Page 16 of Corrupted By the Shadow King (Hope Runs Deep #3)

Alex

“ W hat the fuck do you mean there is a problem with our shipment?” I snap as soon as we are in the car and driving away from Nikki.

“Angel called and said there is an issue,” Ricky says as he effortlessly swerves around cars to get us off hospital grounds.

I narrow my eyes and glare at his reflection in the rearview mirror. “What issue?” Wheels were greased for the bar, and everything has been approved. So, what could possibly be wrong now?

An unmistakable cringe meets my gaze. Now, I am worried. “A body found at one of the job sites,” he says through clenched teeth. He is just as irritated as me. After all the bullshit with the bar, our patience has run thin, and heads will roll.

“Who?”

“Not sure, but it is a woman.”

“Ricky! What the hell happened?”

“You know as much as I do, Alex.”

“Get Angel on the phone. NOW!”

Quickly, he commands the car to call my brother. “Alex, Ricky. It’s a fucking mess.” Angel sounds weary and at the end of his tether. Mierda !

“What the fuck happened?” I run my hand over my face in frustration.

A dead body is nothing new to us. Hell, we have our own pile of bones that will haunt us into the next life.

But a dead female body on one of our job sites is a problem.

Not only will the investigation shut down the site indefinitely, but it will put us under a microscope that we don’t need.

“They were preparing to lift some steel,

and as soon as they began to lift, a body fell to the ground.”

“No one saw her before they did that?” I ask. How is that even possible?

“It looks like a hole was dug under the steel, and she was shoved in there and covered with dirt.”

“Who is she?” Ricky questions. “Do we know anything yet?”

Angel sighs loudly. “The cops got here about forty minutes ago. The men who found her immediately called 9-1-1. Since most of them are not on our main payroll, they did not second-guess calling the police.”

“ Mierda !” I snap.

“I know,” Angel says, his voice weary.

“Are they on our side?” Ricky asks.

“One of the cops is a friend. His partner, not so much, but even they say she was dumped. Whoever did this wanted this body to be found. Her name is Lisa Varghese. From what I can find, she is not tied to us at all. She has been beaten, and her throat has been slit. Amateur at best. The person has a lot to learn. Maldito idiota ! They will probably find the killer without much effort.” My brother sounds unimpressed and disgusted.

Most of the time, he considers killing someone an artform.

He loves to draw out the pain, delivering the killing blow only when he’s achieved the pinnacle of suffering.

“Do they have any leads? What does this mean for the project?” If the cops really want to look closely at us, tear up the foundation, and do a little digging, they would find more bodies than they would know what to do with.

Our construction company is legal and has won multiple contracts to build new structures all over San Antonio, but we also use those sites as places to get rid of bodies.

The business is also used to hide money.

The bar and the construction companies are owned by shell companies we created for a variety of reasons.

On the outside, they look every bit the perfect businesses.

It would take a keen eye and access to records no one should see to dissect the nuances of our ventures.

I can practically see Angel crossing his arms over his chest as he clenches his jaw and then pinches the bridge of his nose. It is a trait he has not been able to shake since we were kids. “Our friend told me they think it was the boyfriend. She took a restraining order out on him last week.”

“Open and shut?” Rick asks disbelievingly.

I wish I could tell him to let sleeping dogs lie, but I can’t.

I understand why he doesn’t trust it. If we believed everything we were told without proof, the Luna Cartel would have fallen decades ago instead of being one of the largest and most powerful in all of Mexico. Maybe even the world.

“Supposedly.”

“Angel, stay on this. I want regular reports. Something doesn’t feel right.”

“I feel the same, hermano .” He disconnects the call without another word.

Ricky is silent for a moment as he exits the highway, and then he asks, “What are you thinking, Alex?”

Staring out the window, I rub my fingers against my lips.

“I don’t know, but something is off. Why our construction site?

And they did a horrible job at hiding the body.

They wanted it to be found. What do we know about Sol?

Have they appointed a new El Fuego?” Typically, the title went to the individual and did not get passed down from one person to another.

In the Luna Cartel, my grandfather, my father, and now I all have had the honor of being El Lobo.

I remember Alonzo once said to me that it does not matter what happens to him, for a new El Fuego will rise out of the ashes like a phoenix.

Has a new one risen? Have they found me?

“Their men are mobilizing, and Emiliano, Alonzo’s son, has taken up the torch for his father.”

“How close are they?”

“Our sources say they are close. They aren’t estúpido .

They know we have contacts in the States.

They will look for us here, and it is not difficult to find us.

However, not everyone likes Emiliano, and he has a lot to prove.

He does not have the backing of many, so there is a little discord in the ranks.

That will hold them back from acting for a little while. ”

“Unless that is a ploy. I do not trust them.”

“I don’t either, and I agree with you. They have never been unorganized. The only reason they are dirt under our feet is that we are stronger and bigger than they are. We could have decapitated them long before now.”

A small smile tugs at one side of my lips. “Could have, but what purpose would that have served. They were useful for a time, but they have always been greedy fuckers.”

“They will come.”

“And we will be ready.”

Nothing else is said as we pull up to the site where the body was found.

There is a small crowd of police, gawkers, and media.

“ Conducir . Angel can handle this mess himself. He will call if there are any other issues. Take me home. Call the project managers for our other construction sites. Check in with them. Ask them if they have seen anything strange. Ask them if any of their employees have disappeared or begun acting off.”

“Yes, Alex.”

I am tired mentally and physically, and, in some ways, I feel older than my time.

At thirty-three, I’m in the prime of my life.

I run a successful empire and several businesses, people both admire and fear me, and many women have told me I’m sexy.

I’ve also been shot, stabbed, had to kill countless people, and I don’t know what the love of a woman can feel like.

Thoughts of Nikki pop into my head. That is not love, but it is something more than I’ve had with anyone else.

She is dangerous, but what is excitement without a little danger?

It doesn’t take much for my thoughts to drift to her in my bed, under me on her knees as I thrust my cock into her pussy with so much force, the bed shakes as she screams my name.

I wrap her hair around my fist and pull, tugging her head back so I can kiss her, never letting up my pace.

If anything, the pounding becomes more animalistic before she comes on my cock, squeezing me until I release inside her.

Fuck danger. Fuck bad ideas. I crave that with every fiber of my being, and I will have her. Possess her. She is mine, whether she realizes it or not.