“But these ones are cool already,” Casey reached for the ones cooling on a plate next to her.
Gina whirled around and slapped her cousin’s hand with the oven mitt. “Seriously, Casey! Stop touching those ones.”
“Okay!” Casey huffed, climbing off the stool. “I’ll take the hot ones. They look better anyway.”
“It’s not like they’re actually going to make it to your staff,” Gina said smartly. “You’ll wolf these down before anyone else even knows they exist. I’ll have to send more up, straight to the kitchen.”
Casey didn’t argue. They both knew Gina was right. Casey came around the side of the counter, took the package of muffins from Gina’s hands and gave her a quick squeeze. Casey could be such a contradiction. One minute she was a holy terror and the next she was caring and empathetic, coming over to help ease Gina’s anxiety over the return of her husband and brother. Gina hadn’t seen either of them yet. Alejandro had taken Beck straight to the interrogation rooms two days earlier. Reyes had come to see Gina, to inform her that her husband was home, but unwilling to see her yet.
Gina knew why. He couldn’t face her knowing that he would have to execute her brother. With such a thing hanging over their heads she didn’t know how her marriage would proceed. How she could convince him that she belonged to him. Was loyal to him alone.
“Can I ask a favour?” she asked Casey, trying to tamp down on the desperation that threatened to erupt.
“Of course!” Casey was quick to assure her. “You never ask for anything. What is it?”
“Can you ask Reyes if I can see Beck before… before…” her voice trailed off. She felt Casey stiffen beside her and understood. Casey hated Beck. He could have stopped the massacre of two families if he’d gone to Casey’s father and told him what the Mexicans were planning; what Ignacio Hernandez, Casey’s first husband had planned. Instead he’d allowed greed to surpass family loyalty, saving only himself and Gina. Though it was useless, Gina felt survivor’s guilt, would always feel it. She was only alive because Beck had loved her as a child. “I’m not pleading for his life,” she assured Casey. “I just need to see him, see the monster responsible for so much pain and death. I need to assure my husband that I stood in front of my brother, spat on our familial connection and chose my life here, with him.”
Though Casey still looked unsure, she nodded and squeezed Gina’s arm. “I understand, I’ll speak with Reyes. I… I think they’re planning on executing him in the morning.”
“So… I’ll need to see him tonight then,” Gina said shakily.
“I’ll talk to Reyes right away,” Casey assured her. “I can’t promise he’ll allow it, but I’ll let you know either way.”
“Thank you,” Gina whispered, swallowing her tears. She didn’t mean to get so emotional. She wished she could be more stoic about things like murder and betrayal. Like Casey, who had risen up to become an incredible powerhouse, a proud mafia wife.
Gina got the call a few hours later from Reyes himself. He was brief and to the point. “You’ll have five minutes with him. After that you won’t see him again.”
It took a moment for Gina to catch her breath. He gave her that time. “Thank you,” she said sincerely, knowing it couldn’t have been an easy decision. “Will Alejandro be there?”
“Of course.”
Of course.
“No,” Alejandro said coldly. “Get back in the jeep, turn around and wait for me at home.”
Gina stared up at her formidable husband in dismay. He was wearing his military-style fatigues and his face looked as though it was carved from stone, there was no softness for his wife. She hadn’t anticipated this barrier to see the prisoner once she had permission from his boss. Of course, the prisoner and prison fell under Alejandro’s jurisdiction, so he could stop her from having this visit if he wanted.
“Please, Alejandro,” she begged him. “I need to see him.”
“No,” Alejandro said coldly, steel threading his voice, “you don’t. I’ve been back for two days and you haven’t come to see me.”
“That isn’t fair!” she cried. “I thought you were avoiding me. I didn’t want to push myself on you if you didn’t want to see me. I was trying to be…”
“What?” he demanded, pushing himself against her and backing her into a concrete wall.
