Page 24 of Branches of Betrayal

If that was only round one, she couldn’t wait to see what the rest of the night brought her.

Peyton didn’t remember fallingasleep but it must have been sometime after their third round, well into the night. Hadina had teased and played with her until she was nothing but bones and spent orgasms.

She looked beside her, expecting to see Hadina tucked in at her side, but the bed was empty. The sheets were ruffled and still warm, so she knew that Hadina had to have onlyjustleft. It tugged deep in her chest, seeing that empty side of the bed.

Throwing the sheets off, Peyton climbed out of bed and pulled on a robe. She made her way towards the bedroom door, hearing Hadina’s muffled voice as she spoke on the phone. Peyton cracked the door open and pressed her ear against the small, open space to listen.

“Cálmate, hermano. Ella está a salvo.She’s okay, I promise. Nobody knows where she is.”

A chill went down Peyton’s spine as she listened. She didn’t know who Hadina was referring to, but it sure as hell wasn’t her.

“Ay, I know you’re worried, Darío, but watch your fucking tone. I’m telling you—Iknowshe’s safe.Me aseguré de ello.Nobody will hurt her.” Hadina sighed, leaning back against the wall with the phone to her ear, eyes closed and rubbing her temples with her free hand. Peyton could hear the indistinct sound of a male voice, tone raised, but she was too far away to make out what he was saying. “I don’t know what’s happening with you and I don’t want to know unless it’s necessary, but trust me, she is safe. You know I love her,hermano.Ella es familia.Nobody will hurt Itza or they’ll be facing your wrathandmine.Sí. Sí. Hablar pronto. Ta bueno.”

Hadina hung up the phone with her eyes still closed. Peyton threw open the door and let it slam against the wall, startling the woman before her.

“Who the fuck is Itza and why have you never mentioned her to me?” Peyton yelled, inching back when Hadina moved forward. She held up a hand, halting her. “If you’re lying to me or cheating on me, I swear to fucking God, I will murder youandyour little whore before I leave your life for good. You get one chance to tell me the truth, Hadina. One last fucking chance.”

Chapter 15

Hadina

Her heart beat furiouslyin her chest as Peyton stood staring at her questioningly, anger and accusation in her tone after overhearing Hadina speak to her friend.

“It’s not how it sounds.”

Peyton rolled her eyes. “How fucking cliche. I thought you were better than that.”

“No, really. It’s complicated but that was my…acquaintance in Mexico. He was asking for my help.”

Hadina stepped forward and tried not to wince in dejection as Peyton stepped back, creating more distance between them.

“You called himhermano. I know I don’t speak Spanish, Hadi, but I’m not dumb. This Darío dude is hardly an acquaintance if you’re calling him brother. I know you don’t say shit like that lightly.”

She was right, and Hadina had to hide the burst of pride she felt that Peyton had been paying attention. That she was picking up her language, little by little, and understanding theimportance of her carefully chosen words. But still, Peyton being right only created more problems for her.

“Tienes razón.Darío is a friend, someone I consider family. But he’s not someone I ever wanted you to meet, to know, to ever even come into contact with in any way. He is…his organization doesn’t honor the same values as Adis & Co.”

Peyton threw her hands up angrily. “What the fuck does that even mean, Hadina? Can’t you just give a straight answer for once in your life?”

Hadina blew out a breath and leveled her gaze at Peyton. Perhaps hertentadorawas right; she could handle the truth.

“You want the truth? Fine. You can handle it, but this shit isn’t pretty and I was trying to protect you. Darío is part of the cartel world. Well, technically, he is now the Don of his ownfamilia. He’s not a good person. He’s killed way more people than me, and he definitely didn’t have a good reason for doing most of it. His cartel deals in drugs, Peyton—and not just weed. He’s scary and he’s involved in shit that would give you nightmares. He killed his own fucking father.”

Peyton gasped, her eyes wide as she stared at Hadina. “What happened to your standards, your code of conduct or whatever you called that bullshit set of rules you clearly don’t follow?”

Bristling at her comment, Hadina tilted her head, running a hand along her jaw. “Peyton, I love you and I will let you say anything about me or to me that you want, but the one thing you won’t fucking do is insinuate that I don’t follow my own code.¿Entender?Watch what you fucking say. You don’t know the whole story.”

“Oh, fuck you, Hadina!” Peyton yelled, spinning on her heels and storming further into the room. “You think you’re so big and bad, huh? Well, screw you! I’m not fucking scared of you. You wanted me to be part of this, so tell me the truth or I swear I will walk out that door and not come back.”

“Hijo!I don’t want you to be scared of me. I just want you to give me a chance to explain. My relationship with Darío is complicated.”

Peyton spun around and Hadina yelped as she threw the TV controller at her, barely missing her head and smashing against the wall behind her. “Peyton, what the fuck? Calm down!”

“Calm down? Are you for real?” Peyton screamed, launching something else at Hadina. “Why don’t you tell me more about yourrelationshipwith this fucking cartel Don you’ve never mentioned before?”

Hadina ducked to the side as Peyton continued to throw whatever she could get her hands on. Debris scattered across the floor as many of her bedroom items were thrown and shattered in the process. She held her hands up in surrender, pleading with Peyton. “Ay, Peyton, just let me explain!”

“Fuck your explanations!” Reaching out beside her, Hadina watched as Peyton grabbed for whatever was left on Hadina’s drawers to launch.

---