AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Rafael
I understandwhy Anna would want to go to a place where she can’t feel. This is an agony I hoped never to feel again, but this grief is every bit as raw and helpless as when Violet died.
Maria helped raise Samuel, Carlos, and I. She was a constant. A warm presence on a cold night. When Violet died, she made food for my mother and me. She dragged us both through it. The woman was an angel, a force of nature, and she should have been untouchable.
And to kill her two sons as well…it’s too much, too far.
Dominges wanted to make a declaration of war, well he has. This city is about to run red with Sinaloa blood.
My rage is so intense, swirling and mixing with the sheer pain of Maria’s loss until I can barely breathe. I seek out Anna if only to lessen this hurt for a moment.
It’s late, and she’s already asleep by the time I find her in our room, but even her presence is enough to soothe the ragged, burning edges of my tattered heart.
I sit on the bed next to her and prop my back against the headboard. Anna rolls over, gravitating towards me the way she always does.
“Rafe?” she whispers into the darkness.
“Yeah.”
“I’m sorry,” she says, placing her head on my chest and wrapping her arm around me. There’s nothing else to say, nothing either of us can say.
I wait until Anna’s breaths are deep and even before slipping away from her and getting off the bed. I have work to do. Leaving the room, I quietly pull the bedroom door shut. When I turn around, I run straight into Una.
“Shit,” I hiss.
“You should pay more attention. Perhaps then your cartel would be in a better state.” She cocks a brow and walks off down the hallway before stopping at the end.“Come. You and I need to talk.”
I’m not in the mood for this, but when it comes to her, it’s not like I have much choice. I follow her along the hallway and down the stairs. Shemakes her way to my office, letting herself in like she owns the place. I close the door and take a seat at my desk. She takes the seat across from me, kicking her feet up on the desk.
“You said no one knew where this house was,” she says.
“They don’t.”
“And yet, a box of severed heads was just personally delivered to your gate.” She glances at her perfectly painted nails as though bored of the conversation already.
“I’m handling it,” I say through clenched teeth.
“You can’t handle anything.” She snorts. “Anna isn’t safe here. She needs to comewith me.”
I always knew I’d be having this conversation with her at some point, but I can’t deal with this right now. “Anna is perfectly capable of deciding where she wants to go. She’s a grown woman.” And she’s mine. No one is taking her from me, not even the angel of death.
“That,” she points out to the hallway, “was a declaration of war from a man who already managed to kidnap her once.”She arches a brow.“Did you think I didn’t hear about that?” I say nothing. “I have ears everywhere. Every move you make, I see it, I hear about it.”
“Good for you.”
She takes a knife from a thigh sheaf and starts flipping it through her fingers.“You can’t keep her safe. Not from Nicholai and not from Dominges.” Her eyes lock with mine.“Not from your nature. You are the very essence of the cartel. Power and violence is the fabric of your existence.”
I grit my teeth.“You don’t know me.”
“I know enough.” She pushes to her feet and bends over the desk, bracing her palms against the wood.“You and I are creatures of the dark. But my sister is still light, despite everything, she’s still good.”
“Don’t you think I know that?” I snap.
“You’re drawn to it. I see the way you look at her like she’s a fire on a cold night.”
I lean forward in my seat.“You may not understand this, but I love her.” I need her, now more than ever.
“And yet, you would pull her into the dark. You would endanger her.”
