Page 60 of Cartel Viper (The Cartel Brotherhood #2)

I’m certain he’s not thrilled with her leaving the house without a protective circle around her.

Just getting me into the house without leaving me exposed to anyone driving by or another drone attack is why all five guys are here.

Javi steps out of the SUV, and I slide over, but he makes me wait until his brother and cousin climb out of the third row on the other side and come around the vehicle. Joaquin does the same.

I disappear in the midst of these enormous men in their perfectly tailored suits.

My sister disappears too as Maks’s brothers and cousins filter out of the house.

The men glower at each other, but they remain quiet.

It’s not until we’re through the front door that Maks’s family steps back and allows Laura to leave the center of their circle.

Only Javi crosses the threshold with me.

Laura clings to me, and I gladly return the hug.

I don’t notice who’s still around us, but I sense most of the guys are gone.

When we pull apart, it’s just Maks and Misha along with Javi in the foyer with Laura and me.

I turn to look over my shoulder at Javi and follow his gaze to Misha.

I shift my focus to the blonde Russian who’s staring back at Javi with just as much disdain.

I’m not sure what to make of the standoff.

Javi’s hand rests at my lower back as he steps beside me. He smiles down at me, and I feel my shoulders lower. They were practically brushing my earlobes.

“Enjoy your visit with your sister. I’ll hang out here. Just let me know whenever you’re ready to go.”

“You can’t just loiter in my entryway.” Maks practically huffs, but Laura shoots him a look that makes him shake his head.

Javi smiles at my sister. “Laura, it’s fine. I don’t want to impose, but we all know I won’t go anywhere, so I’ll remain unobtrusive over here until Maddy’s ready to leave.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You might be sitting alone, but you can at least go into the living room.”

Javi offers her a gracious thank you before Maks and Misha glare at him one last time, then disappear into the office Maks and Laura share. She and I head into the sunroom where the twins are playing.

“Auntie Madeline!”

Mila greets me and slams into my right leg while Konstantin wraps himself around my left.

I squat down to hug them both. They were certainly a surprise to everyone so soon after my sister and brother-in-law married, but I can’t imagine Laura and Maks without their twins. The four of them are a package deal.

Laura speaks to them in Russian, and I’m certain she tells them to go to the playroom upstairs.

I get a hug and a kiss from each of them before they run off together.

Laura and I sit on the sofa, turned so we can look at each other.

I’m waiting for her to unleash the tirade of questions I’m certain she came up with yesterday.

It’ll feel like a cross examination since she’s still the best lawyer I know.

I’m utterly unprepared for her to burst into tears.

“Laura!”

I reach out and wrap my arms around her again while she shakes her head and swats at her tears.

“I don’t know where the hell that just came from.

I should be comforting you, not the other way around.

Maks wouldn’t tell me much yesterday. ‘It’s a developing situation.

’” She uses air quotes around that last comment.

“There have been threats to the family before, and you know we’re all very close.

The women who’ve married into this family consider each other sisters, even when many of us are cousins-in-law.

I’ve feared for them over the years, but there’s something vastly different—exponentially worse—when it’s your actual sister in danger, and there’s nothing you can do. ”

I cock an eyebrow.

“Yes, I know.” She closes her eyes and shakes her head. “But you didn’t know what was happening in real time.”

“True, but finding out everything after the fact was its own kind of horrible.”

“I wish you’d told me about Drew, but I understand why you didn’t.”

“I look back at it now, and I know there were times when I could’ve spoken up in person, and reasonably, I understand how much stronger Maks’s family is than the O’Sheehans. But when you’re in the thick of it, it doesn’t feel that way.”

“Mads, you don’t have to justify anything to me. I understand. I won’t question your decision about being with him. I’ll do whatever you need from me, but I won’t shame you for it or doubt your decisions.”

“Thank you.”

She stares at me for a long moment. “You expected me to do that, didn’t you?”

I shrug. “You’re my big sister.”

“I am, but you’re also an adult. I know you weren’t thrilled about my getting together with Maks, but you supported me.”

