Page 30 of Cartel Viper (The Cartel Brotherhood #2)

Everyone believes the Kutsenko brothers had it the hardest because their old leader was a fucking psychopath.

Bogdan was eleven when they immigrated to the U.S.

, just like Jorge. I know they tortured Bogdan during their training, and I can say none of my brothers or I experienced that.

But we saw and did shit that rivaled what the Kutsenkos experienced, yet they only call us the fucked-up ones.

They should look at their pretty little faces in the mirror and stop being such hypocrites.

We’re no more psychopathic than they are.

We do nothing worse than what they do to protect our respective families.

As I watch Maddy, I know that’s shit I can’t share with her.

She can never know I killed for the first time when I was ten.

The guy tried to kidnap me and held Jorge at knifepoint.

The man assumed because I was so small compared to him, my rage wouldn’t be as strong as any man’s. No one touches my brothers.

“Javi?”

Maddy’s voice pulls me back into the present again. My thumb rubs away lines where her brow furrows as she watches me.

“Just slipping back into memories again, chiquita . I wish I could tell you more, but I can’t.”

She observes me for a moment more before she nods.

“Javi, I’ll never ask because I don’t want to bring up painful memories.

But I’ll always listen. I know there are things from your childhood I’m certain you believe would scare me away or that I’d reject.

There’s not. You’re the man you are today because of what you’ve experienced.

I’m here with you because I want you, which means I accept everything that comes with you. Past, present, and future.”

She appears nervous with the last word.

“Past, present, and future, little one.”

“There’s more for me to tell you about what I’ve done, but I can’t manage that today. I’m scared you’ll reject me for it.”

“Have you hurt children or animals?”

“No!”

“Then I won’t reject you, Maddy.”

“I’m not who you thought I was, though.”

“Yes, you are. You’re intelligent, resourceful, funny, kind, giving, fearless, strong, sexy, and mine. That’s who I thought you were, and that’s what I still think.”

“You thought I was yours?”

“Well, I imagined it enough times.”

“If only we’d known back then what we know about each other’s feelings now.”

“True, but maybe God knew neither you nor I were ready to be an ‘us’ back then. Maybe we needed to get to who we are now to be ready.”

“You’re right.”

I doubt her relationship with God is as complicated as mine, but we grew up with the same faith. I think she gets what I mean.

We finish our bath and dry each other off.

Running the fluffy towels over each other tempts us to do a lot more, but we both know I can’t ignore Tío Enrique much longer.

Since she has clothes with her—she told me she’d done laundry at the hotel—she has something fresh to put on.

I remember I have a couple t-shirts and pairs of athletic shorts here, so I grab a set.

“Are you hungry, little one?”

“Is there anything here?”

“Yes. We keep the house supplied with nonperishables. I can send men into town to get anything fresh we want. But I can make us plenty of things with what we have.”

“Okay. If you want, I can go to the kitchen and rummage around. I’ll cook while you call Enrique.”

She gets that she probably can’t hear most of the conversation. Her Spanish isn’t good enough to understand everything, but I don’t know what she can, and I don’t know how much of it will be things she can’t hear.

I wrap my arm around her waist and pull her against me as she turns toward the door.

“Not so fast.”

We share a kiss that tests my resolve to care about what my uncle has to say, but I can’t risk not speaking to him if it would endanger Maddy.

I’ve always followed Tío Enrique’s rules, even if I bent them sometimes.

I don’t want to start ignoring his commands now, but I know without a doubt I will if I don’t agree with what he says about Maddy. I’ll put her safety first.

That’s a shocking realization.

I watch her close the door and wait a minute before opening it to peek down the hall.

I want to trust her, but I know what temptation it is to listen when you’re scared and aren’t in control.

I wouldn’t blame her if she didn’t fully trust me or just wanted to know what I’m planning without her.

But I don’t see her. I leave the door slightly ajar, so I can watch as I hit my uncle’s contact in my phone.

“Took you long enough, sobrino .”

“Sorry. I didn’t see your text come in.”

I realize I still haven’t read it. I put the call on speaker, so I can pull up the message.

Tío E

Drew O’Sheehan? You need to explain now then get back to the city. We can protect you and plan. Hiding her won’t fix this.

“Sure. What do you know about her relationship with O’Sheehan?”

He dismisses my excuse, and I can imagine what he assumes we were up to. He’s right of course. I consider what I can share without breaking Maddy’s confidences. I’m certain she shared things she doesn’t want anyone else to know.

“He abused her and forced her to do some jobs for him. She didn’t know what he was at first, and by the time she did, he had complete control over her.”

“Why’s he after her? Because he can’t accept that she doesn’t want him?”

“There’s that. She knows things about his business he doesn’t want her to share. He spoofed Laura’s number when he called, so she answered. I didn’t hear all of it, but I know he threatened her.”

“Can you get her here?”

“I don’t want to bring her back into the city. It’s not just the drive back. I don’t want her somewhere so obvious. We’re better hiding here.”

“I can send the helicopter.”

“No. I really don’t want her back where Drew can guess where we are. I don’t want him to have any opportunity to attack. Even if we shield her and resist him, she could get hurt. I don’t want her around the violence.”

“Are you certain no one followed you?”

“Yeah.”

“Should I send your brothers?”

Part of me thinks yes, the more men to protect Maddy, the better.

Part of me thinks no, I want no distractions and all the privacy we already have.

And a third part thinks no, I don’t want to risk anyone following them up here.

But my brothers could take the helicopter rather than drive, so that would keep anyone from following them.

And coming here was about keeping Maddy safe not have a sex retreat.

I know what the selfish part of me wants, and I know what the responsible part of me feels duty-bound to do.

I barely contain my sigh. “Yes, send them, please.”

I know they’ll give Maddy and me privacy, so I shouldn’t worry.

But I don’t want to embarrass her since she’ll know they’ll know why we slip away.

Then again, as spectacular as our bath sex was, maybe she’ll change her mind.

Regret what we did and realize we shouldn’t get more intimate.

I don’t think that’s what’ll happen, but it’s a possibility.

“They can be there in an hour.”

“Tell them to bring me some clothes. We left unexpectedly, so I only have what’s already here.”

My brothers and I are worse than teenage sisters.

We can share clothes without a second thought.

We share suits whenever we need to since we often have to change.

Things can get messy when we’re working, or we want to be certain we leave no DNA behind.

It means burning our clothes. It’s a good thing we’re all billionaires because our wardrobe costs us a fortune.

We have different tastes for our more casual clothes, so I may not love what they bring me. But I’m just glad I’ll have clean ones.

“Pablo’s here. He wants to speak to Madeline.”

Why?

I want to demand a reason my cousin, who’s known Maddy since she was a baby and had a super close relationship, wants to speak to my girlfriend.

That means admitting stabbing insecurity and jealousy.

Between the two of us, Pablo’s always been the one women gravitate to.

They’re curious about his brooding nature and looks.

I’m such a homebody that I have no patience for small talk.

Women approach me, but they usually get bored quickly.

I don’t date, so having a woman who enjoys the kind of sex I like made having a sub so appealing.

I don’t want that anymore, so I want no competition.

Reasonably, I know Pablo isn’t. But he could be.