by Vanessa Kier
Niko had kept his head high during the entire ordeal, but after a long, defiant glare at Alvarez, his sheer force of will and adrenaline deserted him. Niko’s head dropped and his body slumped unconscious.
Alvarez made a tsk of disapproval, then nodded for the watching guards to take Niko away. Madalena sagged in relief, until Alvarez turned to her.
“Just because I know Niko was the mastermind of tonight’s plot, my love, does not mean that I am not angry at you. You have greatly wounded my heart. You, too, must be punished.”
Madalena pulled her shoulders back and raised her chin. Whatever Alvarez did to her, she would endure. Her own innocence had ended when Alvarez made her his mistress. The day she was forced to watch Alvarez kill her beloved Tasi, she’d vowed that she would never break, no matter what happened.
So as Alvarez stepped toward her, the familiar glint of violent lust in his eyes, she stuffed all of her emotions deep inside and prepared to weather the storm.
Three Months Later
Sick to his soul, Niko fell exhausted into bed. A raid he’d ordered against a rival organization had gone bad and Alvarez’s men had turned their weapons on a crowd of innocents, killing a child.
Hours later, he twisted in the sheets as memory returned to him in a dream.
Fourteen-year-old Niko fidgeted as Pop opened the Father’s Day gift he’d painstakingly wrapped. He couldn’t wait for the look of joy on Pop’s face when he saw what was inside.
The last of the brightly colored wrapping paper fell away, exposing the clear, shrink-wrapped plastic casing underneath.
His father turned the portable CD player over. It wasn’t one of the cheap models sold at the local five and dime. Nothing but the top of the line was good enough for his father. But instead of the joy Niko’d expected, Pop’s face was thunderous as he drilled Niko with his eyes. “Nikolos Ezequiel Andros, where did you get this?”
Niko squirmed under his father’s glare, shame and the bitterness of failure snaking through him. “Don’t you like it? I thought, since sometimes you still hurt, if you had music you could play whenever you want, you wouldn’t notice the pain so much.”
His father’s expression softened for a moment. “Thank you for your concern, my son. But I am well aware that you do not have enough money to pay for such an item. So I repeat. Where did you get this?”
Out of the corner of his eye, Niko saw his younger brother, Rafe, and his sister Maria, the middle child, staring at him in shock. He didn’t have to look to know that his mamá’s expression would be just as angry as his father’s.
“It’s not fair!” The words that he’d been holding back for the last year burst out of Niko’s mouth. “Alvarez ordered the shooting that put you in that wheelchair. We don’t have hardly any money while Alvarez sits in his fancy houses in Mexico. I just wanted you to have something nice, something new for a change!”
His father shook his head. “Galena, take the children out to the backyard. I need to have a private discussion with Nikolos.”
Niko winced at the disappointment in his father’s voice.
Rafe gave Niko a look that mirrored their father’s as he followed their mother into the backyard, but Maria refused to look at Niko at all. That hurt almost as much as Pop’s censure.
When the door closed behind Maria, Pop set the CD player on the table and rolled his wheelchair until he sat next to Niko. “Nikolos, I am only going to ask you this one more time. Where did you get this music player? Did one of the members from Alvarez’s gang give it to you?”
“What? No. Of course not! I don’t have nothing to do with those boys.” His cheeks heated. How could Pop think that Niko would give the gang members the time of day after their senior leaders had shot him?
Sure, Niko had been in a lot of trouble at school because of fighting, but the other kids kept making fun of the fact that Pop was paralyzed, calling him crippled and no longer a real man. A few of the kids had even found out that his mother was a cousin of Alvarez’s many times removed, so they teased him about having bad family blood.
“Then explain to me how you were able to buy such an expensive gift.”
Niko stared at his shoes.
“Nikolos, an honorable man holds his head high and is not afraid to take responsibility for his actions. Look me in the eye as you answer me, son.”
Niko took a deep breath, raised his head, squared his shoulders, and finally dared to look into his father’s steady brown eyes. “I stole it,” he admitted in a rush.
Disappointment filled Pop’s eyes. “Ah. I see. Was this your idea?”
Niko shrugged. He didn’t want to get his friends in trouble, but he knew better than to lie. “Some of the other boys at school do it all the time. They said it was easy and that the shopkeepers have insurance so it’s no big deal.”
“Nikolos, taking something that you have not earned and have not paid for is always wrong. Did you think that maybe the shop’s owner would blame the salesclerk for the missing item at the end of the day? That maybe the clerk would get fired and not be able to feed his or her family?”
Niko shook his head, ashamed at his selfishness. “But it’s not fair!”
His father nodded. “Yes. I understand that you’re angry about what happened to me. This is life, Nikolos. Being an honorable man means you deal with the hand fate has dealt you and make the best of it. The DEA has given me another job—”
“But you don’t get to fight bad guys like you used to. You loved being out in the field!”
“That is true. But managing the other agents from a desk has its own rewards. You are not one to judge whether my situation is acceptable or not. God has decided that I should remain in a wheelchair for the rest of my life, so I will accept this and be the best role model that I can be. I am sorry that I have failed you in this.”
