Leaning down, I smiled back and rubbed his soft cheek. I traced his full lips, the sharp slant of his nose, and his strong angled jawline. Maybe I just refused to see them before, but they were there.
Strong Carrera features.
I saw my own face in this tiny baby. This innocent child whose blood ran in my veins. My nephew. Santiago knew nothing of my past. He was my chance to start fresh without any scars or memories. He was a child whose fate rested in my hands.
The truth hit me so hard, I gripped the edge of the crib to keep my balance. I was right. Life had come full circle. What was once ruined, now had the power to rectify. Twenty-four years ago, Ignacio was given a choice, and he changed the course of my life. Now, faced with the same one, I had the power to break the cycle or fall victim to it.
“Familia,” I whispered.
“My familia, considering he’s the only blood relative I have left, thanks to you.”
I flinched but didn’t turn around. “I’m not the same person I was back then, Eden.”
I heard her step farther into the room, and I closed my eyes.
“Neither am I. Back then, I was just some stupid bartender who watched her brother get murdered in front of her own eyes. I had moments where I wanted to die too. I was weak. But I made a choice when I followed Val to Mexico, and I left that woman behind. Now, I’m a cartel kingpin’s wife.”
I twisted around, meeting her hardened stare. “You hate me.”
“Can you blame me?” she asked, silence engulfing the room as she crossed her arms over her long cherry-red hair. “You took great pleasure in telling me how you used me from the beginning to hurt Val. Or don’t you remember?”
I remembered. I just wished I didn’t.
* * *
Houston, Texas
One year ago
“Hello, Eden.”
The moment Eden’s eyes adjusted to the shock of the light, they settled right on me as if in a daze. She recognized me, but her fatigued brain couldn’t put the pieces in correct order.
She would soon enough.
“How do you know me?”
“Marisol, this is Valentin Carrera’s whore.” Manuel motioned dramatically from me and then back to Eden, giving her a wink. “Eden Lachey, meet the beauty and brains of this operation—Marisol Muñoz, my sister.”
Landing a heavy boot to her stomach, Manuel flipped her onto her back then jerked her to her feet. “Get up. We’ve got a party waiting for you downstairs.”
“Why are you doing this?”
“Money, darling. Valentin Carrera has it; I want it. You think I spent six years studying with my nose in a book at the University of Guadalajara to be stuck in an office somewhere?” My high-pitched laugh bounced off the walls. “Hell, no. What this cartel has lacked since my father’s death has been intelligent direction. No offense, dear brother.”
Manuel shrugged and raised a quick eyebrow in my direction before snapping Eden’s arm toward a closed door.
“The Muñoz Cartel could never overtake Alejandro Carrera because the men in my family lacked strategic planning and intricate follow-through—something that required the long-term patience of a woman. You understand, right, Eden?”
“Sure,” she replied, rolling her eyes in the dark.
“The men in my family have always lacked patience for anything. They want everything now, now, now. But I told them, ‘bide your time and watch Carrera. He’s not as inhuman as you think. Eventually, we’ll find his weakness. When we do, take it. Carrera will come to us.’ You’re his weakness, Eden. We women are powerful creatures. In our lifetime, there will always be one man who will die for us.” I stared at her and ran a painted red nail down her tangled hair. “No man is immune to our power—even the almighty El Muerte. Congratulations on being the woman who brought down the giant.”
* * *
Present Day
The memory seemed like a lifetime ago. In some ways, it was. The woman who took pleasure in inflicting pain didn’t exist anymore. Marisol Muñoz was dead, but I wasn’t sure anything I said or did would convince her.
“We’ve all made mistakes,” I said, blotting away the memory.
“And some of us have yet to pay for them.”
“You’ve misjudged my intentions.”
“And you’ve clearly underestimated mine.” Her words coiled around the tension in her body. “So let me be clear, I told you to stay away from my son, and I meant it. My only purpose in life is to protect my family from any and all threats.”
