The room turned a couple of times. I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment and reached for Jess’s hand. “And it’s Levi’s?”
She nodded, meeting my gaze for the first time. “I have to think about my kids.”
“Levi isn’t the answer. Don’t back out on me now.”
“He’s a good dad. Just like Uncle Emiliano was for us.”
“Don’t you dare speak his name.” Mom jerked to her feet, startling Jess. For a woman in her fifties with all the horrible things she’d seen in her life, Mom was still the Dragon Lady. We’d made it this far because of her. Jess stepped back, and Mom continued. “No matter how hard he tries, Levi isn’t half the man my husband was. Levi is nothing more than a traitor, driven by greed and petty illusions of grandeur. Emiliano loved him like a son, and he repaid us in the worst way.” She let out a breath. “Enough, Emilia. Stop asking her for permission. She’s coming with us.”
“I can’t. Levi’s expecting me.”
I stood. “You had your chance, Jess. Make no mistake. You’re not coming with us as our guest. If Levi wants his family back, he’ll have to go through us.”
“Holy fuck, Emilia.” Dom’s gaze darted between Mom and me. “You’re kidnapping a Sicario’s family? This is a game you can’t win. And you know that.”
“That’s what you don’t get. This isn’t a game for us.” We couldn’t spend the rest of our lives in hiding, fearful that one day Levi would come for us and finish what he started ten years ago when he shot Dad and left Mom and me bleeding out. All so he could take Dad’s place within the Mexican cartel. The status quo had changed in our favor, and I was more than ready to do some hunting of my own. I faced Mom, and she nodded in approval. “You understand, don’t you? I have to stay.”
“We’ll be safe. I can handle Jess.” Mom hugged me and pressed her wet cheek against mine. “Come find us when it’s done.”
I nodded. “Go.”
“And double time it.” Dom peeked through the wooden shutters in the home office facing the street. “A caravan of Escalades just came in.”
My hands went cold, and I fisted them. Not this again. It was like déjà vu, Levi showing up at my childhood home like this. Chest tight, the floor gave out from under me, and I fell to my knees. Mom’s voice sounded distant, muffled by the loud beating of my heart.
The summer after high school graduation, Levi had been sent to make an example of Dad. No one ever left the cartel. Eager to replace Dad within the organization, Levi did as he was told. Without giving a shit we were like family. He would’ve killed Jess that day too if I hadn’t thrown myself in front of her to protect her from his belt. He hit me several times before my words sunk in. Jess was pregnant with his first baby. We’d come full circle, but this time, he wasn’t leaving here with my family. This time we were ready.
I took a gulp of air. When my eyes focused, Dom was on his knees in front of me, cradling my face.
“Emilia. We have to go, sweetheart.” He rubbed his thumb along my jaw.
“The panic room has access to the outside.”
He blinked slowly and scooped me up. “Use it. Now.”
“No.” I pulled the handgun stuffed in my waistband. Levi wasn’t leaving this house. Not if I had a say in it. “Mom. Take Jess.”
“Of course. I’ll call Carlos on our way there. He’ll pick up Izzy and then come find us.”
“I’m not letting your driver get my daughter.” Jess stood, facing Mom.
“He’s the only one that can bring her to us safely. Now shut up and move.” Mom gripped Jess’s arm and headed for the panic room, the exit route we’d rehearsed every day since we returned to Phoenix.
As if Jess’s infuriated look had the ability to shatter glass around her, a buzz whizzed by us just as Mom’s bookshelves exploded behind her. Mom didn’t flinch but kept going toward the safety of the hidden walls in the house.
I pressed my body against the wall near the window, Dom next to me and his arm across my body. Was he trying to protect me or stop me from going out and start shooting?
“If I have to drag you out of here, I will.” He turned and pinned me with his body. His heat should’ve made feel safer, but it didn’t. I needed to end this thing with Levi. “I see it in your eyes, but trust me, this isn’t how you get Levi. Look around you. This isn’t the mayhem of the shooting from the bar.”
