Chapter 13

Mia

“The fucking Russians. Nick was shot. Jano and Em took chase. They got into Em’s car and followed the bratva car to a storage facility. When the bratva car stopped, Jano jumped out of their car and pulled one of them from the car. Em followed. The good news is there’s two less Russians to worry about, but in the fight, Jano was stabbed.”

Aléjandro was stabbed.

My stomach twisted with the news.

I sucked in a breath. “He was stabbed. Is he in the hospital?”

Rei shook his head. “We have our own doctors. Hospitals ask too many questions and keep records.”

The famiglia did the same thing. Sometimes, the hospital was the better option, such as with my father. Although, there’s no way to know if the hospital could have saved him. More importantly, there’s the question of whether or not anyone wanted him saved.

“Did they get Aléjandro help?” ‘Did they want to save him’ was what I wanted to ask.

“They did.”

“And Nick?”

“He’s being patched up, too.”

“What about the call?” I asked.

“Jano’s phone is missing. Our men should have it turned off soon. They fucked up, not realizing it was missing sooner. Jano’s concerned that the person who found it would try to call you, and it seems he was right.”

“It was his number. Could the call have been from the bratva?”

“It depends when he lost it. The bratva or the police. Neither is good. If it was the bratva, they could triangulate the call to find your house. Jano bought it under a shell company. It’s too dangerous to have his name on the deed.” We came to a stop at a red light as Rei checked all directions. “Until Silas arrives and the new security system is set up, it’s not safe for you to be there.”

“Where will we stay?”

“Our padre made a request.”

Jorge made a request?

“What does that mean?”

“It means you need to talk to Jano.”

Based on the setting sun to our right, Rei was driving south. The view outside our windows changed from the palm trees, flowering bushes, and gated homes to cracked streets, concrete walls, and graffiti. Streetlights were beginning to illuminate sidewalks littered with trash and weeds coming through the cracks.

Rei pulled up to a gate. Appearing above the fence under a dusk sky, I saw multiple large buildings and a ship, its paint chipped and sails down. After entering a code, Rei drove us through the gate. I turned, watching it close behind us. Rei continued through a large garage door and into one of the buildings. Through the darkness, he drove us to the far end where there were probably ten to fifteen other vehicles of all different makes and varying ages.

“Stay by me,” he said before turning off the car.

That was an order I had no problem following.

Before my door was opened, two men rushed toward the car from the shadows.

“Lock the doors,” Rei said, jumping from his seat and slamming his door.

Hurriedly, I did as he said, frantically searching and finally finding the button. The click of the lock echoed. The car muffled the men’s voices. It didn’t matter. I couldn’t have understood them even if they were distinct. I sucked in a breath and pushed back against the seat as with a kick to his chest, Rei sent one of the men flying. Less than a second later, he had the second man pinned over the hood of his car with a long blade against his neck.

My entire body trembled as my eyes opened wide at the scene playing out before me.

Rei was asking questions and the man with his face near the windshield was trying desperately to shake his head. Suddenly, Rei took a step back and the man slowly stood with both hands raised.

Rei yelled at both men.

My heartbeat echoed in my ears.

What would happen to me if Rei was hurt?

I held my breath as Rei walked away, toward the direction we’d entered the building. My gaze scanned the dashboard, wondering if I could drive this car if necessary or if Rei had left the keys. Given my lack of experience with driving, I couldn’t guarantee that attempting to drive an Audi R8 was any safer than encountering the men outside.

Lost in my thoughts, Rei pounding on the window caused me to jump.

He motioned for me to come out.

For longer than a moment, I sat, trying to collect my breath and thoughts. A salty tear slid down my cheek as I longed for Kansas City and people I knew and trusted. My gaze went back through the window, seeing Rei’s impatient stare.

Nodding, I opened the car door. The chill of the evening sea breeze combined with the darkness caused my flesh to pebble with goose bumps. “Are we safe?”

“Mistaken identity is all. Nothing to worry about.” He gave me one last look over his shoulder. “You might want to stay with me.”

Good idea.

Doing as he said, I stayed at Rei’s side as we climbed a long case of metal stairs. Our steps reverberated noisily through the large building. My legs were complaining by the time we made it to the landing. Looking down, I saw we were easily two or three stories in the air. The door we reached had a small panel within. After Rei knocked, a man opened the small panel. The setup reminded me of an old speakeasy. The man within scrutinized us, his gaze lingering on me.  

“Señora Roríguez,” Rei said.

