AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It’s Belladonna,” said Rafe. “The graffiti and what your grandmother used to wear on her dress. She wore it at basically all the family events.”
I arched an eyebrow at him. “I don’t know what Belladonna is.” They didn’t teach me that in school, and we had gardeners to tend to the flowers.
“You knew what a Venus flytrap was,” Rafe accused.
“Everyone knows that.”
“It’s nightshade,” said Rafe. “Poison.”
A lump formed in the base of my throat, but I pasted a smile on my face. “Well, Caterina is going to love it.” I grabbed my cellphone and took a picture of the graffiti flowers. “You know how much she loves the dark kind of stuff.”
“And you miss her,” murmured Rafe.
My eyes burned, but I blinked away the sensation. I hadn’t cried yet and had no desire to.
“Yeah,” I murmured, sucking in a deep breath. “But I’m worried about her too. She needs me around. She doesn’t like being alone, and she’s at such a weird age.”
Rafe scoffed. “She’s only a few years younger than you.”
“And now I’m older and wiser. Guess being bartered does that to a girl.” I stepped toward him, acting innocent. “Now I know how bad of an age sixteen is. Thinking you know everything only to be smacked in the face with reality after graduation.”
“And you know this now at twenty-two?”
“Um, yeah. Look at me.” I motioned to the jeans, tee, and leather jacket. “Don’t I look older and wiser?”
Rafe stared down at me, his eyes hooded under his dark eyebrows. He dragged his gaze down my body and then back up to my face. I thought he was on the verge of agreeing with me.
But he just said, “No.”
The smile slipped from my face. I was just a child to him, though I had been an adult for four years and gained both my bachelor’s and master’s degrees. I was just a kid in his eyes.
No longer looking at me, Rafe stuffed his hands in his pockets. “We need to go inside.”
I groaned. I wouldn’t be running away today. And like a good MC biker—patched member or whatever—Rafe took me into the warehouse. I had expected to encounter a loud ruckus of drinking bikers and their groupies, I met a vast space with high-end furniture and appliances and a kitchen with marble countertops. To my surprise, whoever kept up the living space had some taste.
But everything and everyone inside sat in complete, eerie silence. My eyes roamed over the silent line of skulls, leather, broad shoulders, and denim until my gaze rested at the two men sitting at a long oak table. One smirked up at Sas and lifted a beer to his lips. Neither of them, however, wore a leather jacket.
Chapter Five
SAS
I hadone thought on my mind. Murder.
Acero and el Fantasma, two of the three Rojas brothers that worked for el Tigre of the Medellín Cartel, looked too goddamned relaxed in my fucking house. This second encounter with the Colombian cartel in one day was putting me in a piss poor mood.
I hated to admit that Ward might be right about our lack of security. I scoped out the surroundings, planning my retaliation. But where the hell was their mouthpiece—Cazador? I had four bullets left in my clip after this morning’s shit show, so I needed to be careful with how I doled them out.
I would start with the Rojas brothers, who dared to come intomyclub and drinkmybeer. We had cleaned up plenty of blood from this floor, and they would only up the body count. Once they were dead, it would be time to ferret out the traitor in the MC who allowed the fucking cartel inside.
I reached around my back for my piece, but then Acero and El Fantasma put their—or rathermy—beers down and their hands disappeared beneath the table, reaching toward their sides. Once one gun came out, everything would turn intoa bloodbath. After the shootout at Wilde’s place, bullets and burying bodies weren’t high on my to-do list.
The Rojas brothers waited to see what I would do. After a pained moment, I dropped my hand, leaving my gun in the back of my waistband.
The Rojas brothers’ hands returned to their beers.
Acero, always the first to spout off, said to his brother, “Mamacita wouldn’t be happy with their hospitality, yo.” His eyes, though, never left me.
El Fantasma had always been the quiet one, and he didn’t break the silence now, only nodded his agreement.
