Ronan Kelly. Cristiano Vergara. Ignacio Vergara. Esteban Muñoz. The Northside Sinners. Chicago port alliances. Missing shipments.
They all linked with one name.
Carlos Cabello.
Val’s stare didn’t stray from Cristiano’s face. “Ronan Kelly hates cartels. It’s why the Carreras have never fucked with the Midwest. It’s the one policy my father and I agreed on. Kelly never had a son—only two daughters, so we decided to bide our time until the old bag of shit croaked, and then strong arm his daughters into opening up their ports.”
“My mother is a good woman,” Cristiano hissed, his tone dangerously close to a challenge.
I’d give it to him—Cristiano Vergara had a pair of iron balls and didn’t give two shits about juggling them in front of Valentin Carrera’s face. It was either the bravest thing I’d ever seen or the dumbest.
“It’s true, my grandfather hates cartels,” he continued. “It was why Esteban sent my father to Chicago. He didn’t give a shit if he ever made it back. But he lured him into forging a trade alliance with promises to make him a lieutenant.” His lips curled into a snarl. “Ignacio met my mother and assumed the way to his rank was through her.”
My head snapped up. This sounded too familiar.
“He got her pregnant and never returned to Chicago. She was shunned and forbidden to give me the Kelly name. That’s why I’m a Vergara.” He shot me a look. “Lucky me.”
Mateo cocked his head. “You must not have been too ashamed. You followed in his footsteps.”
Hate seared across Cristiano’s bloody face. “Fuck you. I watched her suffer because of the promises my father made and never delivered. The only truth she told me was that he was a Muñoz soldier, so the first chance I got, I came to Mexico to find him. To make him answer and pay for his sins.”
A quiet click drew my eyes to my right where Mateo’s fingers released his gun from its holster. It was a subtle move, but one that caught a set of pale blue eyes as well.
“I kept my mouth shut. I worked my way up the ranks from street dealer to top sicario while searching for any information I could find,” he explained, pulling his gaze from Mateo’s gun up to his face. “The path to truth was long, but then I caught Mari’s eye, and I realized she was my detour. An easy and beautiful shortcut.”
Her rules.
It hit me, inflaming my already burning jealousy tenfold. He was the reason for all her rules. Why she built walls. Why she wouldn’t kiss a man. Why she believed she didn’t deserve love.
“You son of a bitch.” I flew across the room, ready to tear him apart only to be blocked by Val’s outstretched arm. I glared, and he glared back, the unspoken message clear.
Let him speak.
“I said she was a detour! I was a kid whose only tie in this life was a heartbroken mother banished from her family. We were nothing to them. A stain on their precious empire. I’m not proud of using her to get what I wanted, but there’s not a man in our world who hasn’t manipulated a woman for his benefit.” He swung an accusing glare at all three of us, settling on me.
I returned it with a scowl.
Val broke the silence. “Obviously, something changed.”
“Esteban saw how close we were getting.” My eyes bounced between them as Cristiano’s shoulders lowered, his defensive stance diminishing. “He finally took the time to notice my last name instead of just seeing a face amongst men not worth his time. He sat me down and gave me every disgusting detail of my existence.”
Adriana’s sad, solemn voice echoed in my head.
“So why the split? Did you get cold feet?”
“No, he did.”
My furrowed eyebrows faded into disbelief. “It was an arranged marriage for Chicago port access.”
He didn’t confirm it, but the regret in his eyes did. “Whatever benefitted Esteban, right? He thought I was his ‘in’. I’m not innocent though. He dangled the same lieutenant carrot in front of my face as he did Ignacio, and I grabbed it. Sins of the father, and all that.”
“But you didn’t go through with it.”
He shook his head. “No. Esteban died before he could promote me. Manuel took control of the cartel, and he hated me. I knew I had to stay away from Mari. Especially after knowing who her real father was and what he’d done.”
I had no idea if he knew what he just said, or if there was so many hidden truths spilling out of him that it slipped out. All I knew was that I heard it.
And worse than that, Val heard it.
“You’ve known who she really was all this time, and you didn’t say shit?” Val roared, charging forward with his arms up, hands wide, and fingers spread, ready to choke the life out of him.
But I beat him to it.
Rage and fear and the sickening images that kept filling my head consumed me. Images of Adriana and Santi. Crying. Bleeding. Begging for help. All of it spiraled out of control, and I grabbed Cristiano by the shirt, pulling him out of the guards’ hands, and crashed us both against the wall. “When Adriana and I were in your office, she gave you his name. She begged you for help finding the man who was terrorizing her family, and you knew. She gave you tears, and you gave her riddles. Did you know about the safe deposit box?”
He wheezed as my forearm braced across his throat. “I told her I’d been waiting for her to come to me. That wasn’t a lie. I suspected Esteban had damning information hidden inside the estate. I just didn’t think she’d find it.”
“So, you lied to her again!”
“I was protecting her! I sure as hell didn’t want her to find out this way!”
“Bullshit! You were protecting yourself, and now your father has her!” I pushed harder, cutting off more of his air supply until a set of hands pried me off him. He dropped to his feet, coughing as I turned and shoved Mateo away from me. Still shaking with rage, I spun back around to where the piece of shit still stood. “What does he want with Adriana and Santiago?”
“He saw firsthand with Carrera’s mother how quickly a parent will give their life when it comes to the safety of their child. My guess is he was using Adriana to do the same thing to Val. When she didn’t play by his rules, he made new ones.”
“You never loved her,” I hissed.
“Don’t tell me how I felt about Mari! Maybe I was never in love with her, but I’ll fight to the death for her. Adriana and my mother are the only two women who have ever given me love without wanting something in return, and Ignacio Vergara ruined both their lives. He deserves the same.”
I was sick of his declarations. Any asshole could say words. It took a man to back them up. I’d crawled to the lowest level of hell for love. I wondered if Cristiano Vergara would do the same.
I flashed a cold smile. “Let’s put that theory to the test, shall we?”
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Adriana
Tlajomulco de Zuñiga, Jalisco, Mexico
My head felt like it’d been stuffed with a bag of cotton balls.
I rubbed my eyes, trying to force them open while fighting through the fuzzy cloud blocking my memory. Nothing made sense, as if my brain were a giant puzzle that had been scattered about. Nothing fit, and there was no discernible pattern.