The window shut and after a series of clicks, the door opened. With a full view of the man, I sucked in a breath. He was tall and beefy, with the perfect bouncer physique. As we stepped inside, my nose scrunched at the multitude of odors permeating the air. The volume of voices rose with cat calls, whistles, and comments about my ethnicity as thirty or more sets of eyes turned in our direction.

Rei removed the same blade from wherever he kept it hidden. “Señora Roríguez,” he said loudly.

All the eyes turned away and the remarks ended. The low din of conversations resumed.

The giant room we’d entered was filled with long picnic tables, enough to seat probably a hundred or more people. Scanning the people within, I saw I was obviously the only woman. The men sat scattered around in small groupings. Electronics and weapons of all types were on the tables.

Rei tilted his head toward one end of the room. I stayed at his side as we walked between the tables toward another door. As we progressed, the men pretended to ignore us, instead concentrating on their task at hand. They were cleaning guns, sharpening knives, working on computers, or eating from takeout containers.

An armed man stood beside the door Rei led me to. The guard didn’t question us. He nodded and opened the door. This room had an overwhelming odor: the distinct combination of perspiration and disinfectant.

As I tried not to inhale too deeply, my focus zeroed in on the man sitting up on a cot—my husband. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, and his left arm was wrapped with bandages. His dark stare went from Rei to me.

“Aléjandro,” I said softly as a lump came to my throat. I hurried to him. “Are you…? Can I touch you?”

His lips quirked as he lifted his right hand. “Always.”

Aléjandro looked up at the men standing near us. Seeing his brother’s knife, he asked, “Que pasό?”

Rei responded, knowing I couldn’t understand what they were saying.

From the sound of it, my husband wasn’t happy about our downstairs welcoming crew. Finally, Aléjandro cocked his chin to the side, and Rei as well as the other few men stepped away, leaving us as alone as possible.

I waited until their discussion ended.

Taking his hand, I scanned from his messy hair down his handsome face that had a dark shadow of whiskers. My gaze continued down his bare chest, his sculptured abs, and finally, to his trim waist where his blue jeans began. Once I was certain the only bandages were on his arm, I sat at his side and ran my fingers over his chest before looking up into his gaze. “If you’re trying to scare me, you’re doing a good job.”

With a grimace, he lifted both hands to my cheeks and pulled me toward him until our lips touched. “You’re trembling,” he said as our kiss ended. “Are you scared?”

Swallowing, I nodded. “Of everything. But” —I hesitated to say anything— “I got the feeling I’m not exactly welcome here.”

“You are and I’ll kill anyone who makes you feel that way.”

I feigned a smile. “I think you’re outnumbered.”

“Rei and I are Roríguez.” He grinned. “You are too. We receive respect. If not, we take care of the problem.”

His words were laced with a permeating scent of testosterone, a predatory odor that filled the air, daring others to give him a reason to demonstrate his dominance. The scent was almost as frightening as the conviction in my husband’s expression.

“Once Rei told them who I was, they seemed” —I lifted my brows— “better.”

“Then they’ll all live to see tomorrow.”

“You went after the shooters? You purposely put yourself in danger.”

He nodded. “Danger is what we do.” His expression soured. “The bratva is a fucking cancer in our city. It’s up to us to remove them any way necessary, one by one.”

It was then I recalled something Rei said. “Is Nick all right?” I widened my eyes. “Rei said he was shot.”

Aléjandro tilted his head toward a curtain I hadn’t noticed before. “They have him medicated. The bullet is out. He’ll be good soon.”

“Is anyone with him?”

He shook his head. “His padre has been here, but he’s left. Nicolas needs to be at Wanderland in case the Russians return.”

“You could have been shot.” I lifted my hand to his scruffy cheek. “Please don’t make me a widow again.”

Aléjandro took my hand in his. “It’s nice to hear concern even if it’s not one hundred percent sincere.”

“It is.”

He tilted his head. “You’re not going to make me believe that you haven’t thought about my death. Death saved you once. It would make sense you would consider it the second time.”

I had thought of Aléjandro’s death. I wasn’t proud of that, especially now.

“We’re just getting started,” I said, forcing a smile. “I don’t know what I want. But I know that on the way here, I feared losing you.”

“That’s a start.” He grimaced. “Doc said the cut is deep. Said it missed the tendon, mostly muscular damage. I won’t be lifting weights for a while, but it will heal.”

“I guess that’s good news.” I scooted closer. “Can we go home, or do we need to stay here?”

Aléjandro’s jaw clenched. “We’ve received an invitation…one we can’t refuse.”

This was probably what Rei meant. “From your father?”

“Sí.”

“Does he want us to go to Mexico?”