“As I said, there’ll be no retaliation right now, but when the time comes, it’ll be on my terms. Now, if there are no more comments, I’ll explain why we’re twenty-two million dollars in debt, and why…” I paused and looked each man in the eye before continuing, “…four buildings went up in flames, and we narrowly escaped all of them with our lives.”
“We?” One of the newer lieutenants asked.
“Yes, ‘we,’” I snapped. “As in me, two of my top lieutenants, and a prisoner. Shut up for a minute, and I’ll tell you about her and why I think my father was so interested in her.” Preparing myself for the bomb I was about to drop, I shot Mateo a side glance and curled my finger around the trigger of my gun under the table. “Then, I can tell you to fuck off if she interests you in any way.”
“The fuck?”
“You heard me, Guzman.”
A low rumble of voices milled around the room, and I waited for it to die down before I commanded their attention. “I’m speaking!” All eyes turned my way as silence replaced the incessant chatter. “Somehow Manuel Muñoz infiltrated a drug debt in Houston, causing my men to torture an innocent man. Afterward, Muñoz sicarios executed him.”
“So? Innocent death happens.” The new lieutenant snorted with annoyance. “What do we care?”
My trigger finger itched to shove it under his chin. “We care, because shit is different in America, you fucking idiot. Mistakes like that could bring down our whole operation.” His jaw tightened in anger, but stopped talking. “As I was saying, the innocent man’s sister witnessed the hit.”
The thought of Eden, hiding in the back of that kitchen as her brother died, filled me with indescribable anger, and I felt my entire body clench as the muscles in my neck twitched. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mateo rake his eyes down my stiffened form and take over.
“This girl, she’s a close friend and employee of one of our highest-ranking lieutenants in Houston. By our own code, we had to act fast, so we took her before Muñoz guns could. Unfortunately, by a betrayal unknown to her, she’d been tracked by a GPS. In turn, Valentin’s whereabouts were known at all times.”
“And this puta is still alive, after all that?”
“Do not call her a puta!” I’d had enough. My nerves were shot, and the one thing I wouldn’t tolerate was anyone disrespecting Eden. Pulling my gun, I grabbed Guzman by the front of his shirt and shoved the tip against his cheek. “You will never call her a puta again. Her name is Eden. However, you will refer to her as Miss Lachey, ma’am, or señorita, are we clear?”
“Jesus, fine.” He raised his palms as my chest heaved. Releasing him, he sank back down into his seat. Glaring, he picked up the shot of tequila sitting in front of him and held it against his mouth. “Fuck, man, you’d think you had a hard-on for this chick or something.”
Loosening two buttons at the top of my shirt, I drank my own shot glass sitting in front of me.
I needed to stay in control. I couldn’t risk showing my hand too early to my men. My father ruled this cartel with an iron fist, and despite the fact he was a heartless bastard, every one of these lieutenants respected the hell out of him and followed him blindly. I needed the same level of loyalty from them to change the future of the Carrera name.
Letting them know I planned to bring an American into our world wouldn’t win me any favors right now.
“I know you all want revenge for the attack on my father.” A chorus of ‘fuck yeahs’ drowned out my speech, and I paused to let them have their moment before continuing. “And, trust me, you all will have your opportunity. If anyone has reason for a vendetta, it’s me. The Muñoz cartel has murdered my entire family. No one wants their heads more than me, but when we ruin them, I want all of them. I want their territory and all their producers and suppliers. I want it all.” Another round of ‘fuck yeahs’ and cheers echoed off the walls. “To do that, we have to be smart and bide our time. You all must trust me and my judgment to plan the end of the Muñoz cartel. The one question left is…are you with me, or against me?”
After a moment or two of silence, Mateo stood up, his gun in his right hand, crossed over his chest, and placed over his heart. “Allegiance until death. Carrera pledge to new jefe, Valentin Carrera.”
Another man stood next. “Allegiance until death to Valentin Carrera.”
Four more men stood. “Allegiance until death to Valentin Carrera.”
One by one, every lieutenant stood and repeated the same words, until every eye landed on the only man still seated.
Finally, his eyes pulled tight at the corners, Guzman stood. “Allegiance until death.”
I nodded in acceptance of their devotion. “One more thing. If any of you lay one finger on Eden Lachey, I’ll see each of you hanged, beheaded, then spiked in front of your own houses. She’s mine.”
Fuck it. They already pledged allegiance.
I’d had enough tequila an hour ago.
The men wanted to celebrate, and Mateo kicked me under the table when I opened my mouth to tell them to kiss my ass. A few bottles later, stories about my father had been told, and I’d lost count at how many times I rolled my eyes.
Glancing at my watch, I finally stood up. “We reconvene tomorrow. Dismissed, men.”
Twenty minutes later, most of them had dispersed to local cantinas to continue the celebration. Mateo left to pull the car around, leaving me and Guzman outside the plain adobe building. Pulling my phone from my pocket, I’d just punched in the number to the new phone I’d given Eden, when a voice behind me snarled in my ear.
“I’ll never follow you. This is my cartel, you spoiled brat.” My knuckles cracked around the phone as his gun pressed against the back of my head. “You think you can just show up after six years and take what I’ve spent ten years kissing ass to claim? Fuck you, and your warnings.”
“Pulling the trigger would be suicide, and you know it, Guzman. You were my father’s second. You, above anyone, should’ve known how this would play out when he died.”
“What I know, you over-privileged little shit, is that you’ll get one thing you want.”
I had to stall him. With a gun to the back of my head, he had the upper hand. My mind raced with any situation that’d end with my brains not being sprayed across the side of the building.
“And what’s that, Guzman? Your dick, bronzed and on my mantle?”
His calm chuckle unnerved me. “You and your American puta will be together forever.”
“How do you figure?”
He lowered his voice and leaned in close, the alcohol on his breath invading my nostrils. “Manuel Muñoz has probably slit her from throat to pussy by now.”
It was as if a cold hand reached inside my chest, squeezed my heart, ripped it out still beating, and held it in front of my face. I couldn’t breathe, fighting through a numbness that overtook any emotion I’d found in recent weeks.
“You’re lying.”
“Think so? It’s a shame he had to rip that sexy, little black number to shreds when he gutted her. I’ll admit, she looked hot in it. I must know, Valentin, is it true? Does the carpet match the drapes?”