“I know that. Levi is a professional. He’s got a silencer and bigger guns, but I don’t give a shit. This ends now.”
“How? He’s pissed. You pitted him against his wife. If you thought he was dangerous before, this is ten times worse. You don’t want him angry. You want him desperate. That’s how you come out on top. Please, listen to me.”
His forehead touched mine, and his heartbeat thrummed against my chest. I slammed my head against the wall and let out a breath.
“He deserves to die.”
“Maybe. But not tonight.” He slid his fingers down my arm and pried the gun out of my hand. “Come with me. If they haven’t shot at us again it’s because they found a way in.”
I’d waited this long, I could wait a little longer for the right opportunity. One that wouldn’t get Dom killed because of me. I nodded and made a run toward the panic room as more bullets destroyed what little was left of Mom’s knickknacks across from the window. Dom stepped in behind me and shut the door. I entered the security code and stumbled back, holding my breath.
The soundproof room didn’t allow the men’s voices to carry, and I couldn’t make myself turn on the sound, too afraid they’d hear us through the walls. On the security screens, a man stood in the middle of the room, his face distorted in anger, barking orders to his men—no doubt telling them to search every nook and cranny of the house. Jess didn’t know about the panic room or our escape route. What exactly were they looking for?
I forced out a breath and turned to face Dom, who stood by the small door that led to the tunnels on the opposite end of the wall.
“You thought of everything.” I cocked an eyebrow at the suitcase by his shoe.
“You’d already gone through the trouble of packing. I figured you might need it.” He flashed me a bright smile and offered me his hand.
I took it and followed him into the dimly lit passageway that led to a street three houses down. Mom and Dad had built a place similar to this one when I was a kid. Together, they had devised a plan to make sure Mom and I would be taken care of if anything happened to him. We had an exit route, money stashed away in ten different countries, and contacts we could trust. None of which had helped Dad. Ten years ago, when Levi came for us, we hadn’t had time to make it out because he took us by surprise. Dad loved Levi. He trusted him, and Levi used that against him.
One thing was for sure, Levi had a lot of connections, a way to get people to do what he wanted. I’d been going about this all wrong and Mom knew it.
‘Come find us when it’s done,’ Mom had said that to me in her goodbye.
When I finished law school, I knew Levi’s time would come soon. I knew the law would find him guilty and put him away for life, except Mom knew different. All this time, she understood something I didn’t. The system had failed us before. Money and power always won. After years of wishing for justice, I’d finally caught on. I had to take care of him myself…I had to kill Levi.
Dom squeezed my hand. “It’s not as easy as you think. Killing a man.” He pointed behind him toward the house we’d left behind. “You’re angry and hurt, but tomorrow you’ll thank me for talking you out of this fucked-up suicide mission. I can’t let you do that to yourself. Not ever.”
6
I Decide
Dom
This day kept getting better and better—and not in a sarcastic way. Emilia turned out to be a different person than I first thought when we met in law school. She wasn’t the spoiled rich girl she appeared to be. She was determined, with an uncanny ability to attract trouble. When I woke up this morning, I never would’ve guessed I’d
end my day in a hot as hell tunnel running away from the Mexican cartel. Was I sorry I went looking for Emilia after she left my office? Not one fucking bit.
“What are you doing?” she asked, using her phone to light the path in front of us.
“We need a ride.”
“Uber is our getaway car?”
“I parked a block away from your house.” An old habit that paid off today. “To get to it, we’d have to go through Levi’s guys. I can’t risk him seeing me with you.”
She sighed. “I should do the same. There’s no reason for me to drag you into this. You know, any more than I already have.”
“Stop.” I took her hand to get her to quit tapping on her screen. Man, she was fast. “I volunteered. And after everything I saw and heard back at your house, I’m glad I did.”
“Yeah. Why’s that?”
“It made me realize something…made me realize I’ve been lying to myself for the last five years.” My spidey senses were fucking tingling, and I didn’t like it. Why did I let my guard down? When I left Mickey’s crew back in Jersey and moved to the city, I’d thought it was over and done with, but I should’ve known better.