I steeled my jaw at her insinuation. “And that’s me.”
She cocked an eyebrow. “Is it? You gave the order to have my brother killed in front of me. If you think I’m letting you get anywhere near my son, you’ve misjudged my intentions. Family is the most important thing to Val, and he desperately wants to believe you. He spent his life believing you were dead, and now all he wants is a chance to have his sister by his side. I hope for his sake that you’re being truthful with him because believe me when I tell you, Adriana, Marisol...whatever you’re calling yourself these days…” Eden crowded into me, the corner of her mouth curling up, “if I find out otherwise, I’ll show you what kind of puta I really am.”
Stalking toward the crib, she scooped Santiago in her arms and stormed out of the nursery.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Brody
It was too late for la comida, so we all sat around the table for la cena which was like appetizers on steroids and felt as comfortable as jumping into a lion’s den wearing a ribeye tied around my neck. Eden stared at Adriana. Adriana stared at her plate. I stared at Adriana, then stared at Leighton because she kept staring at me staring at Adriana. Mateo stared at Val, and Val…well, Val fucking stared at everybody.
There was so much staring going on, no one talked. Thank God for scotch because booze was the only thing that kept me from flipping the table and walking away. I needed to either get Adriana alone and fuck this tension out of my system or get Val alone and talk it out. At this point, I didn’t care which one, but something had to give.
My choice was made for me when Leighton stood, hoisting my sauce drenched niece onto her hip. “If you’ll excuse me, this one needs to be hosed down.”
Adriana jumped up so fast, the silverware rattled. “I’ll help.”
My sister cast a suspicious eye between us. “Are you sure?”
By the time she nodded, Adriana was already halfway up the stairs. “Definitely. Let’s go.”
Val leaned back into his chair, watching with a strained curiosity while rubbing the dark hair on his chin.
Mateo just smirked, raising an eyebrow at his boss. “Want me to stay?”
Val waved his hand. “It’s messy upstairs.”
Mateo’s smirk widened. “It’s about to get messier down here.”
Gold flecks ignited in familiar dark eyes settled hard on the Carrera underboss. “Mateo.”
Valentin Carrera had a voice. Any time he spoke, people obeyed, but there was a certain unmistakable tone that he reserved as a snap threat. Like that moment when you stretched a rubber band to its absolute threshold, and you knew you had seconds before it snapped. That was Val’s voice. It was low and clipped, and usually just one or two words that, if not heeded, led to chaos.
Snap threat.
And Mateo heard it loud and clear.
“Right,” he said, pushing away from the table. “I’ll just go help two grown-ass adults give one small girl a bath.”
Even I caught the sarcasm. Mateo might have respected Val, but he wasn’t a pussy.
Val picked up his glass and stood, motioning toward the sitting room. “Let’s have a talk, Harcourt.”
Gripping my glass, I followed him into the same room we last met in. Val didn’t sit, going straight to the bar to fill up his glass. When I didn’t follow, he glanced over his shoulder, cocking a slanted eyebrow. “I’m not a fucking bartender. If you want a drink, get it yourself.”
Meeting him at the
marble bar, I accepted the expensive bottle of scotch he offered with a low whistle. “Macallan 1926. You don’t play around.”
He tipped his glass back, his gaze unwavering. “There are three things a man should never compromise quality for cost. Liquor, women…” He trailed off to take another drink so, I finished his trifecta.
“Cars?”
“Condoms,” he said, lowering the glass.
I coughed, the mouthful of scotch I just took spraying everywhere. Val calmly took a napkin from the bar and brushed it down the front of his shirt before helping himself to a refill. He said nothing, but it felt like I had a flashing neon light attached to my forehead.
I fucked your sister. Blink, blink, blink. A lot. Blink, blink, blink.
At least I had to come clean about my job. I owed him that much after the shit I’d pulled lately.
“I wanted to debrief you on what we uncovered,” I started, but Val had other ideas.
