BRANDON
“Man, let it go. She’ll get in touch when she gets in touch.” Shark shoved my shoulder when I checked my phone again.
Hannah hadn’t answered my last three text messages. We’d be home in a day and I wanted to be sure she was ready. Things were going to be happening quickly once we got back, and she needed to be prepared. How could I keep her safe if she wasn’t listening to me?
Maybe Carter took her phone. Maybe he figured out it was me texting and not Monique from the diner. There were a lot of maybes going on and no answers.
Mateo wanted an answer from us, a promise to get the job done. He’d presented it to us as though we were actually being given a choice. As though if we said no, he’d just give us a pat on the back and send us on our way home. Right. Shark tried getting a hold of Nathan, but he wouldn’t take the call. That fucker. He put us right in the middle of his harebrained scheme and hadn't bothered to even give us a fucking choice.
“You realize as soon as that bullet gets lodged in that fat fuck’s face, his boys are going to come hunting us. We need to be far away, somewhere we aren’t seen. If we just walk up to him and take care of it, we’re dead. And Lacy will kill me if I get dead down here.”
“I wouldn’t be thrilled about it either.” I ran my hand through my hair, shoving it away from my face. “You think Nathan knows we want out and this is his way? I mean, he has to know he could be sacrificing us down here. Unless he’s got a deal with Eduardo. I mean, what if he’s playing them both? What if he sent us ’cause he thinks we’ll back out, or won’t get it done and Eduardo can swoop in get rid of Mateo? In the meantime, Mateo gets rid of us for failing.”
“You are giving Nathan too much credit in the thinking department.” Shark typed into his phone again.
“Why hasn’t he gotten back to either of us?” I held out my phone to him. I sent several messages, as well. Nothing.
“I don't know. But I do know if we don't handle this for Mateo by tomorrow night, like he said, you and I aren’t getting back in that van and heading home. We’ll be in a few different garbage bags headed for some nasty swamp land.”
“If we do this, we’re dead. If we don’t, we’re dead.” I summed up our situation while I searched the room for a beer. A bucket of ice and a few bottles of local brew had been brought up after lunch.
“If we do it right, we’ll be home by breakfast on Monday.” He sat on the edge of the bed and tossed his phone to the side.
“Okay, how do we do it right?” I popped the cap off a beer and took a long swig. “You and I haven't exactly been executioners before. The only guy I fucking blew away was coming at me with a knife. It was do or die.”
“You make us sound like a bunch of pussies,” he argued.
“No. We are the guys who set up the runs, who make sure the fucktards running the shit don’t mess up. We’ve never had to pull our gun on anyone because they never gave us reason to. Nathan didn’t used to go around killing people,” I pointed out. Taking a life for the sake of taking a life held no appeal to me, but you fuck with me or my family—you won’t be seeing the sun rise again. That sat with me just fine.
“Valentina said she’s been asking him to take her to the market. She wants to get some pottery or something. If she can get him there maybe we have a better chance. He’ll still have his guys with him, but we’d be in a crowded place. We might be able to get it done and get out before they see us.”
“What if we are looking at this wrong? If Valentina takes him to the market, she can get him to one of those food stands, right? What if we go wicked witch on him and just feed him some poisoned food.” I offered my suggestion.
“And the guy who owns the food stand gets killed for poisoning him?”
I studied him for a minute then agreed. “Yeah, that’s right. Fine. You figure out how to get me close enough and I’ll get it done. We’ll need to ask Valentina what time the market’s the busiest, and hope he’ll go with her.”
Shark’s phone danced on the bed. His brows drew together as he read the message and tossed the phone to me.
Just do what ur fucking told to do.
“Nathan better know what he’s starting.” I gave the phone back to Shark on my way to the bathroom. “Let me just wash my dirty ass then we’ll go find Mateo and get a message to Valentina. I want this shit done and be home by Monday.”
“You know you’ll have to do something with Hannah when we get back. Nathan isn’t going to let you see her and Car—”
“I’m aware of my fucking situation with her,” I growled, and slammed the bathroom door. This last job had sealed my decision about the club. I was getting out and it didn't matter how much money I had stashed away or if I was given good standing on my way out. We’d just leave town, the state. Hell, if I had to drag her cute ass to the other side of the country, that’s what we’d do. But no way was Carter or any other fucking guy putting a finger on her anymore.