“Because I’d never seen you happier than you were with Maks, and now with the twins as well. Though it’s not the same since I was miserable with Drew for so much of it.”

“But you hid it.”

“I did, and I will regret that for the rest of time.”

“It is what it is. It was what it was, Mads. It’s all right. The main thing is, you’re moving past it. With Javier.” Her smile is lukewarm at best, but she doesn’t disagree with me.

“Laura, you knew how I felt about him. You never spoke up. You allowed me to have that secret. My feelings for him never went away completely. It wasn’t exactly that they dwindled, either. They were just put on pause. Being with him feels as natural as breathing. That’s how you described Maks.”

“It’s obvious just watching both of you. When’s the wedding?” She grins at me the same way she did before she got me in trouble alongside her.

“We haven’t set a date. He hasn’t proposed or anything, but we’ve agreed our future is together.”

“So, I can look for a gown and make sure it’s ready for next week. What color should I pick?”

“You’re so bossy.”

“I’m practical.”

I huff a pretend sigh. “Lavendar.”

“Figured.”

We laugh together, and it feels good to have a reprieve from everything that happened yesterday.

I’m just hanging out with my sister. But I know we can’t avoid discussing things.

If Maks hasn’t filled her in, there must be a reason.

I know he consults her on a lot of shit he would deny ever discussing with his wife.

If he hasn’t told Laura much, there’s bound to be a reason.

That won’t stop us from talking about what we can.

“I know you won’t judge me, so I need to tell you more about the past four years.

You know it took me two solid years before I was ready to move in with Drew.

After what happened with my last relationship and how things fizzled when I thought we were moving toward marriage, I was hesitant to commit.

He was persuasive, but I took my time. It was within a couple months of me moving in that he inherited his title. ”

I keep to myself that I suspect Elle had something to do with Drew’s father’s death.

“Everything changed. I didn’t know what was going on at first. I thought it was grief that made him lash out.

When I found out who he’d become, it infuriated me that he hadn’t been upfront since Maks never hid from you who he is.

But I rationalized that Drew and I aren’t you and Maks.

I tried to leave after the first time he hit me.

His reaction made it seem like leaving would only make everything worse.

Things settled down, and I figured we were back to normal.

I didn’t forgive him, but I decided to move on. ”

No greater fool was I than not to go to Maks when it happened.

“Even though I’m a midwife and hadn’t patched anyone up since nursing school, he insisted I stitch up his guys when they got injured.

After two guys died of wounds medical care could have treated, it progressed into me going on missions but staying out of sight.

He claimed he didn’t want to lose any more men to stupid shit that could’ve been cured in the field. ”

I throw my voice into a mockingly deep one when I repeat the bullshit he spewed.

“You can’t ‘cure’—” My turn for air quotes.

“—GSWs and stabbings, but he made me go. He picked me up and shoved me into the SUV the first two times. Again, it was just easier to go along with it. There was an incident where a rival fired over my shoulder and hit a guy I was patching up in an SUV’s trunk.

I didn’t think twice about grabbing the gun in front of me and shooting back.

I hit the guy three times and killed him.

Traumatized the fuck out of me, but I lived and so did Drew’s mobster. ”

Laura’s holding my hands as I confess my sins. I know her temper’s on a steady simmer because Drew is already dead. If he were alive, it would be boiling over.

“I feared how Drew would react to me getting involved. It was the nicest he’d been since I moved in.

He was back to the guy I originally dated.

But it was his usual subterfuge. Less than a month later, he coerced me into taking three duffel bags of money to Rochester.

I didn’t know the money was counterfeit or that I’d be picking up product to bring back to him.

It shocked the shit out of the guy when I showed up.

He didn’t expect a woman. It made him suspicious until he realized I was far less likely to get pulled over after leaving a known mob neighborhood than if I were a man.

It just went downhill from there. I became his best mule. I even negotiated some of the deals.”

“You worked for the mob.”

“Pretty much.”

“After the shit I saw and heard, I didn’t doubt Drew would target you, Mila, and Konstantin.”

He sent me the photo of them at the grocery store. That wasn’t the first time he used them to blackmail me. It just didn’t work this last time because I had Javi with me.