She clutched the muffin tin against her chest and lifted her chin. “I was trying to be understanding. It can’t be easy hunting down the only sibling your wife has with the sole purpose of… of exterminating him. You must feel awful.”
His dark eyes pinned her. “I feel nothing,” he snapped.
“Fine,” she snapped back, stiffening her spine. “Then you won’t mind if I see the prisoner, bring him a last meal. Say my goodbye to him before you murder him. My only brother.”
His face finally softened. “Gina…”
“Please, Alejandro,” she jumped at the slight weakening. “I just need to… to see him, ask him why he did it.”
“I know why he did it, cariña. I’ve been interrogating him for days,” Alejandro growled in frustration. “He felt it was his only chance at survival. He sacrificed your entire family for himself. Everyone except you. And chances are they would’ve come after you too except Sosa got to you faster than they could’ve anticipated. Beck was supposed to die too, but he escaped the assassination squad and laid low, hiding out in Mexico, building his own resources until he could find the sister who disappeared.”
Tears threatened to ruin her moment, so she stood up straighter and lifted her chin. “Please, Alejandro,” she choked out. “Please don’t deny me the chance to see his face.”
Alejandro studied her for a moment and then jerked his chin toward the interior door. “I’ll give you five minutes, Gina. No more,” he told her, placing a hand at her back and escorting her through. “And I’m coming in with you.”
She hadn’t expected anything else. She waited, trying to calm her erratic breathing while he punched a code into a door. The door slid open, revealing a sterile room filled with metal and concrete. Inside the room was a small table with two chairs and a bench for sleeping. A man a few years older than Gina was laying on the bench. He sat up easily.
She released the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding and looked him over. No visible signs of torture. Beck stood, staring at Gina with disbelief and dawning happiness. She didn’t know why he would be pleased under these circumstances. He had to know he wasn’t going to be alive for much longer. His blond hair was cut short and his stormy grey eyes were bloodshot. He looked older than his thirty years. Perhaps the stress spent running and hiding for more than a decade. Even his decision to go after Alejandro and kidnap Gina couldn’t have been easy. He had to have known it was a foolish plan, likely to end in his own death. Reyes was not a man to suffer fools.
“Angelina,” he said, his deep voice pleased.
“Beck,” she said, short and clipped.
He stepped forward, reaching out as if to hug her. Alejandro stepped in between them, giving her brother such a look of loathing that the younger man stepped quickly back, raising his hands. “You don’t touch her or we end this meeting and I end you shortly thereafter. Understand?”
“Yes,” Beck said quickly.
“Sit.” Alejandro pointed at the table.
Beck obeyed. He’d either learned that crossing Alejandro wasn’t healthy or he understood the precariousness of his position. Alejandro pulled the other chair out and set it a good two feet away from the table before giving Gina the go ahead to sit. Then he stood behind her with his arms crossed, ready to strike the moment Beck said or did anything he didn’t approve of. Gina placed the muffin tin on the table and folded her hands in her lap.
“You’re very lovely, Gina,” Beck said, his voice light and his eyes shining. “I always knew you’d grow up this way. I’m so glad you came to see me.”
She frowned and struggled for several moments with conflicting emotions rushin
g through her. First and foremost was the need to wipe the look of adoration from his face. “You murdered our parents,” she said accusingly, cutting straight to the point. “If not directly, you were entirely responsible. You could have warned them.”
His face grew more serious though he continued to look at her with such love that she was beginning to think he might be unbalanced. “I had to do it, Gina. You were vulnerable. The cartel could get to you. They showed me how easy it would be by giving me pictures of you on your way to school. By telling them how to get to mom and dad, I was able to save you.”
Gina had to smother a gag. He was pleading with her, trying to get her to understand his actions. She shook her head. “Nothing justifies what you did. I would rather have died than betray my family. You should’ve done something.”
