Page 36 of Cartel Viper (The Cartel Brotherhood #2)

Chapter Eighteen

Maddy

Javi’s going to kill me for getting involved, but when I recognized the guy who’s a real DEA agent and Drew’s cousin, I knew I needed to step in. He’s one of the guys whose kneecaps I blew out. I’m certain Javi will have questions for him.

I certainly do.

The guy I killed, Derek, was a complete and total dickwad to me since the day I met him. It happened to be the day I met Drew. He was at the hospital with Drew and his family because he was Drew’s driver and is a close friend—was a close friend, I should say.

I found out later he played the asshole wingman, so Drew had a reason to step in and seem charming when he came to my rescue.

It irritated me to discover how badly I’d been manipulated, but I didn’t learn that for an entire year.

It was one of many secrets revealed to me too late to keep from having any attachment to Drew.

I don’t have a moment’s doubt I made the right choice killing him, but I’m certain Javi won’t agree.

Not based on just that sliver of a story, but I don’t want to go into full detail about the things Derek said to me over the years.

It won’t bring a dead man back for Javi to kill all over again.

They were just crude comments, but they’ve humiliated me every single time.

I also suspect he was the reason one of my deals went south.

I think he ruined it on purpose, hoping I’d get caught in the crossfire.

He didn’t approve of how much Drew came to rely on me.

I would’ve been happy to follow Derek’s insistence that I not be as involved as Drew made me, but Drew insisted upon doing things his way as always.

I scan the scene outside the window and watch as Javi and his brothers emerge from around the side of the house.

I pull myself away and go to the security screens and swipe through them.

I see no more attackers lurking anywhere, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t more hiding, waiting.

It tempts me to leave the room, but I know Javi only has so much patience.

I refuse to make today even worse by walking out of here without permission.

I strain to hear the conversation below me, but it’s far too quiet.

I head back to the window only to shift my weight from foot to foot because there’s shit I know about Jacob that would be useful for Javi and his brothers.

I don’t have my phone with me though. It’s in the bedroom.

The only way to get that would be to leave here, which I just swore to myself I wouldn’t do.

Do I lean out the window and call down to Javi?

Do I gesture to him, hoping to catch his attention and potentially distract him from what’s going on around him?

I don’t know what to do.

Thankfully, Javi solves that for me.

“Maddy, do you know him?” I watch Javi tilt his head back as he calls up to me.

“Yeah, I do. He’s the DEA agent who tried to get me to come out earlier.”

“So, he’s the Fed?”

I know that question isn’t really meant for me now that Javi’s looking at Jacob.

The guy’s sitting on the ground with blood still gushing from his right leg.

I can only imagine the agony he must be in.

But it certainly doesn’t match what I see in the two men kneeling beside one of Javi’s guys.

I hear one repeating “ mi hermano ,” over and over. My brother.

The other one could just be the dead guy’s close friend, but I sense there’s far more to it than that.

There’s something in the way the second guy is staring at the body.

His entire bearing vibrates with devastated loss that’s almost palpable all the way up here.

They must have been partners or even husbands.

What a needless loss that’s entirely my fault.

The only reason any of Drew’s men are here—the only reason why Javi and his brothers and their men were exposed—was to protect me.

The crushing guilt envelops me and tightens its hold to the point where my chest burns, and I rub a fist over my heart because it’s hard to breathe.

This wasn’t the first time I’ve killed. I’ve admitted I’ve done it before.

I’ve seen some of Drew’s men die, but it never affected me the way seeing Javi’s men does right now.

My hatred toward Drew blinded me from any regret or remorse when his men died.

But human decency makes me regret Javi’s losses today.

My connection to him makes it even deeper.

That’s part of what spurred me to action. A deep sense of obligation to help protect the men who protect Javi and his family.

I lean forward a little farther, but I can’t hear what’s happening any better than I could a moment ago.

“Javi.”

I risk calling down to him. He looks up at me and raises his eyebrows.

“I know things about him you should ask. I’d call you, but my phone isn’t in here with me.”

