Page 8 of The Right Garza

We had a plan. We had agoddamnplan. Small wins. Big losses. Keep our heads down. Stayunderthe radar. What part of that was so damn hard for to understand?

We were barely surviving, and now I’m supposed to come up with almost a hundred thousand dollars to save her dumb ass?

Where…? How…?

Wired with anxiety, I glance down at the card in my hand. It’s a plain white rectangle with nothing more than a name in small black print.Stefano Castello. I flip it over to check for a phone number or address but there’s none. Instead are the words,Just ask.

What kind of card is this? How am I supposed to reach him without a number?

Feeling like my head is about to explode, I set the card down, take a deep breath, then slowly release it on a count of ten.

I pick up the fork and continue eating.

It makes sense now why they wanted to feed me. They knew I’d have to come to terms with the fact that I had to come up with ninety-two thousand dollars in forty-eight hours, and that’s not a feat a broke bitch can pull off on an empty stomach.

How thoughtful.

Chapter FOUR

“The life-or-death kind.”

Lexi

I pump my legsas fast as I can, the diamond necklace clutched tight in my fist. Hot, dry wind licks at my skin. The coiffured bun at my nape loosens each time my feet hit the ground, until it unravels, my hair tumbling from its coil and lifting with the wind.

I shoot a quick glance behind me and find the security guard still hot on my heels. I’m surprised at how fast he is considering his hulk-like size. But at five-foot-four and one hundred and thirty-six pounds, I’m faster.

I zip left and sprint out into moving traffic, ignoring the blaring horns and screeching tires. When I get to the other side of the street, I shoot another glance over my shoulder. The security guard is dipping and dodging through the traffic, fighting to get across.

Hurdling over a cinder block, I keep it moving. My legs and arms pump faster, my breath and energy waning. I dart up a ramp to a raised parking lot and duck low as I zig-zag behind vehicles, intermittently checking behind me for the security guard.

When I stumble upon an old convertible with the top down and the keys still in the ignition, it’s as if it’s my lucky day. I hop inside and am about to turn the key when pain stings across my scalp as I’m grabbed by my hair and yanked out of the car.

“Fuckin’ little thief!”

The security guard slams me against the car and backhands me across the face so hard I blank into fleeting darkness before stars light up that darkness like fireworks. I’ve never been hit so hard in my life. Is he even allowed to do that?

“Here! Take it!Take it!” I shriek, shoving the necklace at him. “I’m sorry!”

Grabbing the necklace, he glares down at me. “I’m gettin’ sick and fuckin’ tired of little bitches like you thinkin’ you can do shit like this and get away with it ‘cause you’re pretty.”

“No,no. I’m in a lot of trouble—”

“Shut the fuck up.” He wraps his fingers around my throat, tight, and hauls me up against him. “You’re comin’ with me, you little bitch. You’re lucky it’s daylight or I’d—grrtkk.” His eyes roll back in his head as his fingers loosen and fall from around my neck as he drops to the floor with a thud.

Wondering what on earth just happened, I stare down at him in utter bewilderment.

A familiar birdcall whistle hits my ears, and when I glance up, I realizewhohappened.

The window of the jeep that sandwiches us next to the convertible is down. And in the driver’s seat, holding a taser, is Trenton Garza.

“In troubleagain, Hellcat?” he says with a bored expression. He shakes his head at me and orders, “Get in.”

When I stoop down to steal the necklace from the security guard’s hand, he growls out a firm, “No.”

“You don’t understand! Ineedit—”

“Get the fuck in, Lexi.”