No one ever leaves.
Not two weeks after I moved to Phoenix, a Sicario from the local cartel called one of the owners at my new firm and asked for me specifically. A coincidence? Doubt it. At first, I figured my reputation had followed me and Levi knew I was the guy for him if he wanted shit done right.
“About what?” Emilia placed her hand on the door in front of us and pushed on it gently. We were in another home, a pool house in a ranch-style home that looked like it was built in the seventies and hadn’t seen a tenant in years.
“Let’s focus on getting out of here alive first. We can talk later.”
She cocked an eyebrow at me. When I didn’t give her any more details, she gestured for me to follow. “Come on. There’s a gate at the other end of the yard.”
I glanced on my phone. Vic had found us. “Our car is waiting.”
As if I had planned the whole thing days in advance, our black car showed up as soon as we arrived at the curb on a quiet street outside the old house. I opened the door for Emilia and climbed in before she had a chance to scoot all the way across. The side of her body brushed mine as I shut the door, and I had to fight the urge to ask her to stay put, but she was quick. Before the car rolled away, she was flushed against the opposite window, too far away from me.
“Where are we going?” She turned to face me.
“My hotel.” I flashed her a smile and she swallowed. Shit, I had to stop doing that. She’d made it clear she didn’t want anything to do with me in that sense. “It’s the safest place for us to go. Only a couple of friends know where I’m staying, and Levi won’t think to look for you there.”
“Fine. But I’m getting my own suite.”
Not fucking likely. “If you’re on your own, I can’t protect you.”
“I don’t need your protection, and you know that. What I need is my gun back.”
I rolled my eyes at her, reaching for the back of my pants to pull out her fully automatic 9mm. When she took it, she quickly checked the safety button on the side and the cartridge.
“The minute your credit card shows up on the grid, Levi will find you.”
“I have cash.”
I pinched my nose. “Why waste your money and put yourself at risk when the answer is right in front of you? What is it? Are you afraid you won’t be able to resist me if I’m sleeping next door?”
“You wish.” A little wrinkle appeared at the corner of her eye. Maybe she wasn’t opposed to the idea.
“Does that mean you’re staying with me?”
“Yes.” She looked away at the oncoming traffic.
I sat back in my seat grinning and met Vic’s gaze in the rearview mirror. He shook his head once in disapproval, his hands firmly on the steering wheel. Of course, he was right. As my right-hand man, Vic knew exactly what was at stake here. Getting involved with Emilia, romantically or otherwise, was a bad idea, but I couldn’t let her go until my suspicions were proven wrong.
Vic pulled into the resort, past the main lobby, and continued toward the back access. He wasn’t taking any chances. To my right, Emilia’s gaze darted from Vic to me, and then back to him. I needed to come clean with her. Tonight, before this rabbit hole with Levi got any deeper.
In an uncharacteristic manner, Emilia followed me through the hotel’s industrial-sized laundry room and storage warehouse until we reached the service elevator that put us on the top floor on the opposite end of where my corner suite was located. Calm and collected as if she hadn’t been shot at two hours ago, she waited for me to open the door to our suite.
“Home sweet home.” I ushered her inside and flipped the deadbolt. “Can I get you a drink? Whiskey?”
She faced me in that regal way that was all Emilia. “Red wine, if you have it.”
“As luck would have it, I do. The hotel concierge leaves me a bottle every night, but I prefer whiskey.” I shrugged out of my suit jacket and laid it on the back of the sofa in front of the fireplace. Folding my sleeves up, I made my way to the wet bar near the door. I grabbed two wine glasses and one of the bottles from the small fridge.
When I returned to the living area, Emilia sat on the sofa, typing something on her phone. No doubt telling her mom she was safe.
“It’s probably not a good idea for you to be communicating with your mom.” I took a seat on the chair adjacent to the sofa and showed her the bottle. “It’s a Valpolicella.”