“I did do something,” he assured her, reaching for her. He dropped his hand when Alejandro growled. “I saved you, Gina. I saved you for myself. So we could be together.” His face darkened, and she saw the edge of selfish savagery that must have been present when he’d sold their family to the Mexican cartel. “But then I lost you. They didn’t give you to me the way they were supposed to. You went into custody and I didn’t see you again. Not until I heard you turned up in Bolivia, living with our cousin in a fucking fortress.”
Gina studied him, seeing something she hoped wasn’t possible but suspected was true. Her stomach twisted with nausea. “You were saving me for yourself?” she whispered, prompting. She felt Alejandro stiffen at her side. She was getting information out of his prisoner that he likely hadn’t been able to extract.
“Yes!” Beck nodded emphatically. “Once our parents were gone, there was nothing to stop us from being together. We could live across the border, be happy, run our own syndicate, just the way we were always meant to. No interference, no one to stand in our way.”
“Oh god,” Gina whispered, covering her face. Her brother was truly a sick man.
“Come on,” Alejandro wrapped a hand around Gina’s arm and lifted her from the chair. “Time to leave. You don’t need to hear any more.”
“Please,” she whispered, lifting wounded eyes to her husband. “Just one more moment. To eat with him. Meals were very important with our f-family and I wanted to say goodbye by breaking bread one last time. Then I can walk away without any regrets.”
She knew that she was manipulating Alejandro, saying exactly the right thing, looking at him exactly the right way to get him to comply. But they both knew that Beck wasn’t going to be any danger to her. His worshipful devotion toward her was painfully obvious. Alejandro searched her face, taking in the strain on her pale face before finally giving her a sharp nod.
“Two more minutes. You eat together and then you go. No more time, no more arguments,” he said firmly, releasing her arm.
Gina smiled as much as she could under the circumstances and brushed her hand along his arm. She felt the bunch of his muscle and then the release. His face seemed to relax slightly too, though the severe expression remained. He was truly worried about her. Her feelings toward him capturing her brother and what he would have to do next. She wanted to tell him not to worry. She turned back to the table and lifted the lid off the tin.
Beck leaned forward, his expression serene and happy. She wanted to slap him and demand he wake up to the precariousness of his position. He was an idiot for thinking he could get away with the murder of their parents, with his obsession with his younger sister. Still, he was her brother and she would observe some semblance of formality before washing her hands of him. Wrinkling her nose, she offered the tin. “Would you like to eat with me, Beckett?”
“You remembered,” he whispered, pleasure filling his voice as he took one of the muffins. “Chocolate chip raspberry. My favourite.”
Her stomach heaved in revolt as she took a muffin as well and placed the tin back on the table between them. She had not, in fact, remembered his preferences and she seriously doubted these were his favourites. At the moment, she rather thought Beck was ready to be pleased by just about anything Gina said or did. She didn’t bother offering a muffin to her husband. She knew Alejandro wasn’t interested in their custom of breaking bread, nor would he care to share a last meal with his prisoner.
Beck took a large bite of his muffin and said, “Thank you, Gina. I’m grateful they allowed you to come see me and that you were thoughtful enough to bring food. It was our family’s tradition to eat together when times were happy and when they were tough.”
She waited for him to take several more bites before setting her muffin on the table and standing. He watched her curiously as she stepped toward the table, pressing her hands against the metal. She allowed him to see every ounce of loathing she felt for him. “You dare to claim the Giancarro traditions as though they are yours?”
“Gina…” he murmured, chewing and swallowing, his eyes searching her face for compassion, but finding only anger.
“You murdered us,” she shouted at him, hitting the table with one hand and smacking her chest with the other. “You may as well have shot our parents yourself and then put a gun to my head. I was nothing without my family. A shell for so many years. Just drifting until I found Casey.”
“But you have me…” he pleaded weakly.
“I don’t want you!” she snapped hoarsely, then said, “And I don’t have you. Not anymore.”
