Page 47

Dustin

W hen I got the warning call from Aldo, I knew I had some major damage control to tend to. “Sorry, man,” he said. “They caught me by surprise and the scary one brandished a weapon, threatening to hack at the family jewels.” He sounded more impressed than nervous.

Afterward, I got the call from Lucius and nearly threw in the towel. Talk about a KO. “I told you this would come back and bite you in the ass,” he said.

“Mind filling in the blanks?” I’ve done a lot of shit, so it was no surprise I was at a loss what was doing the biting.

“Your brilliant idea to have Tina followed has put both her and Rosa in danger.”

“Hold up a minute. I told Tucker to stop that shit a while ago.” As soon as Tina and I started fucking, actually, but I didn’t tell him the last part.

“Yeah, well, Tina thought it was Aldo in the beginning, so she didn’t question it until it kept happening even after you paid her debt.”

That explains her sudden visit to Aldo. Lucius proceeded to fill me in on what he knew so far. He’d made some calls and found out the mystery truck belonged to someone associated with Hernandez keeping tabs on Rosa.

My hope when I arrived at Lucius’s apartment was that Tina would laugh with me over my obsessive behavior. The alternative, her packing her bags and bailing on me again, was too unbearable to imagine. What I didn’t expect, however, was for her to empty the contents of her stomach at my feet.

“Normally, I’d feel bad”—Tina waves towards the closed door where one of the club staff members is working on cleaning up her puke—“but you deserved it.”

It’s just the two of us in Lucius’s apartment now. Raul whisked an angry Rosa away to his and Ben’s place shortly after we arrived, and Lucius, after loaning me a clean pair of shoes, headed downstairs to give us privacy. Honestly, I don’t care about any of it right now. I’m just happy Tina is letting me soothe her.

Her head rests on my lap while I hold a damp washcloth to her forehead. With my free hand, I rub circles over her tummy, which seems to please her if her purrs are any indication. Unable to resist, I try for a kiss.

She places a hand over her mouth, mumbling, “Barf breath.” It says a lot about my depth of feelings for her that bad breath doesn’t bother me.

Sudden movements make her face turn green, so I bring the glass of ginger ale Lucius had someone bring up from the bar to her lips. “Here,” I say. “Drink this. It should help calm your stomach.”

She sips then pushes the glass away, closing her eyes. “When I feel better, we need to talk.”

“I know we do.”

There’s a knock at the door, but there’s no way I’m getting up and breaking the connection we have right now. Who knows, after I explain things, she might not let me be this close again. “Come in!”

The door opens and Dee pokes her head inside. She clucks her tongue like a mother hen when she sees Tina. I relax a little, knowing I did the right thing by calling her. “You poor thing. Shoo,” she says, waving me out of the way. I ease Tina to sitting, careful not to jostle her too much.

Once upright, Dee takes over, helping Tina to stand. “Let’s get you home and in bed.” I shoot Dee a look and she chuckles. “Relax. I’ll take her to your place.”

I caress Tina’s cheek, pleased when she leans into my touch. “Thanks. I shouldn’t be long.”

I enter the club through the back entrance and make my way to the office. The door is cracked, and I pause when I see Lucius isn’t alone. A second man lounges with his back to me with an ankle resting on the opposite knee.

Lucius sits at his desk with his head in his hands. “You gave me your word.”

At first I think he’s talking to the guy across from him, but then a disembodied voice comes from the phone on the desk. “And I’ve kept it, no?”

The guy in the chair picks at his nails but doesn’t speak. When he lowers his hand back to the armrest, the club’s ring flashes on his pinky.

Lucius scoffs drawing my attention back to him. “How, by having her followed?”

Is he talking to Hernandez? I step back out of sight when the man in the chair turns his head slightly in my direction even though I didn’t make a sound.

The phone conversation continues. “You of all people know I don’t take chances.”

Lucius shakes his head. “Like when your little idiots jumped the wrong woman six years ago?”

The man on the phone barks out a laugh. “It was beautiful, wasn’t it , how you took care of them?”

“Have I ever given you a reason to doubt me?”

There’s a pause before the man admits, “Never, hijo. But until the promise is fulfilled, Rosaline and anyone close to her has a target on her back. You know this. Need I remind you of the drugged drink in Vegas?”

Lucius sighs. “It seems you’re not the only organization with incompetent lackeys.”

“And you’ll take care of them as well, si? Like you were raised to do. Do this one more thing for me, and I’ll give you more time, but she is safest with me, you know this.”

That gets the guy in the chair’s attention. He shoots to his feet, swiping the phone up, switching it off speaker, and barks a long string of Spanish into the receiver before ending the call. I step in the doorway and clear my throat. The only one surprised to see me is Lucius.

He runs a hand through his hair. “Have a seat, Chip.”

No way am I putting myself in a vulnerable position with this other dude standing over me. “I’ll stand.”

Lucius nods. “How’s Tina?”

“Safe.” I frown when the other guy harrumphs. Ass. I nod towards the phone. “What was that about?”

I’m surprised when the other guy answers me. He shifts his stance, and his dark eyes latch on to mine. “It was about promises made generations ago coming to a head.”

Lucius sighs, motioning towards the other guy. “Dustin, this is—”

I hold up a hand. “I don’t care.”

This makes the guy laugh. “I like this guy, hermano . He’s got balls.”

I ignore him. “Promises to who? Hernandez?” Before either can answer, my phone chimes, letting me know Dee and Tina arrived at the house safely. Unable to resist, I open the app and watch as the two women enter the front door. I frown when they have to stop so Tina can throw up in the bushes.

Seeing his chance to change the subject, Lucius asks, “Does Tina know about the cameras yet?”

I shake my head.

Lucius’s buddy pulls a joint out of his pocket and speaks around the unlit bud. “I hope you like the doghouse, man. You’re going to be there a while.”

Fuck this guy. Like I need the warning. I wave his concern away, steering us back on topic. “So, the drugged drink in Vegas was for Rosa? What else did you find out?”

“A lot,” Lucius says. “Most important being Hernandez lost a lot of money on your fight with his boy.”

I cross my arms over my chest. “Shouldn’t have bet against a sure thing.” Lucius stands, turning his back on us. It says a lot about the amount of trust he has in the stranger. He stares out the window and I ask, “What does that have to do with Tina?”

He glances over his shoulder. “He wants a rematch.”

Finally, something in my wheelhouse. Where everywhere else in my life seems to be a struggle, this, at least, I can be sure to win. “Done.”

Lucius faces me fully and his next words nearly knock me on my ass. “He wants you to throw the fight.”

Throw a fight?

“No way.” I begin to pace. It’s one thing to lose a fight, but to take a dive… it’s career suicide. Everything would be ruined in one night. The irony is not lost on me. I think of Tina and the last few months. How far we’ve come and where I want us to go from here.

“I know what this means for you, Chip, and I’m sorry, but I’m afraid you don’t have a choice in this.” His hand on my arm stops me mid-stride. “Hernandez is prepared to do whatever is necessary to bring home the win this time.” He releases my arm but doesn’t move away. “Including taking collateral.”

The knots in my stomach tell me all I need to know, but still, I ask, “What does that mean?”

The other guy takes a step forward. “You took something from him. He takes from you. To a man like him, it’s that simple.”

Tina.

She’s mine. Always has been. In the end, even if she doesn’t want me like I want her, I won’t let anyone touch her. Even if it means giving up. I turn on my heel, saying over my shoulder, “Set it up.”