China stood mum as a tear slid down her face. She couldn’t find the words to defend herself.
“Answer me!” Sandoza demanded.
She sniffed away her emotion and took a deep breath. There was no point in trying to keep up the charade. “Yes.”
Sandoza stood and walked towards her, inspecting her, standing toe-to-toe with her. His hand gripped her chin harshly, and she winced as anger danced in his eyes.
“How dare he play on my sickness? On my weakness! My own flesh and blood!” Sandoza said. He was so livid that spit flew from his mouth as he spoke. His words were stern and so cold that they made her shiver.
“I’m sorry. Please,” China said. Lying would have only made things worse, and it was too late to run. Sandoza’s men were all around his home. She would never make it out alive. Again she was at the mercy of another. All she could do was beg. “Just let me explain.”
Sandoza pushed her, flicking her away from him, and then opened the nightstand next to his bed. Inside was a gun, his favorite gun, the one he only retrieved when he was hell-bent on revenge. He was calm, stoic almost, as he loaded a round into the chamber. “Sit down,” he said, nodding to the chair. “I’m going to kill you, but first you’re going to tell me everything my son has planned.”
China sighed deeply to bring a calm to her racing heart. These were the last moments of her life. She wiped the tears from her cheeks. She didn’t want to cry. She was tired of being Cinco’s puppet. Tired of being his victim. She should have known from the very beginning that there was no way out of this. Sandoza was going to kill her, and although she didn’t want to die, she would rather do so than to continue to dance on Cinco’s strings.
“I will tell you everything, but please, don’t let Cinco kill my mother. I’ll tell you anything you want to know if you just give me your word on that. I will take my punishment. I deserve this. I’ve done a lot to lead me up to this. I will die, right here and right now, but my mom doesn’t deserve to die. None of this has anything to do with her.”
The look on Sandoza’s face told China he was unmoved.
“Please.” She wasn’t sobbing. It was a last request from a dying woman. She was asking for mercy not for herself but for someone she loved. She didn’t know Sandoza well, but from what she had gathered over the past few days, she could tell he was a reasonable man.
“Your mother will not be harmed,” Sandoza assured her. “I will make sure that Miguel knows that.”
China nodded and began to spill her truth. She took her time because she knew that it was the last story she would ever tell.
Chapter 10
The purple and orange hues of the setting sun lit up the sky as Cinco sat burning a Kush blunt in the comfort of his home. Despite the fact that he only had one good eye, he enjoyed the view all the same. He was on edge, anxious, from the plot that he had against his father. He needed the effects of the weed to soothe him. He wouldn’t rest well until Sandoza was in the ground. Only then would he truly come into his own. He felt not an ounce of guilt over the plans he had put into motion. If Sandoza had handed me the throne, I wouldn’t have had to take it. Family is supposed to be loyal to family. He did this to himself, Cinco thought. The moment Sandoza had chosen Iman over his only son was the day that Cinco knew he would kill him.
He had always felt like he was in competition with Iman. From the very first time his sister, Tan, had brought Iman home, Sandoza had held an affection for him and Cinco had found himself vying for his father’s love. He had been cordial to Iman, but over the years, a deep-seated resentment had grown. It was like he was never good enough, smart enough, tough enough for Sandoza. Whenever Cinco did something good, Iman did it better, and hustling hadn’t been the exception. Years of feeling inadequate had turned Cinco cold, and this was the result. Murder and betrayal were the fruits of that tree. He felt no remorse.
The doorbell rang, startling Cinco and causing him to drop the blunt onto his clothing. He stood, sweeping it off his clothes before it could burn him. Snuffing it out with his foot, he frowned as he looked at the security monitor. His father stood on his doorstep. Cinco pulled open the door.
“What are you doing here, Papa?” he asked.
“I need to show you something, Marcincio,” Sandoza said. “Take a ride with me.”
Suddenly Cinco felt naked, as if his father could see right down to the core of him. It was as if Sandoza had sniffed out his treachery. He wished he were strapped. “Let me just grab—”
“We won’t be that long,” Sandoza urged. He wrapped an arm around his son and gave his shoulder a hard squeeze as he led him to the car. They stopped walking when they got to the rear of the car, and Sandoza popped the trunk. China laid inside with tears staining her cheeks and her wrists bound to her ankles with rope. Her mouth had been duct taped.
Cinco looked his father in the eyes, and then saw the gun that Sandoza pulled from his waistband.
“You’re going to kill your only son?” Cinco asked.
“I always knew you would turn on me one day, Marcincio. I tried to teach you loyalty. I tried to show you how to live with honor. But I could see in your eyes from the day you were born that you carried the devil in you. That you would be my downfall.”
Cinco scoffed. “Loyalty! Don’t talk to me about loyalty! We wouldn’t be here if you had been loyal to me. Your son!”
“I am loyal to you, Marcincio. I want better for you! You stupid child! I don’t want this life for you. You’re fighting for something that will destroy you. This business. This kingdom. These streets. It comes with a price. Your life,” Sandoza stressed through gritted teeth.