Alejandro caught on right away, stepping forward. “What have you done, Gina?” he demanded, taking her arm and swinging her around to face him. She refused to look at her husband though, not taking her eyes off Beck as his breathing grew laboured and he struggled to remain upright in his chair. His muffin fell to the floor and he began to claw at the collar of his T-shirt.
“You should’ve told daddy or gone to our uncle the moment you knew we were under threat, you spineless coward!” her voice rose to a scream by the time she finished her sentence. “You could’ve saved us all!”
Alejandro shook her, snapping her head up until she was forced to look at him. “What the fuck did you do to him?” he yelled at her.
“I killed him!” she screamed, spinning in Alejandro’s arms, surprising him. She managed to break free for a second. She used it to her advantage, lunging across the table at her brother. She threw herself at Beck who was slumped in his chair wheezing and turning blue. They tumbled to the ground together. Beck brought his arms up, but instead of protecting himself, he wrapped them around Gina and used the last bit of strength he had to tug her head down to his, pressing his lips to hers.
“C-come with me,” he wheezed against her lips and kissed her.
Furious, Gina fought him, punching him for all she was worth. She’d wished she shoved a switchblade down her bra; she could’ve stabbed him in the eye too. Somehow Beck managed to maintain his grip on her, prolonging the kiss while the life slipped from his body. She heard Alejandro’s shout from behind them, heard the table flip against the wall, felt Alejandro’s grip around her waist as he tried to wrench her away from her brother.
Beck’s arms locked around Gina and he began convulsing, his face was rigid against hers. Grey eyes locked with grey. She tried desperately to keep her lips sealed. Alejandro finally managed to yank her away just as Beck began spitting and gagging, his blue lips peeling back in a horrified grimace as his eyes flew open in a death stare.
“You motherfucking murderer!” Gina screamed kicking out at him.
“Stop it, Gina,” Alejandro snapped, gripping her under the arms and dragging her away from the body as he succumbed to death in the grip of a massive seizure. “Look at me,” he demanded. “Did he get anything in your mouth?”
Gina elbowed Alejandro in the side, lunged against his iron hold and spit on the body of her brother. “Burn in hell, Beckett.”
Chapter Sixteen
Alejandro flung her into another room. She’d been marched through the sterile halls of the prison building in such a hurry that she couldn’t tell at all where she was until she got
a good look around. His office. There was a large desk, impeccably tidy with an ashtray for his cigars. She smiled fondly, tilting her head so her hair covered her expression. He didn’t need to see the peace on her face while he was in such a towering rage.
Actually, worry was probably a more accurate emotion to describe her love. Only he didn’t know how to do worry, so anger was the next best thing, as evidenced by his next words and actions. First, he used his hand to wipe her all around her mouth, though she knew there was nothing there. Then he gripped her arms in a hard hold and snarled, “The poison, Gina. What kind?”
“Cyanide,” she told him right away and cringed when he slammed his fist into the desk next to her hip. She placed a shaking hand against his chest and said quietly, “I’ll be fine. He didn’t get any in my mouth.”
Alejandro clenched his hand in her hair and tilted her head back. His eyes were wild and his teeth were gritted when he spoke. “You made a mistake, baby. Coming into my place of work and breaking the rules, killing my prisoner right in front of me. You fucked up, you put yourself at risk.”
“But I’m fine, Alejandro,” she told him, reaching up to cup his face.
“You aren’t fine!” he snarled flinging her around to face away from him, still gripping her hair. She cried out and clutched the edge of his desk. “He put hands on you. That filth put his fucking mouth on you. On my wife. If he weren’t dead, I would disembowel him and string him up by his intestines to die slow and painful for such an infraction. No one touches mi mujer. You understand?”
He sounded half-crazed. She nodded as much as she could. “Yes, Alejandro, I understand! No one touches me!”
He slid one hand around her throat and shoved her skirt up with his other hand. “I control everything around here. Life, death… everything, Gina. If you had died…”
Alejandro's Prey Page 11