“No! How could you think that?” Niko threw his arms around Pop’s neck. “You’re the best father in the whole world!”
“Ah, Nikolos.” His father hugged him tight. “Underneath your anger you are a good boy. I am proud to have you as my son.”
“I love you,” Niko sobbed against his neck. “I just want you to be happy.”
“I love you too, Niko.”
Since his father used the short form of his name, Niko knew he was forgiven.
Then Pop set Niko away from him. “But your action has brought shame to our family. The Andros name is well honored in Greece for our honesty. I have been proud to continue that tradition in the United States. By stealing, you have insulted our entire ancestry.
“Yes, we are struggling to make ends meet, but we are lucky. We have clothes, food, heat and a roof over our heads. More importantly, we have each other. ”
Niko wished a hole would open up and swallow him. “Are you going to tell Grandpop?” His father’s father was a strict old man who didn’t approve of Niko and his wild ways.
His father smiled. “No. For now we will keep this just among our immediate family. You will, of course, return the CD player to the store. It will be their right to call the police.”
Niko’s heart froze, then slammed about in his chest until he thought it might burst free. Police? Would they take him to jail? Separate him from his family?
“But I will talk to the management and offer them an alternative.”
Niko’s eyes popped open. Christ.
He swiped a hand down his face. He’d been having the flashback more and more often these past few weeks, an unwelcome reminder that the actions he took to preserve his position with Alvarez would only dishonor his family.
As if that fact wasn’t a constant weight on his chest.
Niko stared up at the ceiling. He’d been lucky. The store owner had listened to Niko’s apology, then agreed to his father’s suggestion that Niko help out around the store until he’d put in enough hours to earn the CD player. By that time, Niko had wanted nothing to do with the stupid device. Since Pop refused to accept the CD player, Niko had donated it to a
charity that gave toys to needy children of injured DEA agents like his father.
His father had also made Niko research their family history and write a report about all the men and women who had fought honorably in various wars over the years.
Niko had already felt low as a cockroach by the time he finished his research, but his mamá had made him feel like the devil.
“Do you know who my cousin three times removed is?” his mamá demanded.
Niko nodded, having heard since he was a child about the evil Alvarez and his threat to their family.
But his mother continued as if Niko needed a fresh education. “Jaime Alvarez, one of the most corrupt, most evil and most powerful men in Mexico, that’s who. His older brother, Eduardo Alvarez, used to control all of the illegal activity in the State of Juarez. But your father, your uncle Tasi, and I helped the DEA and the Mexican authorities raid the Alvarez family businesses and Eduardo was killed. Now Jaime controls his brother’s businesses and hates us with a passion.” She spat. “We share blood with them, but we are nothing like them. Do you hear me? None of my children will ever do a dishonest day’s work or they will answer to me. I have made something good of my name. Here in Pasadena I can hold up my head in pride. Do not shame me again!” She grabbed Niko’s ear and twisted it until there were tears in his eyes. “Now, go mow the lawn, then return when you are finished and I will give you your next assignment.”
Mamá had also arranged for Niko to spend every Saturday morning for a month helping at a soup kitchen. “In order to understand how lucky we are and to see that there are others who suffer more than us.”
A rueful smile touched Niko’s lips. His mamá had a temper and all her children had learned to step carefully when she was riled. Both his parents had come down hard on Niko in order to prevent him from becoming the type of man he’d become.
He rubbed his sternum, trying to erase the pain sitting on his chest. How his behavior must be hurting his mamá. His father knew that Niko was undercover with Alvarez, but the agreement with the DEA had been that no one else in the family know, in order that their reactions to news of his criminal activities be real. Alvarez had to believe that Niko truly had slipped so far from the straight and narrow that he’d willingly accepted employment from his family’s long time enemy.
What Niko had never been able to make his DEA contact understand was that Alvarez fully understood that part of Niko hated and resented him. To Alvarez, Niko was a fascinating challenge. Alvarez prided himself on his ability to manipulate people and force them to follow his wishes through the careful application of bribes and punishment.
The more illegal acts Niko carried out, the more confident Alvarez became that the perks associated with being his right hand man drowned out any of Niko’s lingering moral objections. Blinded by his need to have a son and heir, Alvarez had convinced himself that Niko would never betray him and risk ending up back in prison.
In that, Alvarez was wrong. Niko didn’t want to spend more time in prison, but if it meant Alvarez spent the rest of his life behind bars, he’d endure.
He was good at enduring.
“Jefe, we’ve lost the western route through Ecuador. There was another raid.”
Jaime Alvarez sighed. He could tell by the hint of excitement in his lieutenant’s voice what was coming. Mentally, he rearranged the distribution for that line of cocaine.
“I think Derecha had something to do with it.”
Yes. There it was. “Miguel, I have warned you before not to let your jealousy lead you into making false statements. Can you prove that Nikolos provided information to the authorities that led them to carry out the raid?”
“No, but—”
“Has there ever been proof that Nikolos has deliberately harmed any portion of my business?”