“Hang on. I’ll come up and get you.”

It feels like an eternity before I hear the door unlock.

I don’t raise the gun since you don’t point a weapon anywhere you don’t intend to shoot.

But if it’s not Javi, I’m prepared, and I’ll shoot to kill, then ask questions later.

The relief that washes over me makes my hand tremble.

I click the safety back on and walk toward him, leaving the gun on the billiard table as I pass it.

I don’t breathe easy until I’m in his arms.

“We’re both safe, chiquita . It’s okay now.”

“This is entirely my fault, Javi.”

“No, it’s not. Don’t think that. If you’ve been part of this life now for years, you know these things happen far too frequently. They’re usually not one single person’s fault. It’s the price we pay.”

“Javi—”

“I brought you here. I didn’t know anyone would betray us, but you were in danger because one of my men betrayed my family. You were supposed to be safe here. This was the one place in the world I was supposed to have faith that no one could touch us.”

“Do you think this estate’s completely compromised? Will they have told any of the O’Sheehans where they are and what they found?”

“Probably, but that’s a problem for a different day. Right now, I’m just glad you’re all right.”

The kiss he gives me makes my toes curl, and I grip his shirt as though I might wither away if I don’t hold on for dear life.

I don’t want it to end. I don’t want to face the reality that I caused this.

That I brought this to his family and have now endangered them and ruined something special.

He may tell me it’s not my fault, but no one will convince me otherwise.

“ Chiquita , tell me what you know now before we go out there. I can’t afford any surprises.”

Like my sniper level accuracy.

“Jacob’s father paid a fortune to get his son’s background check forged.

He passed the academy legitimately, but he’s dirty as a hog in slop.

He feeds Drew internal information that’s kept them from getting busted for years.

What Drew suspects but hasn’t proven is that Jacob also sells information to other families.

So far, it hasn’t compromised the O’Sheehans, but I believe Jacob’s just biding his time.

I think he’ll fuck Drew over when the right deal comes along. ”

“But for now he’s helping Drew by trying to kidnap you.”

“That’s my guess. That or he wants to ransom me to Drew. It wouldn’t surprise me if Drew didn’t order my execution today to get revenge for you helping me.”

“You believe Drew would do that, knowing you came to my family for help?”

I glance at the floor as shame floods me. Not for what I did, but for what I didn’t do.

“Drew got injured badly enough to need a hospital about eighteen months ago. A GSW to the chest. It was only a couple inches above and to the right of his heart. It was way more serious than I could deal with, but he wound up at my hospital. I was worried about a bunch of things, but I also wanted to know how serious it was to estimate how long they’d keep him admitted.

Once I got into his records, I did some scrolling.

I know I shouldn’t have, but at that point, what was another law broken?

” I shrug. “I found out a shit ton about his past, including some psychiatric records that included info from when he was a teenager. None of it truly shocked me. It confirmed what I suspected. He has borderline personality disorder and antisocial personality disorder. Basically, he’s a psychopath—even if that isn’t really the popular clinical term anymore.

Discovering that made running away even more terrifying until I hit my limits and risked it. Now look at what I’ve done.”

“You did not do this, Maddy.”

I ignore him rather than argue.

“I put nothing past him, Javi. Jacob’s not as maniacal as Drew, but they’re cut from the same cloth.

When you go down there to interrogate him, his mother and sister are sensitive topics.

She walked out on his dad and left Jacob and his sister with a mobster to raise them.

He’s super protective of his sister, even though she’s three years older than him.

She hates him because he suffocates her.

But his real trigger is his dog. Like John Wick triggered.

He’ll lose his shit if you threaten the dog, but he’s not as resourceful as the movie character.

He’ll cave eventually if he thinks it’ll protect the animal.

Jacob would shoot his grandmother if he thought it would get him ahead in life, but he’s a pile of mush with the dog.

Only creature alive that loves him unconditionally. ”

“What’s the dog’s name?”

“Yeller.”

“As in Old Yeller ?”