Page 75 of Duty

And she did it alone.

“Also, her dad was the first and last man I was involved with,” Valeria added under her breath, “and that is enough of a reminder for me as to why I don’t want to get mixed up with the wrong kind of man again.”

Haven cleared her throat. “You know, you never talk about him.”

Valeria nodded. “Nope, I sure don’t.”

By the tone of her friend’s voice, she wasn’t going to start now. Haven did wonder if she asked a question, would she get an answer? She wouldn’t know if she didn’t ask—closed mouths didn’t get fed, after all.

“Did he ever try to stop you from leaving Mexico?”

Valeria stiffened beside her. It took a few seconds before her friend finally answered with, “He didn’t know until I was already gone, I imagine. It wasn’t the country I was running from, Haven. That was kind of the point.”

Oh.

Then, her friend glanced over at her, smiling softly. “Enough about this. What are your plans for tonight since you’re lucky enough to get out of seeing that godawful movie again?”

Haven grinned. “I promised to go over and see Andino tonight at his place after I finish up the paperwork at the club.”

All it took was a mention of Andino, and Valeria’s amused expression was quick to flit away. Haven didn’t know when that had started—around the time she told her friend Andino’s last name, she supposed.

Valeria never outright said anything bad about Andino, or Haven’s involvement with him. In fact, she didn’t mind prying information out of Haven just for the hell of it, but she could tell something was off with her friend whenever he came up in their conversations. Something that made Valeria uncomfortable.

“You’re being careful, right?” Valeria asked.

“With Andino?” Haven laughed. “What’s to be careful about, Val? I would think if he meant to do me harm, it would have happened already.”

“No, I just mean … you do know what people say about the Marcello family, right? Their name is pretty well-known in New York.”

Haven’s amusement was quick to fade away, then, too. She did know what people said about the Marcellos—she didn’t have her head stuck in the sand, and she wasn’t deaf. She heard the whispers whenever Andino showed up at the club to see her.

There were stories.

People said things.

Rumors.

The Marcello family was not just an elite, rich family owning half of New York and living in beautiful homes on tucked away estates just outside of the city limits. No, apparently they were a much bigger, and darker, legacy hiding in plain sight.

Organized crime.

Mafia, people said.

She heard all the rumors.

She ignored them, too.

Haven didn’t know if they were true—did the mafia even exist anymore in their day and age?—but also, she wasn’t sure that she wanted to know the truth, either. All it would take was a simple internet search, she was sure of it, and she would have her answers. Yet, she stayed far away from that.

She refused to indulge people who talked, or even asked her about Andino. She didn’t really want to know if those were the kinds of secrets he was hiding from her. And if she didn’t ask, then she didn’t have to know. She wouldn’t have to deal with it.

Simple.

“Andino’s not like that,” Haven said to her friend.

Valeria openly frowned. “Maybe not with you. Sometimes, that’s the problem, Haven. You don’t see the bad shit until it’s too late, and you’re already too deep. Then, how are you supposed to get the fuck out and save your own skin?”

“Is that what happened to you?”