him couldn’t take a shit in Siberia without word crossing the border. Hell, he probably knew what was happening by the time the first bullet hit the wall.

Exhaling a hard breath, I hit the answer button. “Good news travels fast.”

“How were Santiago’s men able to infiltrate Legado?” a thick accent growls over a staticky connection.

My father is askingme? He’sValentin Carrera. Mexican kingpin and a god amongst thieves. If anything, I assumed I’d get my ass handed to me for allowing his sworn enemy’s daughter to walk through the door of my…

He doesn’t know about Thalia.

Interesting...

I should tell him what she did, where she is, and my plans for her. I’ve never lied to my father. The Carreras operate better as a machine, not loose parts. But the anger in his voice drives a sharp knife straight into everything I hold sacred.

“What are you going to do?” he bellows, breaking my internal tug-of-war. The one between upholding my oath and fulfilling a need.

“What do you think I’m going to do?”

There’s only one way to cut off the head of a snake and that’s to become the snake. I’m going to leverage my two assets and infiltrate from the inside.

But I don’t say any of that. Instead, I clench my jaw as a dangerous chuckle rumbles in my ear. “This is the second time your sister has been hurt under your watch, Santi.Si esta vez no te vengas en nombre de tu hermana, estarás acabado.”

“What the hell do you mean, if I ‘don’t get revenge, I’m finished’?”