Page 24 of Cartel Viper (The Cartel Brotherhood #2)

He’s opening up to me. I’m certain part of it is he hopes I’ll do the same and tell him all my secrets. So fucking tempting, but I can’t. Never mind the danger it would put him in, he’d never respect me again. I’d rather take them to the grave.

“I had the same crush on you. No other man has spanked me, Javi, and you’re the only one I’ve ever wanted to.”

He keeps watching, but I see regret in his gaze now.

“ Chiquita , I wish I could profess I haven’t shared that with anyone else, but I’ve spanked other women. The one thing I can swear to you is that it never meant what it did with you. I didn’t spank them out of fear for their safety or because I wanted to protect them.”

“I guessed as much, but thank you for telling me.”

He waits, and there’s no doubt he expects me to share more.

Temptation nips at me, but pure stubbornness—and likely indisputable stupidity—make me keep quiet.

I didn’t think about what parts of the truth I would share while we drove up here.

I struggled to stay awake while driving through New York City, then our destination intrigued me too much once we left the state.

When I’m not forthcoming, I feel him retreat. I rise on my toes and kiss him, partly to reassure him and partly to distract him. But he doesn’t take the lead like he has in the past. It’s not even about me leading. He’s passive despite returning the kiss. I’ve dropped a wedge between us.

You knew that’s exactly what would happen. You need to figure your fucking shit out.

“Daddy, is there a soaking tub here?”

“Yes. More than one. Do you want to take a bath?”

“Only if you’ll let me wash your back.”

He considers my offer, and he takes so long, I wonder if he’s punishing me or really thinking about saying no.

Instead, he steps around me and gathers my belongings again.

I guess he trusts the entire house is secure if we’re headed upstairs without him checking everywhere else.

The tour will come later if there is one.

He still seems reserved compared to a few minutes ago.

This is the Javi who doesn’t like to be around people and would prefer to be left alone. The untrusting one.

I follow him up to the second floor and along a hallway to the last room on the right.

It must overlook the backyard with a view out on the water.

As we walk in, I realize the angle of the house means bedrooms on both sides must have views.

It’s a masculine room, painted in a deep gray with cobalt curtains.

I can see into the bathroom to where the walls are cobalt too.

The bedding is a more muted gray and blue.

The furniture is surely mahogany—not mahogany-colored, but the actual wood.

On every surface, there’s some type of assembled Lego set.

I look up at Javi, and I’m certain he’s blushing. Did he forget they were here? Does he think I’ll tease him? Mock him?

“You’re still into them, aren’t you? Do you and your brothers still line up for the special edition releases? Didn’t you used to camp out to be at the front of the line?”

He nods. He offers nothing else, and I fear I really fucked things up.

“That’s really cool that you, Jorge, and Joaquin still do that together. Laura and I are still super close, but it was impossible to do anything like that with me in Albany and then once she had the twins.”

“My brothers and I enjoy each other’s company, and they know how much I still enjoy them, even though I’m in my thirties.”

“Age has nothing to do with it. I always figured you’d become an engineer or something since you used to make the most complicated designs before you’d assemble them into the official design.”

“You remember that?”

“Of course. I overheard you talking to Juan about it once, and then I heard Margherita tell my mom. I know once your English was good enough, you were on your school’s Science Olympiad team. Why did you become a lawyer?”

“Because Tío Enrique and Tío Luis won’t live forever.”

I open my mouth, then snap it shut.

Duty.

Joaquin has the degree in computer science. Jorge’s the accountant. Pablo’s the scientist and Enrique’s heir. Alejandro’s got the MBA. They needed an attorney, so it fell to Javier. Does he not like what he does?

“Maddy, my J.D. is my second degree. My undergrad was in electrical and mechanical engineering. Now that I’m a lawyer, I don’t use it as much as I could, but it’s not like I forgot anything.”

That makes my chest tighten. Pablo’s concentration was chemistry and biology. I can guess what he uses that knowledge for. Now, I’m thinking about what Javi uses his for. Nothing that comes to mind is positive.

“I’ll run the bath. Strip, chica .” He waggles his eyebrows at me.

Maybe things are okay after all. Maybe he’ll give me some more space, but I know he won’t wait forever. Maybe?—

I hear my phone ringing in my purse. It’s one of my burners I stockpiled before I left Albany.

Since it’s the one in my purse, I know it’s the one that has calls forwarded to it from my real number but has no kind of GPS or location services.

It’s the one I answered when my mom called to tell me about the wedding.

I can ditch it and tell Laura or my parents I lost it.

I know I have more than a hundred voicemails from Drew.

I stopped listening after the first ten because they were just profanity riddled threats.

Not even the first couple worried about my wellbeing.

I pull it out and check the screen. Wonderful.

“Hi, Laura.”

“Where the fuck are you, you worthless cunt?”

My blood freezes in my veins.

“What did you do to my sister?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“I’m calling Maks.”

I hang up, but the phone rings again immediately.

I have Maks’s number memorized since I have none stored in this phone.

I smashed my actual phone and disposed of it before I left.

I feel badly polluting, but it’s at the bottom of the Mohawk River, and the sim card went wherever the sewer goes.