“So what now?” Cinco asked as he stood with his palms turned upward, signaling his surrender. “You put a bullet in my forehead? I sent a bitch to your door to kill you. What’s the payback for that? Tell me how this is going to play out.” Cinco had no fear in his voice. His disdain for his father was so great that it only allowed him to feel hatred towards him. Now Cinco’s hand was exposed, but still he saw hesitation in Sandoza’s eyes. Cinco lunged for Sandoza, tackling him to the ground, causing the gun to slide just out of reach. The two men wrestled one another, each desperately trying to reach the gun first. China heard the scuffle. She pulled at the ropes, trying to squeeze her tiny wrists out of the tight knots. The rope burned her skin, but she didn’t care. She finally was able to free one wrist and with that one free hand, she untied herself. She climbed from the trunk of the car, falling to the dirt before scrambling to her feet. She stood near the father and son as they grappled with one another. Sandoza had the advantage. Even in his old age, he was stronger than Cinco. China didn’t know what to do. So many thoughts ran through her mind. Should she run? Should she help Sandoza? It seemed that no matter what she did, the end result would be her death. Without thinking, she picked up a palm-sized rock from the ground and hit Sandoza over the back of the head. The force behind her blow sent him to the ground. Shocked, she looked down at the rock in her hand. Blood covered it as she stood, chest heaving, staring back and forth between Cinco and his father. Sandoza writhed on the ground, groaning as he reached for the back of his head. Cinco and China both looked at the gun, but before he could get to it, she ran and picked it up.
“Get back!” she said as she pointed it at him. She aimed it at Cinco and then at Sandoza, going back and forth as she decided who to pull the trigger on first.
Everything in her wanted to kill Cinco for what he had done to her. Images of the past month of her life flashed before her eyes. He had completely broken her down. He had beaten her, tortured her, forced her to do the unthinkable. She pointed the gun at him.
When he saw her make the decision, he put his hands up and cackled loudly. “Ain’t this a bitch,” he said as he shook his head. “Go ahead. Shoot your shot,” he said. He knew he had it coming to him. She gritted her teeth as she stared at him. Hatred pulsed through her body. She just wanted to be free of this man who had ruined her entire life.
“Holy shit!” Cinco shouted when he saw China shoot Sandoza. He looked at China in bewilderment as she walked up on his father, firing until the clip was empty.
She was crying, silently tears wetting her cheeks as she turned towards Cinco. “We’re even,” she whispered. “No more. I did everything you asked. I just killed a man who didn’t deserve it. I’m free. I don’t owe you anything.” She wasn’t asking. She was telling him. Cinco smirked as he got to his feet. She tensed as he approached her. He had underestimated her. He’d had every intention of killing her, but what she had just done, the loyalty she had just proven, had quickly changed his mind. That’s all he had ever wanted: respect and loyalty.
He went into his pocket and retrieved his cell phone. He placed it on speakerphone so that China could hear it.
“I’m ready to green light this shit,” the voice on the other end answered.
“Where’s the old bird?” Cinco asked.
China pleaded with him with her eyes.
“She’s sitting in her living room. I’m looking at her dozing off in front of the TV as we speak,” the voice replied.
“I’m calling it off. I’m good. Don’t hurt her,” Cinco instructed.
He hung up without explaining further and China sighed. “Thank you.”
Without warning Cinco kissed her. It was a rough kiss as he gripped the back of her head, and she resisted, but he didn’t allow her to move. He kissed her and pulled her into his body until she gave in to him, kissing him back.
“You can go,” he said. “Or you can stay. Either way, after what you did tonight, I fuck with you the long way, shorty. I’m a fucked-up mu’fucka. I know that. I did some fucked-up shit to you, you did some fucked-up shit to me.” He turned to Sandoza. “But after that right there, I trust you more than I trust anybody else.”
This made absolutely no sense to her. “I just want to go home,” she whispered. “I just want you to keep your word and let me go.”
He stepped closer to her, too close for her comfort, and he sensed it as she tensed. Cinco was seeing China in a new light. She had always been a pretty face, but now he was beginning to see what Bree had seen. She had heart. “I’m a man of my word, but if you stay I’ll make you feel good in every place I’ve ever made you hurt.” She cringed at his touch. “You don’t have to be afraid of me, shorty. I know what I did to you. You’ve proven yourself tonight. Even if I wanted to, I wouldn’t lay another finger on you.”
“I just want to go,” she whispered.
Cinco nodded towards the car and stepped to the side. “Then go.”
China didn’t hesitate. She rushed into the driver’s seat of the car and pulled out recklessly into the night. She wanted to put as much distance between herself and Cinco as she possibly could. He terrified her in more ways than one. She didn’t trust herself around him, and she wouldn’t feel secure until he was out of her life for good.
Cinco turned to his father’s body. There was no way he would be able to call a cleanup crew in for this. No one could bear witness to what had transpired tonight. If anyone ever got wind that he had something to do with his father’s death, the entire Sandoza Cartel would turn on him. In all honesty, he should have killed China, but he could tell by the look in her eyes that she would never speak of the night again.