“Likewise,” he said, holding my eye. “And since this is my house, I’ll go first.” He let a brief pause hang in the air, no doubt for effect, or just to be an ass. “My men haven’t found Cristiano Vergara yet, but we did find out something that should interest you.”
I didn’t say anything because I had a feeling what was coming.
“Cristiano Vergara doesn’t exist.”
And that wasn’t it.
“I’m sorry, what?”
Sounds of glass clinking cut through the silence, and I glanced over to see Val casually filling his glass. “Doesn’t exist. No birth certificate, no records nothing. Un fantasma en el viento. A ghost in the wind. Innocent men don’t run, but if Ignacio and Cristiano are related, I can’t prove it yet.”
“But you will.”
His lips peeled back into a confident smirk. “I always do.”
Questions flew through my mind, none of which had answers. All I knew was that I needed to talk to Carlos and compare notes.
“Also, there was nothing on the car’s GPS history.”
“You’re kidding.”
He shook his head. “Adriana knew the game too well and which wires to cut.” Val stared at me in silence for a few moments, a curious gaze in his eye. “Let’s hear your debrief.”
My mind still reeled from his bombshell, so I stalled with a generous drink from my glass. Every lawyer’s instinct roared at me to question him, but I liked breathing and would prefer to keep doing it. “I was right when I said I thought something about Ignacio Vergara’s revival of the Muñoz Cartel connected to Adriana. Ignacio was the man who kidnapped her.”
Val stilled, his hand gripping the glass so hard, I expected it to shatter in his hand. “Are you telling me this is the hijo de su puta madre who killed my mother and my aunt?”
“Apparently, another missing birth certificate, only this one recovered.” I recounted the story Adriana told me, standing my ground when his head snapped up once I got to the part where Adriana stole the car to go meet him.
“You let her go alone? Dios mío, I sent you with her to make sure she didn’t do something stupid, Harcourt! Meeting a killer alone in an abandoned warehouse qualifies as pretty goddamn stupid!”
“She’s not stupid, Val! She’s determined to protect this family! And I didn’t let her go,” I growled, between clenched teeth. “She snuck out of bed before I could…”
Fuuuuuck.
Val’s eyes flashed pitched black. Not a speck of gold flickered in a dead sea of dark rage. “She. Snuck. Out. Of. Bed. Before. You. Could. What?” He bit out each word, his nostrils flaring.
“Stop her,” I finished, but even I didn’t believe it.
“What happened between you and Adriana?”
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t play dumb with me. You left here warning me that trusting her was a mistake. You swore she had an agenda. Now, you’re defending her like…” His voice trailed off, his eyes narrowing.
“Like what?”
“Like I would Eden.”
I laughed. “Right.”
“Did you fuck my sister?” His voice lowered to a thin rumble, and there it was.
The snap threat.
Lunging forward, he fisted my shirt. “I asked you a question.”
I calmly lifted my drink and took a sip, staring him right in the eye. “Are you done?”
“I asked you to do one thing. Keep your dick away from her.”
The way he spoke like we were some drunken bar fuck in a dirty bathroom stall pissed me off. “It’s not like that.”
“Then tell me, Harcourt.” He smirked, an unbidden mocking in his eyes. “What’s it like?”
It was like getting hit in the head with a brick. It was a frustrating back-and-forth with a woman I was never supposed to want. It was a dead calm stirred up in a tornado of smart mouth and brazen wit. It was fear of falling and the rush of the plunge.
“I love her, all right?” I shouted, shoving him away from me.
Val blinked. Then he blinked again. Then again. “What did you just say?”
I pressed my fingers against my forehead, rubbing against the headache brewing behind my eyes. Exhaling hard, I dropped my hand and held his gaze. “I said I’m in love with Adriana.”
“It’s been a week.”
“About the length of time you knew Eden, I believe.”
All the tendons in Val’s neck pulled tight with tension, but he kept his lips pressed tightly together, tamping down his anger. It was because I was right, and he knew it.
