Page 132 of The Ripper

“Yeah,” Hannibal answered.

“I know why you couldn’t find any tragic events when you looked for that,” he laughed without amusement and lit a cigarette.

“Fucking fuck, just spit it out,” I yelled at him.

“It was my father,” he ran his fingers through his hair, then rubbed his face. “I was a teenager back then. He didn’t take me with him to these things, but he told me about it later. He was at war with theSánchez cartel because they refused to do business with us. A meeting for a truce turned into a bloodbath, and the leader’s wife was accidentally caught in the crossfire,” he shook his head as he took a long drag out of the cigarette. “She wasn’t supposed to be there, none of them were supposed to be there…”

“What the fuck are you saying?”

“I think the woman who died in that field back then was your girlfriend’s mother, and she witnessed it, that’s what I’m saying. And if that’s the case, I have to remove myself from this equation.”

“Why? That happened years ago, and your family isn’t at war with anyone right now, from what I know,” Midnight’s eyebrows drew together.

“No, but my family can’t step foot in La Calera since then, those are the terms that stopped the massacre that followed.”

I clenched my fists, fighting the urge to jump and rip out his throat. He just admitted that his family was responsible for Arella’s mother’s death, and that she witnessed it, that she saw her mother lying shot as she took her last breaths.

His family was responsible for her nightmares, for the fact that she changed her identity, for all the suffering that I knew burned inside her.

~ It’s also the reason you met her.

~ That too.

I lit another cigarette and laughed nervously, grabbing Damiano’s collar and pulling him closer to me.

“Did you know her? That’s why you said she was delicious after you stabbed my brother?” I wrinkled my nose in disgust, remembering how he licked his lips that day.

He shook his head.

“No. I told you; I wasn’t there. If we didn’t find the location, I wouldn’t have even thought about it,” he raised his arms defensively.

At least the motherfucker knows how to pick his battles.

“They erased every trace, didn’t they?” Midnight asked, but it was more of an affirmation than a question, and she grabbed my arm, urging me to let go of him.

“Yes, Sánchez is hand in hand with every institution. Those people respect him as if he gave them life or something. He isn’t just a drug trafficker, Grimm.”

“Do you know where the house is?” I asked through my teeth, aggressively pushing him.

He nodded.

“I’ll send you the coordinates, but it’s a fucking fortress. You two don’t stand a chance alone.”

“Watch us,” Midnight huffed, then stepped away from him as if she was disgusted.

“I’m having a hard time containing my anger right now,” I said as I stepped back from him. “You should leave, Damiano.”

He rolled his eyes, adjusted his shirt, then turned on his heels and walked to his car. The engine roared to life when he started it, and my phone vibrated in my pocket before he left.

“So, what’s the plan, Ripper?” Midnight turned to me.

“We’re going to pay my future father-in-law a visit.”

CHAPTER 26

FORGIVENESS IS A DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD

ARELLA

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