Page 81 of Lash

“More or less, yes," Lorenzo answers. "I have my own network of resources and contacts in governments and militaries in Brazil and Colombia, and those are people I know for a fact are not owned by Mercado."

"And do you have a secret name, too?" I ask.

He laughs. "No. I am only Lorenzo Oliveira Araujo, as I have always been."

"Lorenzo Oliveira," I say, remembering Inez’s message.

He lets out a long, shaky breath. "Apparently she gave him my name. I am a little angry with her for not telling me that. It was also perhaps a little foolish to give him my name—Lorenzo is not a very common name over here. It is an Italian name, but my mother read it in a book and decided she liked it."

I turn to look at him over the back of my seat. "Is it possible that he is not Rafael's son, but yours?" I ask.

Lorenzo shakes his head. "Very,veryunlikely. I…we only had a little time together before we were discovered, she was punished, and I was forced to escape with my life. No, the timing of her pregnancy does not align with our time together. I think she gave him my name out of love, and so no part of Rafael would be applied to him other than the unfortunate fact of his genetics."

Solomon speaks up, then. "I thought she said she didn’t know his exact whereabouts."

Lorenzo shrugs. "She doesn't—not exactly. Surucucu is probably a last known location or general area.” He growls. "I don't think she factored in Rafael being able to use us as leverage. She could and would have endured any torture without a word, but trapped between loyalty to us and love for her son, she was left with no good options."

"Are we really going to go after her son rather than her?" Solomon asks.

Lorenzo lets out a long breath. "For now, yes. She would murder us all herself if we rescued her and not her son. Once we have him and get him to safety, we get Sophia."

"Now that he has a name," Scarlett asks, "Does he even need her?"

“That is an excellent question," Lorenzo answers. "And I do not know. He is unpredictable—part of being a sociopath, perhaps."

"So for now, we focus on getting little Lorenzo to safety," Chance rumbles.

"Yes," Lorenzo says. “That is what she will expect. And we must all remember that this is Sophia. I do not think any of us can appreciate how dangerous she is. She went willingly into the lion's den, knowing full well what she would endure."

"You think she's playin' possum?" Kane asks.

Lorenzo shrugs. "Possible. If by playing possum you mean biding her time until she unleashes herself upon Rafael and his men, then yes."

"How will she know?" Saxon asks.

Lorenzo shrugs again. "I am not certain, but I have a feeling that when Rafael discovers we got to his son before he did, his reaction will be…intense, to say the least. If I had to guess, that is how she will know. Which means that we cannot fail to get to him first."

"Motherfucker outsmarted us once," Rev growls. “Not fuckin’ happenin’ again."

"Facts," Saxon says. "I just hope Inez leaves some of Rafael for us."

Lorenzo's laugh is deep and dark and wicked. "I do not. As much as we all have reason to hate him, none of us as much asshe. And trust me when I say the death she will give him will be one for the ages."

I shudder. "Perhaps I am weak, but I do not think I should like to see that."

Nico kisses my temple. "It is good you do not. I do not wish for you to become like us."

"You may not be some vanilla virgin," Scarlett says, "but you're still a helluva lot more innocent than the rest of us. And in my book, that's a damn good thing."

I shake my head. "I do not know, Scarlett. I think seeing my father like that erased the last of my innocence.”

Nico sighs. "Perhaps. Just do not become so accustomed to seeing and dealing with death that it no longer affects you."

I can't think of an answer to that, so I let my eyes droop closed and let the drone of the engines lull me to a fitful sleep.

I wakeas we prepare for landing. It's a smooth touchdown and a short taxi. Waiting for us on the tarmac at the airfield in Brasilia is an ex-military troop transport—a huge vehicle with a single bench cab and an open-air bed with benches on both sides facing inward.

Chance groans when he sees it. "Fuck, man. I thought my days of climbing my giant ass up into those things were over."