“Well, no. But—”
Alvarez sighed. “Miguel, this is the last time I will speak to you of this. If you do not have proof, I do not wish to hear your jealous speculations. Nikolos is my most trusted lieutenant and my intended heir. You insult me and my judgment when you imply that he is working against me. Do you not think I would know if Nikolos intended to betray me? We are in a dangerous, volatile industry. Losses are to be expected.”
Miguel’s face flushed red and a vein throbbed along his temple, but he wisely remained silent. Alvarez understood that Niko’s fast rise within the organization angered many of his long-time employees. But from the day Alvarez had brought Niko in at age nineteen, fresh out of prison and so full of anger and resentment, he’d excelled at every task set before him.
Except for one.
Alvarez almost smiled, but did not want Miguel to think he was being mocked.
When he recruited Niko, Alvarez had admired the young man’s strong sense of honor. It was one of the characteristics he most prized among his compatriots. Yet at the same time, he loved to push Niko to the boundaries of that honor. He took great pride in manipulating Niko into taking action he despised in order to protect his aunt.
The one line Niko would not cross was to hurt a woman or a child. He’d refused to have anything to do with the prostitution side of the business. Alvarez respected Niko’s firm stance on the issue. Over the past year, in fact, Alvarez had divested the organization of all such businesses. Because he fully intended for Niko to take over once he was gone.
The doctors had told Alvarez years ago, before his wife died, that he was sterile. His deceased older brother had no surviving children, and their once extensive extended family had long since dwindled due to disease and violent death. Leaving Galena Andros and her children as Alvarez’s only living relatives.
He was old-fashioned enough to want to pass on his business to a blood relative.
After the failed escape attempt three months ago, and Niko’s branding, the man had lost even a hint of his previous defiance. While Alvarez missed the challenge of working around Niko’s reluctance, he had to admit that Niko’s subservience had resulted in an improved working relationship. He no longer had any doubts that making Niko his heir was the right choice. He loved Niko like a son, and the man had given him no reason to doubt his loyalty.
“And what of the product that is scheduled to go through the lost route?” Miguel demanded.
“Hold it until we find another route that can handle the extra load. You are dismissed, Miguel.”
“Sí, jefe.”
Alvarez waited while the man let himself out. The truth was that he didn’t believe Niko capable of such a betrayal. The man was too entrenched in his position of power to risk damaging the organization. Besides, as long as Alvarez had Madalena Andros under his control, he owned Niko. The man wouldn’t risk his aunt’s life for petty revenge.
Miguel, on the other hand, was perfectly capable of tipping off the authorities and setting it up to make Niko look guilty. The man’s initial jealousy had turned into overt hostility as Niko rose within the organization.
None of the recent losses had been severe enough to provide more than a temporary inconvenience. In truth, the police raids had culled the weakest areas of his organization, leaving it leaner and stronger. For that Alvarez was almost grateful.
Nonetheless, if the internal investigation revealed that Miguel had set up the raids, he would be punished.
One Year Later
Andes Mountains, Peru
Niko paced inside his office within Alvarez’s stronghold in the mountains of Peru. Finally, after five years of hell, he’d collected enough information for the DEA to launch a multi-agency raid on the major holdings within Alvarez’s empire.
He’d turned the last bit of data over to his DEA contact last month, then received word a week ago—the first time the DEA had initiated contact with Niko since he’d gone undercover—that the raid was a go.
Unfortunately, in order to maintain Niko’s cover, his contact hadn’t told him when the raid would take place. All Niko knew was that if he was caught, he’d be arrested and tried like everyone else.
He’d made certain, however, that his contact promised that the assault team would take care not to hurt any women or children in the raid. Knowing Alvarez and the immoral bastards who worked for him, Niko wouldn’t put it past them to use the women and children as shields to protect their own hides.
Additionally, Niko had arranged for his aunt to be taken to a safe house. He knew she felt ashamed of her time with Alvarez, and he hoped she’d accept counseling before returning home.
Niko rubbed the brand on his right biceps, still burning with shame over being marked like an animal by Alvarez. Dios, he was tired of this life. Tired of avoiding his own gaze in the mirror because he didn’t like the man he’d become. Tired of deciding what actions he could take to solidify his reputation as a dangerous bastard to cross while inflicting as little damage as possible on innocents.
He wanted out of these custom silk suits that smothered him. He wanted to leave behind the expensively furnished rooms reeking of corruption and pain. He wanted away from the lackeys who fawned over him because they knew he was Alvarez’s chosen one, or because they feared the man Niko had become.
Although why he was suddenly so goddamned impatient after five intolerable years, he couldn’t say. Maybe it was just that he finally saw the potential for the light at the end of the tunnel and, like a kid, wanted his reward now, not later.
For the first time in years, Niko thought back to the day that had started this entire string of events.
Rafe threw a soapy sponge at Niko, hitting him in the chest. It was a sunny, hot day in southern California and the boys were helping Pop wash the car. Growling, Niko turned the hose on his little brother. With a shriek of laughter, Rafe darted away.
“Rafael Archimedes Andros,” Mamá called from the kitchen window. “Get back inside this moment. I told you to clean up your room.”
Niko snickered. “Yes, little one, go finish your chores.”
Rafe stuck out his tongue with all the dignity of his nine years and stomped into the house.