Page 44 of Till Death Do Us Part

“And that’s safe?” I asked.

“Aléjandro wouldn’t ask me to take you there if it wasn’t.”

There were too many alarms sounding in my head to make sense of what was safe and what wasn’t. A cartel hideout. That didn’t sound safe. Settling into the front seat of Rei’s Audi R8, I tried to settle my nerves.

I watched as the driver door opened upward, the same as the passenger door. If they were both open at the same time, they’d look like wings.

Once Rei was behind the steering wheel, I started my list of questions. “What happened? And why didn’t you want me to speak to that caller?”

Rei’s dark brown eyes looked at me, purposely scrutinizing me—or that was how it felt.

“I’m his wife.”

Rei nodded. “And I’m his brother. Aléjandro trusts you. Sorry, Mia, but I don’t know you.” Turning away from my stare, Rei pulled the car up toward the gate.

Know me.

I didn’t know my own husband.

To hell with this.

I wasn’t going to some unknown place with a person who couldn’t be honest with me. As the car came to a stop, I reached for the door handle. The car door popped open.

Rei reached out and seized my arm. “Qué diablos?”

While I didn’t understand what he’d said, I recognized the tone. I pulled my arm from his grasp. “If you can’t trust me, I can’t trust you. I’m staying here where Aléjandro said to stay.”

Rei exhaled. “Close the damn door.”

Pushing on the door, it began to rise.

“Mierda.” Rei exhaled. “Jano wasn’t lying when he said you’re stubborn.” When I didn’t respond or move, he went on, his tone softening, “Close the door,por favor.”

Slowly, I reached for the handle and pulled it toward me. The car took over from there and the door closed. I turned back to Rei. “Tell me what’s happening.”

“Will you stay in the car, or do I need to worry about you jumping out when I’m driving?”

I gestured toward my seatbelt I’d rebuckled. “I’m belted in.”

Rei nodded as he put the car into drive and pulled out of the gate. “What did he tell you before he left?”

Laying my head against the seat, I remembered. “He said Dante said some things that upset a lieutenant named Nicolas, and he was going to Wanderland to set things straight. He said Emiliano and Nick would be with him.”

We were now on roads with more cars.

Rei nodded. “Nicolas is Andrés Ruiz’s brother.”

The family that hosted our wedding.

“He’s worked for our father for as long as we’ve been alive. You can see why he’s not too happy about taking orders from us.”

My thoughts went to my uncles. “Yeah, Dario has some of the same issues, especially with our uncles.” As soon as the words left my tongue, I wondered if I shouldn’t be sharing things about the famiglia. I quickly added, “He has them under control.”

Rei smiled. “Sí, I saw how happy they were at the wedding.”

“What happened at Wanderland?”

“Nicolas listened, according to Jano. With ourpadrestill near, he didn’t have much of a choice. Nicolas agreed to investigate changes with the whores at the club.” He turned my direction, as his grip of the steering wheel tightened. “As Jano, Em, and Nick were leaving Wanderland, there was a drive-by.”

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