Changing my mind, I created a persona just for her. “I’m just Matty.”
Tilting her head back, she glanced upward as if looking for something, then a gentle smile curled the corners of her lips as she lowered her chin. “Hello, just Matty. I’m Star.”
Chapter Ten
Leighton
Present Day
I yawned just as my ass rang. Jerking my phone out of my back pocket, I scanned the caller ID, praying for a call from Alex. Instead, my mother’s number lit up my screen, and I swallowed back a groan, silencing the call.
Nope. Not today. Not ever.
I was surprised it’d taken this long for her to contact me. Two days must have been torture for her to keep quiet, knowing the prodigal daughter had returned home and not contacted her. Even though I’d expected it, I couldn’t make it easy on her. Four years of pretending each other didn’t exist didn’t evaporate overnight because we now lived in the same city.
I held my phone steady in my hand and waited. Surely, she wouldn’t disappoint me. Right on cue, it rang again, and I smiled, reminding me that only three things in this world were certain: death, taxes, and my mother’s inflated ego.
Silencing it for the second time, I tucked it back into my pocket. There wouldn’t be another. Mother would consider that rude. Not to me, of course, but to her precious image. Third time was not the charm to Mayor Donovan. She considered it to be a strike.
Whatever. My mother was the least of my problems. I still hadn’t heard from Alex, and Brody was giving me the silent treatment. Then there was the whole issue of my past busting through a bathroom door and turning everything I knew to shit.
I glanced at my phone again, groaning to see it was already one o’clock in the morning. I’d worked a double shift and after lying awake tossing and turning last night, replaying Matty’s every touch, I’d gotten maybe two hours of sleep in the last twenty-four hours. By the time the last beer had been drunk and the door was locked, I was beyond exhausted.
Wiping down the last of the sticky bar, I eyed the cushy mat covering the damp bar floor. As disgusting as it was, I halfway contemplated curling up on it for even a moment of rest. Shaking my head, I tossed the rag into the sink and leaned over the bar, burying my face in my hands.
I’d been so focused on what had to be done that I never saw him coming. Mateo Cortes was just a name like Valentin Carrera and Emilio Reyes. Three people whose lives meant nothing to me when my brother’s fate hung on their ruin. I’d come here determined to see this through. Then he showed up and tilted everything on its side.
I knew when I met him that he wasn’t like any other boy I’d ever known. Matty took my ideal of what boys were like and shattered it. He was dangerous, unrefined, mysterious, and a rush of adrenaline to my veins that had yet to be equaled.
I came alive when I met him and died the day I left.
Amanda strolled into the bar from the bathroom, freshly changed from her uniform into a fire-engine red dress cut so low it should’ve been illegal. “Okay, I’m all done with my end of shift duties. I know it’s only your second day, but if you’re sure you don’t mind locking up, I’m going to skip out of here early for my date. I wouldn’t normally do this, but I trust you, and well, look at him.” Turning her phone around, she showed me a picture of a dating site profile. I didn’t have the heart to tell her it was a stock photo from the internet.
“Hot,” I said, forcing a smile.
Her grin widened. “I know.” Tucking her phone in her jacket, she tapped my arm. “And hey, don’t think I didn’t see tall, dark, and saucy follow you into the bathroom yesterday. What’s up with that?”
She wasn’t the only one. Everyone saw it, and every eye followed me as I walked out of that bathroom trying to act like my world hadn’t just collapsed. My cheeks heated remembering Brody’s accusing stares and the chair that sat empty across from him.
“Nothing,” I said, clearing the emotion from my throat. “He just wanted to make sure I was okay. Infection is no joke.” I forced a smile and raised my bandaged hand, wiggling my fingers to distract her.
She pursed her lips and cocked an eyebrow. “How attentive of him. Most of our customers wouldn’t care if we bled from our eyeballs as long as we kept the tap flowing.”
“Mmhmm,” I answered, stacking dirty glasses onto a washing rack. “Nice guy.”
She chuckled, and I saw her shake her head out of the corner of my eye. “Okay, have your secrets. The story I’ll make up in my head is probably better anyway. Later.” Throwing her hand in the air, she waved and disappeared through the kitchen.
The silence felt like an uncomfortable thickness. I couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched, which was stupid because I’d heard Amanda engage the dead bolt on the backdoor when she left.
I was definitely alone.
My thoughts wandered back to yesterday when I’d overheard Emilio on the phone. Obviously, he was involved in something. No surprise there, considering he ran operations for a Mexican cartel. However, it was his remark about the person being in a public office that set the wheels spinning in my head. Whoever he’d been speaking to had a legitimate nine-to-five job with ears in such close proximity it worried him enough to call attention to it.
I stared down the hallway toward his office, my pulse racing with adrenaline, both from fear and exhilaration. Chances like this didn’t come around very often.
It was risky, and probably a very bad idea. However, Emilio rarely left the cantina unattended without one of his men watching over it. Quickly scanning the corners for cameras and seeing none, I moved before I could change my mind. I found it odd that a business owner, especially one who stole for a living himself, wouldn’t expect the same and plan accordingly, but Emilio wasn’t exactly a by-the-book kind of guy.
I wasn’t shocked to find his office locked. An open door would’ve been too easy. Bending down, I assessed the situation and bit back a smile. It was the same kind Mateo dismantled within seconds yesterday. I’d seen him do it countless times in the past, and eventually, watching led to learning.
Etiquette only took you so far. Skill took you everywhere.
Pulling a bobby pin out of my ponytail, I stuck the straight end into the lock. I held my breath while bending the pin and searching for the hook. Just when frustration set in, I heard the telltale click, and the lock released.
Bingo.
Once inside, I wrinkled my nose at both the mess and stench. Being inside was way worse than the glimpse I caught yesterday. The place looked like a rabid animal had been locked inside and then crawled in a corner and died.
“Fucking pig,” I muttered under my breath.
Trying not to touch anything, I got to work. My hands shook as I opened his laptop and hit the power button, my eye twitching as a password enabled screen popped up, denying me entry.
Shit.
Emilio didn’t strike me as the type of man who’d create some intricate password that he’d most likely forget. Chewing on my lip, I typed my first attempt into the blinking box.
E-m-i-l-i-o.
Two words popped up instantaneously: incorrect password.
Ugh. Too easy.
It had to be something that meant something to him. Something that was always on his mind.