Page 45 of Utah

We were ushered into an office toward the back of the building. Inside was the head of the Los Zappas cartel, sitting behind a desk. There were four other members standing around the room, their guns drawn and pointed straight at us.

“Relax,” Rafael said, gesturing to his men. They lowered their weapons but kept them visible. “Marek, nice to see you.”

“Is it?” he asked.

“Not really, but I wanted to get the pleasantries out of the way.” Carrillo’s accent was thick, but I could understand him easily enough.

“How thoughtful.” Marek didn’t hide his sarcasm, even though this guy could end our lives whenever he decided.

Rafael wasn’t what I anticipated. Then again, I’d never met the head of a cartel before, so I had no idea what to expect. He was impeccably dressed in a dark blue suit, and every strand of his gray hair was in perfect place. He reached for a cane that had been resting on the lip of the desk, and when he stood, he took his time getting his footing. Marek had mentioned months ago, when he first tried to set up this meeting, that he was informed Carrillo had been going through some health issues, which made sense as to why he appeared slightly feeble. One of his men stepped closer, but Rafael shook his head before focusing back on us.

“So, what can I do for you?”

“I want you to put an end to this feud between us.”

“What feud?”

Marek’s nostrils flared, but he kept his composure, albeit barely. “The one with your nephew. He killed a family member of one of our guys, had people followed, and even ran a few of my guys off the road.” Marek stepped closer. “He just had one of our guys killed.”

“Hmmmm… and you know he was behind all this? You have proof?”

“I have proof he killed one of us because I was there,” I blurted, my heated blood slithering in my veins. If he didn’t get that bored look off his face, I’d remove it for him.

Carrillo’s gaze collided with mine. “So, you saw him do this?” My hesitation at his question had him grinning. “Hewasn’t there, was he?” I didn’t need to answer. He looked back at Marek. “We have a problem. You can’t prove my nephew was involved at all.”

“He did kill a family member of my VP,” Prez said. “To that, we have a witness.” Morgan, Tag’s woman, was the witness he referred to. She was front and center when Javier shot her boss, Nick, who was also Dax’s cousin.

“Ahhhh… yes. But that was a guy who owed us money.” Carrillo waved his hand in the air as if he swatted away a gnat. “Justified.”

I had no set presumptions of how this meeting was going to go, but I hoped this guy would’ve at least pretended not to condone what Javier did. I now realized how naïve I’d been walking in here. Not only did I not see the cartel backing off, but there was a good chance we’d never walk out of this warehouse.

“And the killing of my man?” Prez asked, stepping in front of Marek, clenching his hands at his sides. Marek gripped his arm to stop him when he tried to move closer.

“Cómo se dice… collateral damage.”

His flippant response was like a punch in the gut. My vision began to tunnel with rage, but before I lunged at this fucker, Stone stepped in front of me, physically blocking me.

“Calm the fuck down,” he said so only I could hear.

I peered around him and caught Carrillo staring at me, his expression a mix of arrogance and annoyance.

“Did you know about the deal your nephew made with our club? About storing your drugs in one of our buildings?” Marek asked.

“I did.”

“So, you knew when we put an end to it?”

Marek had been the one who put a gun in Javier’s face, telling him we were no longer doing business with them.

“Yes. My nephew tells me you threatened him.”

“I did.” Now it was Marek’s turn to respond matter-of-factly.

The two men stared at each other for the longest moment of my life. As we awaited the next move, my mind drifted to Ria. I didn’t want to think about her right now as I needed to stay focused, but I couldn’t stop her image from popping into my head. I swore if I got out of here, I’d step up and do whatever was necessary to show her that I wanted her to be mine. No more pussyfooting around. No more kissing her and playing it off as a ploy to get her to do what I wanted, which didn’t work anyway. I pictured her belly swelling with our child, and for a moment, my heart ached with pride and adoration for her and what she was willing to do for me. I was going to be a father, and while that thought scared the fuck out of me, I couldn’t be happier.

“What did you think would happen after you threatened him? Did you think he’d just walk away with his tail between his legs? You had to have known he’d do something.”

Instead of answering any of Rafael’s questions, Marek asked one of his own. “Did you give him the order to kill my guys?”

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