He reached down and took Sandoza’s cell phone out of his pocket. He removed the chip from the back of the phone and broke the phone in half. He then reached down and grabbed Sandoza’s ankles as he dragged him to the back of his villa. He was grateful for the privacy his property afforded him. No one could know that Sandoza had even come to his home. He grabbed a shovel from his garage and pulled out a large piece of industrial plastic. As he bent to roll Sandoza onto the plastic, he heard the crunch of gravel. Headlights shone in the distance. He stood and rushed to his garage, pulling out one of the automatic weapons he kept there. He was known for keeping guns strategically placed all over his house for times just like this. His paranoia rose as he shielded his eyes against the lights that pulled directly into his driveway.
“Cinco!”
When he heard China shout his name he thought his mind was playing tricks on him, but when she ran towards the back of the house, he knew she was there in the flesh.
“Fuck are you doing?” he asked, frowning. China walked over to him and slapped him so hard that she drew blood. She slapped him again, and he took it. She raised her hand for a third lick and he caught her tiny wrist before she could connect. He drew his bottom lip into his mouth, tasting the salty blood. He pulled her into him and kissed her. This time she didn’t resist. China didn’t know what the hell was wrong with her. She had gotten a few miles down the road and decided to turn back. All this time she had begged him to let her go, but when she had actually gotten the chance to leave, she couldn’t. All his training, all the torture, all the fear he had instilled in her had changed her. She hated to admit it, but she kind of liked it, especially when he had touched his lips to hers. She kissed him passionately as he pinned her up against the villa. Their odd attraction to one another thickened the air as he pulled at the nurse’s scrubs she wore. Their lips never parted as she reached for his jeans, unbuttoning them as she tried to get to the hardness she felt pressing into her stomach. She freed him and he lifted her effortlessly as he slid his strength into her. China gasped as he groaned, “Oh shit.” Something about this twisted affair had them both in heat as Cinco rocked in and out of her under the night sky.
“I hate you,” she whispered as she felt herself coming close to the finish line.
“I know you do,” Cinco growled. Nothing this wrong had ever felt so right to China. She clawed at his back when her orgasm came down.
Cinco finished last, leaving them both spent.
“Don’t ever put your hands on me again,” China said.
“I won’t,” Cinco replied. He adjusted his clothes and then nodded towards the house. “It’s going to be a long night for me,” he said as he bent down to grab Sandoza’s foot. “Go in the house and make yourself comfortable. I’ll be back when I can.”
China shook her head as she walked towards Sandoza’s body. She leaned down and picked him up. “You don’t give me orders anymore. I’m staying. We’re partners. We’re in this fifty-fifty,” she said. Cinco smirked.
“You’re going to fuck around and make me love the shit out of you, girl,” he said.
“Don’t love me, because I hate you,” she stated.
“I hate you too,” he replied as he blew her a sarcastic kiss. “Now help me roll this mu’fucka up.”
As they rolled Sandoza into the plastic, China let go of any guilt that she had over how things had played out. She had done what she had to do, and as she looked over at Cinco she knew that being with him ensured her survival. China was a survivor and this strange new connection she felt with Cinco was something that she would use to her favor. She had killed Sandoza for him. He owed her. He was about to be king, all he had to do now was get Iman out of the way. That meant that if she wanted to be queen, she had to help him. They had formed a bond under the worst of circumstances. She didn’t know if she was brainwashed or if this thing could actually work between them, but she knew that this was where she needed to be. Where else would she go after what she had endured? After helping Cinco take his father’s throne, she deserved to sit beside him. She was his Bonnie and he was her Clyde, and together they deserved to reign supreme over the Sandoza Cartel. She had started in the game chasing the luxe life and now she was about to have it all.
And don’t miss these hot new stories set in the world of LUXE!
Luxe
Luxe Two: A LaLa Land Addiction
About the Author
Dream Collins is a twenty-three-year-old graduate of USC. She was born in raised in Compton, California. She has always aspired to write, and when she completed her first book, Mistress of Miami, in 2012, she refused to work with anyone except her favorite authors,
Ashley and JaQuavis. After months of trying to connect with them on social media, she submitted her work to Official Writer’s League and was finally published. Dream has since written Luxury and Larceny 2 and Ghost of the Murda Mamas, and she has no plans to slow down soon.
She currently resides in West Hollywood, California, where she is hard at work on her next book. You can sign up for email updates here.
Thank you for buying this
St. Martin’s Press ebook.
To receive special offers, bonus content,
and info on new releases and other great reads,
sign up for our newsletters.
Or visit us online at
us.macmillan.com/newslettersignup
For email updates on the author, click here.
Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in these novels are either products of the authors’ imaginations or are used fictitiously.
LUXURY AND LARCENY: PART 2. Copyright © 2016 by Ashley Antoinette. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.stmartins.com
Cover art and design by Joshua Wirth
Our e-books may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at (800) 221-7945, extension 5442, or by e-mail at [email protected].
Luxury and Larceny, Part 2 Page 6