***
Valentina stood at the foot of the stairs. Her hair primly pinned up into a neat, oversized bun on top of her head. Her makeup perfectly applied, and the painted on dress hugged her curves like a lover would. Three months ago just the sign of her standing there, her hand on one hip, her breasts about to spill out of her neckline would have gotten my dick harder than steel. But now, next to Hannah, she just looked like any other woman. Hannah didn’t need an hour’s worth of makeup and hair time to make herself beautiful. It was her natural state that drove me crazy. The soft hazelnut eyes, her short pixie hair. I couldn’t wait to get my hands back in that hair. And those cotton dresses. Those flimsy dresses that covered up everything I wanted to get my hands on. Just the memory of her standing in one of those made my dick stir.
“Good morning, Brandon.” Valentina’s eyes went to my groin and her smile widened just a bit more. It was tempting to let her know it wasn't her that got my dick hard, but the image of my girl back home—but I was trying to not get myself killed while down there.
“Valentina.” I looked around, but saw no one else. “Where is Mateo?” I stopped a few steps higher than where she stood. Outside of her reach.
“He doesn't tell me everything he does.” She gave a gentle shrug. “Shark is in the dining room having his breakfast. Would you like to join him, or perhaps I could have breakfast brought out to us on the veranda?” And there it was.
“The dining room will work fine. We need to finish going over some details. Maybe you could give us more information on the marketplace. Like the layout?”
Her shoulders dropped, only a bit, but enough that I noticed. “Very well.” She dropped her hand from her hip and walked ahead of me, leading me to the dining room. The sway of her hips didn’t go unnoticed.
An overflowing plate of scrambled eggs and sausages sat in front of Shark as he shoveled a forkful of eggs into his mouth. He nodded to me when he saw me enter the room, but went right back to eating. Valentina took the seat at the head of the table, then waved off the members of the staff in the room, speaking to them in Spanish before they all left.
“Has Eduardo agreed to take you shopping this afternoon?”
“Yes. I am to meet him for lunch at our home, then he will take me to the marketplace.” She tapped her manicured nails on the tabletop.
“And Mateo. Where will he be?”
“He will be at my home, surrounded by Eduardo’s men. They won’t suspect him.” She watched Shark eat with a gross interest. I kicked his shin under the table. He grunted, then looked up at us, dropping his fork and wiping his mouth with a napkin.
“And you?” I folded my hands over my chest. Having a woman so brazen about betraying her husband, with his own brother, and then seeing her eyes on me the way they were when I came down those stairs—she wasn't to be trusted.
“I’ll be with my husband. Hanging on his arm, and looking lovingly at him as we walk through the streets.” She spoke with a nauseating sweetness to her voice.
“Tell us again where we are going to be,” Shark said, then began to down his glass of milk.
“There is an apartment building just at the south end of the market. Two of the apartments are empty, the one on the second floor has a window overlooking the street. You should be able to see us clearly from there. The sun will be behind you; looking up at that building it's difficult at that time of day.”
“Good morning!” Mateo bounded into the room, looking as tailor made as before. He stopped at Valentina’s chair to give her a kiss, then stood behind her with his hands on her shoulders. “Are you both well prepared?”
“Just going over the details once more.” I nodded.
“Good. Good. I’m headed to Eduardo’s home now. Valentina, you will follow me in one hour.”
“Where does he think she is now?” Shark leaned forward, his hands folded over his plate.
“He believes I’m visiting my mother for breakfast.” Valentina smiled, a plastic smile. “She lives just up the road.”
“We won’t be seeing you after this is finished. We are leaving straight away for home,” I interjected before Shark could start asking more questions. I could see his distrust and disgust in his eyes for Valentina, but that shit needed to be kept buried. We had enough trouble coming our way; we didn't need to add cartel lover’s revenge to that.
“Yes, I understand.”
“And we never met you before. If you come up to our part of the world, you never knew us.” Shark stood from his chair, the fierceness was back in his expression.
“Of course.” Mateo nodded.
Shark didn’t say anything else, he just walked out of the room. I sighed then stood from my chair, giving Mateo a nod. “He’s wound up a bit.” I jerked a thumb toward the door Shark had just disappeared through.
“I understand.” Mateo patted Valentina’s shoulder. “Understand that if you are caught, you don’t know me. I will not be helping you escape if you don't get out of there before you are tracked down.”
“Yeah. I figured.” I nodded toward Valentina then went after Shark. I wanted out of that house, out of that fucking town, and out of that fucking country. Quick.