Page 52 of Savage Fire

Peering at the image, each of the men seated around the table took note.

“Who’s that?” Grimm asked, his ugly face screwed up in confusion.

“That is the nineteen-year-old girl the Mendozas plan to gift to the Medevs in their disgusting reach for more power. Her intended groom is a mid-level brigadier they lovingly call ‘Bloody Boris’ because of the work he is so fond of doing for the brotherhood.”

In the photo, a clearly young dark-haired girl grinned at the camera. The midday sun behind her showed the caramel highlights in her dark brown hair. Her toffee-skinned face still had remnants of baby fat, but her smile was bright, lighting up her striking green eyes. She was a beautiful girl. A girl who was in the crosshairs of dangerous men.

“Who is she to the Cartel?” Fang asked, bile oozing over his tongue.

“She’s the daughter of one of the Mendoza lieutenants. Carlos Dominguez. The bastard offered her up as a way of getting a slice of the pie, as it were. She’s sheltered, spending most of her life living in quiet security at the man’s place in Hermosa Beach with her mother, one of his pampered mistresses. She has no idea her daddy is a piece of shit Cartel dog.”

Fang wasn’t surprised by Jorge’s venom. Fang had been considered “dead” to the Cartel, but he’d be a fool if he didn’t keep an eye on things. While the Calderone’s traded in flesh, they’d cleaned up their act over the years. When his father had been the head of the Cartel, kidnappings, forced drug addictions, underage sex, rape, and torture were all part of the business. Once Fang shot his father in the head, Jorge’s first matter of business was clearing out the bordellos, offering a living wage and protection to those who wanted to stay on, and an escape and a wad of cash to those who wanted out. Since then, the only flesh they peddled was the willing, legal-aged kind. The Mendozas, however, made their living in drugs and children.

“So, we just stop them from getting the girl,” Grimm supplied, his eyes still glued to the picture on the table, a strange look in his silver eyes.

“It’s not as simple as that,” Jorge asserted. “The girl has no wish to be part of marriage to a piece of shit Bratva dog, but she has little choice.” His expression darkened. “If they find her.”

Heavy. Hard. Hideous. The silence in the room was a living, devouring thing.

“What the fuck do you mean ‘if they find her’?” Odin spoke, his voice icy. Deadly.

Jorge stared at Odin, taking measure of the man. Then, he replied, “When I first got word the Mendozas were making moves to inflate their own territory through the Medevs, I knew I had to act. The Mendozas have little territory in Colombia, and only slightly more in Texas. They are pushing north in hopes to take their business into Canada. They want to use Vegas as a lucrative conduit, but they knew they needed to partner with a stronger family to expand this far from home. The Medevs were more than happy to partner, especially since they want to wipe the floor with the Romanos, and rid themselves of the Italians before they increase in number and influence.”

“And they are all makin’ moves in our city,” Trouble grunted, more than a little displeased that his life of ‘shootin’ the shit’—as he liked to say—was being ruffled.

“So what did you do with that information, Jorge, because I know you wouldn’t just sit on something like that without making a move of your own?” Fang asked, his gaze pinned to his older half-brother, a brother he knew would use every opportunity to make his enemies bleed.

Jorge shrugged. “I got to the girl before the Bratva could.”

Shouts and growls from his brothers filled the room, along with the slamming of fists on the table and the shriek of chairs are they were pushed back with force.

Odin stood, ice in his eyes as he stared down at an unflinching Jorge.

“You got to the girl. What the fuck does that mean?”

Jorge sighed as if he were so very put out by the question.

“It means that she is safe, untouched, and will remain so as long as I have any say about it. The girl is innocent of her father’s crimes and life choices, she deserves no grief from me. I took her but she is in no danger from the Calderones.”

Fang eased his tension just a little because if he knew anything about his brother it was that he saw no pleasure in hurting women and children. Had actually made them untouchable in the Cartel. To hurt a man’s wife and children was a death sentence. One Fang wholeheartedly agreed with.

“Where is she?” Grimm asked, a sharp menace to his voice.

Fang turned to the massive ginger Enforcer, his gaze scouring his expression curiously. What was it about this girl that had the usually unflappable man…flapping?

“She’s safe. That is all you need to know. I came to tell you that the Mendozas are scrambling to find her, which means they are keeping the Medevs waiting, and you can guess that the Cartel isn’t being forthright withwhythey haven’t produced the bride yet.”

Hawk snickered humorlessly. “The bastards are fumbling around, probably trying to find another bride to offer.”

Jorge shook his head, his smile made of pure venom. “They can try, but there are only two other eligible women. A forty-year-old widow, and a two-year-old. The Russians are sick motherfuckers, but even they draw the line at marrying infants.”

“So, Ms. Dominguez wasn’t just the straw they pulled, she is literally the only choice if they want to make a family tie through arranged marriage,” AFK piped up. During the conversation, he’d been clicking away on his keyboard, probably digging into Preciosa Dominguez and her father.

“Correct,” Jorge affirmed.

“What are we supposed to do with this information, Calderone?” Grimm asked, his eyes narrowed on the man across the table from him, slow torture then bloody murder in his expression.

“Use this information to your advantage. I took the girl, I won’t very well make moves against them and advertise that I was the one who took her. However, you are so firmly outside of their purview, you could…say…place a bug in a few local ears, so word gets back to the Medevs about a certain missing Cartel princess….”

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