Even though the Hudson is closer to where I lived, I could just imagine, in some twist of fate, the phone floating into the city.

Even though the Mohawk is a tributary to the Hudson, I threw it in ahead of the falls.

The rocks and pressure should have obliterated the little pieces left after I took a hammer to it.

I ignore the call, but before I can dial my brother-in-law’s number, mine rings yet again.

I answer after all in case Drew’s willing to give me information about my sister.

I wish this phone had a three-way feature, but it doesn’t.

I look toward the bathroom, and I know I’m going to have to ask Javi for his phone to call Maks.

“I want to speak to Laura. Now, Drew.”

“Meet me, and you can see for yourself that she’s fine.”

“Tell me what color fingernail polish she’s wearing.”

There’s a pause. “Pale pink.”

Good memory, but wrong. My sister never wears polish. Not even gloss, but she buffs them. He might have thought it was polish, but it wasn’t. He doesn’t have Laura.

“You spoofed her number.”

“And you fell for it.”

I remain silent as Javi steps out of the bathroom. His eyebrows shoot straight up, and he rushes across the room. I tried to keep my expression neutral, but I’m certain he senses the anxiety roiling within me.

Who is it? He mouths the words.

I’m a deer in the headlights.

“ Chica ?” He whispers this time, and I’m certain I’m the only one who heard him.

“You’re not alone, are you? You’re with that shithead Diaz.”

I guess his men called him before they died. If they did, then he knows I was in the city. Has he guessed I left? He asked where I was earlier.

“What do you want?” I think my voice sounds stronger than I feel.

“You fucking know what I want! Bring back what’s mine and bring your sorry scrawny ass with it!”

Javi wraps his hand around my wrist and tugs, but I resist. He must have heard some of what Drew yelled.

He tries again, but I won’t budge. His hardened expression is the only warning I get before he lands the hardest spank he’s given me yet.

It forces me a step forward. He grabs my pants’ waistband and yanks me back.

He swats me again. Tears prick the back of my eyelids. I still don’t want to give in.

“You are two seconds away from me baring your ass and spanking you hard enough and long enough for whoever that is to hear it.”

He whispers that in my ear, and even spoken that softly, I hear the warning I need to heed. With a shaking hand, I lower the phone from my ear and press the speaker button.

“Drew, I’m not going back up there.”

“You are if you want to live.”

Rage pulsates from Javi. My ex-boyfriend’s name or voice gave him away; he knows who I’m talking to.

He puts his hand out, but I still don’t want to give him the phone.

My resistance is too little too late, but I claw at the last thread.

He leans over until our noses nearly touch.

I want to flinch away, but his gaze captivates me.

He plucks the phone from my hand before I know what’s happening.

“O’Sheehan, you sack of piping hot shit.”

“Which Diaz are you?”

“The one who’s about to fuck your whole world up.

You’re about to find out what it’s like to pick on someone your own size.

Stay the fuck away from Madeline, or I will ruin everything you have and everything you’ve ever thought of having.

I will take it, crush it, then burn it to the motherfucking ground.

You know my family. You know I’m not lying. ”

“Tell the bitch to give me back what belongs to me.”

“What did you just call my woman?”

“Yours? She fucking you too? Whore.”

“Drew.” I hiss his name in warning, but I don’t know why I do.

“There’s no ‘too.’ Only me, and I don’t share. Stay the fuck away from her, Drew. I won’t say it again.”

“Tell Madeline to give me back what belongs to me.”

“I don’t have it anymore.”

“Bull-fucking-shit. You’ve never been a good liar.”

I laugh, and it sounds more like a snort.

“I lied well enough to get away from you a month ago. I lied well enough that you haven’t found what you want. I lied well enough to make you a shit ton of money for the past two years. Here’s the truth. Rot in fucking hell. Come near me, and I’ll kill you.”

There’s a moment’s pause because he knows I’m serious. When he laughs, it’s hollow. Javi’s brow furrows. He can tell it’s bravado now, and Drew isn’t as confident as he was a moment ago.

“Did you forget about that?”

I’m pissed. Since I’ll have to explain everything to Javi now, I may as well get most of it out with this call.

“No.” Was that a tremble in his voice?

“You know what I’ll do when I’m backed into a corner. You watched it all. You’re lucky I left. I could have done to you what I did to them.”

Javi’s staring at me as though he’s never seen me before. As though I’m some aberration. If only he knew how much worse it’s about to get. Drew digs my grave when he speaks again.

“You don’t have the backbone to do shit to me. They were easy marks. That’s all you could handle.”

“I doubt Javier will agree with you when he finds out what you made me do.”

“What the fuck is going on, O’Sheehan? What’s Madeline talking about?”

“Maybe you should tell your boy toy, fuck buddy.”

“O’Sheehan, I’m already going to kill you. How drawn out I make it depends on how you speak to Madeline. Keep it up, and I will make it last for days.”

“And leave her unprotected?”

“She’s with my family now. I motherfucking dare you to come near any of us.”

“Challenge accepted.”

All I can do is stare at Javi when the call suddenly ends.