At least I didn’t have to kidnap Adriana to get her in my bed.
Gritting his teeth, he turned toward the bar again, filling his glass until it nearly overflowed. “Does she feel the same way about you?”
“I think so.” I didn’t elaborate. Val didn’t need to know about Adriana’s rules or what that kiss meant. I didn’t give a damn if he stomped around threatening to cut off every protruding part of my body. This conversation was over.
But there was still one thing left I needed to say.
One thing I couldn’t leave hanging over my head if I wanted to remain a permanent part of Adriana’s life. She promised it would die with her, but secrets had a way of coming out one way or another, and if I wanted to open a door to the future, I had to close the one to the past.
“Look, Val, I need to tell you something.”
Val’s face tightened, and draining the glass, he slammed it on the table. “I’m not in the mood for any more confessions, Harcourt.”
“This one you need to hear. It has to do with Adriana, and why I agreed so quickly to bring her here.” Clearing my throat, I spoke slowly, making sure he heard every word. “When I took proof of Adriana’s identity to Eden, it wasn’t to drive her to you. It was to drive you apart.”
Snap.
Val’s glass shattered against the wall moments before he swung.
* * *
After tucking her sleeping daughter into her car seat, Leighton leaned against the car door, her lips flattening into a smug smirk.
I folded my arms across my chest. “What?”
“That’s a nice shiner you got there.”
“Yep.”
“I see you told Val.”
“Told Val what?”
“That you’re in love with his sister.”
My eyes snapped back to find Leighton grinning like she’d just won the lottery. “Jesus, what’s with everyone in this house?” I dragged my finger in a horizontal line above my eyebrows. “Do I have this shit stamped across my forehead?”
Leighton laughed, batting my hand away from my face. “A sister knows these things.”
“Great.”
“So, what are you going to do about it?”
“I don’t know.”
I didn’t, and that was the thing that bothered me the most. I’d cleared the air with Val, my face taking the brunt of his wrath. Once we took Ignacio Vergara down, and whatever progeny he may or may not have, I was free to do anything I wanted to do.
&nbs
p; The thing was, I had no idea what Adriana wanted.
I guess my silence spoke for me because Leighton wrapped an arm around my waist. “She acts tough, but she needs a hero,” she said, leaning her head against my arm. “I don’t know anyone who fills those shoes better than my big brother.”
I snorted. “Don’t let your husband hear you say that.”
She laughed, knocking her bony hip against me. “You’re a protector, Brody. You always have been. It’s what made you such a good prosecutor. You take on everyone else’s problems as your own, but when you can’t defeat them, they consume you.” She looked up at me, the corners of her mouth turning down as sadness filled her eyes. “It’s why you have so many demons.”
Out of nowhere Adriana’s words came rushing back.
“You don’t want me, Brody. What you want is redemption. You have a damaged hero complex, and you think saving me will absolve you of your sins.”
But she was wrong. I wanted it all, and I was starting to believe that despite everything, I could have it. Saving Adriana wouldn’t absolve me of my sins but repenting for them would.
I placed both hands on my sister’s shoulders, her doe eyes still looking up at me. “I never asked for your forgiveness.”
“You’re the only one blaming you for what happened,” she said, holding onto my wrists. “The only one you have to forgive is yourself.”
“I’m not sure how to do that.”
She gave me a bright smile and glanced up while nodding over my shoulder. “I think you already have.” It was instinct that had me turning around to see Adriana pressed against the second story window. Leighton moved her hand on top of mine and squeezed my fingers until I turned back around. “Six months ago, you wouldn’t have let her close enough to risk another demon. Salvation comes in many forms. Sometimes in the shape of your biggest regret.”
My chest tightened as I processed her words. I asked for forgiveness, and she gave me clarity. A clean slate.
Wrapping my arms around my baby sister, I kissed the top of her head and rested my cheek against her blonde hair. “How’d you get to be so smart?”
Drawn Blue Lines: A Carrera Cartel Novel Page 26