She smiled at me. “I wasn’t texting Mom. I was disabling my phone.”
“Good thinking.” I offered her a glass.
She put her nose in it, and then took a long sip. “I love it. Thanks.”
I drank too. “How are you doing?”
“I almost got you killed. I’m sorry.”
I shook my head. “Don’t worry about me. You have your gun back. Now what?”
She trained those big brown eyes on me, pressing her lips together. What wasn’t she saying? After all we’d gone through since our night at the bar, she still hadn’t figured out she could trust me.
My heartbeat picked up its pace. Only Vic knew why I left Mickey’s crew. Why I dropped everything and went to law school instead of accepting Mickey’s offer to be his right hand and business partner. I rose to my feet, taking even breaths as I pulled on the rolled sleeves and unbuttoned my shirt.
“Are you serious with this?” She uncrossed her legs, her back erect.
“Relax. I want to show you something.” I laid the shirt on the back of my chair and reached behind me to pull off my undershirt. I pinched my lips together when Emilia’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. She reached for her glass, and took two big gulps, her greedy eyes trained on my abs.
My ego was enjoying the display, but this wasn’t about sex. I glanced down at my hands and pointed at the three scars on my chest and shoulder.
“You recognize these?”
A deep furrow shot across her forehead as her eyes showed recognition. She set her glass down and stood.
“Bullet wounds.” If she’d been turned on before, it was all gone. She stepped toward me, mouth slightly parted as she took in the details of my scars. “More specifically, exit wounds.”
I nodded. “He shot me in the back.”
Her eyes watered. Finally, she understood. “What did you do?” Her voice was barely above a whisper, hoarse and full of pity while her fingers traced the marks. Not what I wanted her to see in me.
I closed my eyes for a moment, letting it all sink in. Saying it aloud made that night all the more real. “I shot him dead.”
“Dom.” She wrapped her arms around me, her cool lips brushing the skin on my shoulder.
“Not the response I had expected.” I cocked my head to meet her gaze.
“I’m the last person to judge. Trust me.” She stepped back.
“Why’s that?” I’d bared m
y deepest secret. It was her turn. “What did your dad do to anger the cartel?”
She shook her head once. Strands of hair fanned the side of her flushed cheek. This vulnerable version of Emilia was as beautiful as the kick-ass version of her I saw earlier at her house.
“He quit his post with the organization.”
Just as I had suspected when she and her mom got into it with her cousin Jess.
“Levi replaced your dad with the cartel, didn’t he? That’s why they sent him. It was a test.”
She nodded. “Dad was a lieutenant, feared and respected by all. Until he met Mom, and his life went off in a different direction. Or at least he tried to turn things around. It didn’t last long though. The minute they found a replacement for him, my dad was dead.”
“Why didn’t your mom call the police? She didn’t have to let Levi get away with it.”
She bit her lip and untucked her silky top. My breath hitched when she pulled it over her head. Those breasts trapped inside her bra pressed together as she let the blouse fall on the coffee table and pulled her hair up in a loose ponytail with her hands. She was showing me something, but for the life of me, I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the see-through bra, the curve of her tits, and the goosebumps trailing up her arm and neck. Christ, she was sexy.
I stepped toward her, my gaze roaming her skin until I found it, a blotchy spidery scar right over her clavicle. She hooked her fingers on the seam of her skirt and pulled down, showing me her second scar on the inside of her hip bone, an inch from her stomach.
“He left us for dead. Calling the police for an investigation would’ve told him we were still alive.”
She exhaled and turned to show me her back. I wanted to punch a wall. No, I wanted to kill Levi. That greedy asshole.
“I’m so sorry, Emilia,” I whispered, tracing my fingers up her back where three whitish lines went from the dip of her waist and up into the lace of her bra. She hung her head and let her hair fall on her shoulders. I thumbed the rough edges of each scar, wishing I could erase the memories they’d left behind—the heartache of being betrayed by a friend, the pain of losing her dad, and even Jess.
Ignite You Page 5