Page 43 of The Queen's Serpent

One hundred million dollars for my safe return.God help us all; my grandmother will have started a war. No, that’s incorrect. She technically didn’t start it, Diego did by kidnapping me, but by the sounds of it, my grandmother aims to finish it and take Diego’s life in the process.

Kidnapping me will be his death sentence. The thought has me collapsing to the cool tiled floor with hoarse sobs.I don’t want him to die.

Chapter twenty-three

Diego

“Parts of me wanted to ask you to stay. To keep fighting for me. To fight for us. But a certain ideology impeded me from doing so. The idea that when someone loves you enough,they will stay on their own, without you asking them to.”

Mirtha Michelle Castro, Letters, To The Men I Have Loved

“Enter,” I call out to the knock on the den’s wooden door, and watch as a wary Santiago enters the room, his beaten, sweat-soaked hat in his rough hands. His dark eyes meet mine, and I can immediately tell something is wrong. This man has been with my family since I was a small boy, and while not related to us by blood, he is more family to me and my father than some who carry the same genes as we do.

“Jefe… I…lo lamento, I don’t mean to disturb you.“ He rubs at the back of his head, clearly uncomfortable with having to speak to me. “We have had reports of mercenaries two hundred miles southeast of our position, actively searching for us in the jungle.”

Fuck, that’s close, too fucking close. Stay calm; your men look to you for leadership. If you show them you’re weak and frightened, they’ll be too. We need to stay the course, stay hidden, and above all, I need to keep Issy. No one is going to fucking take her from me.

“They’ve been in the dense jungle before and haven’t found us.” Even as I say the words, I know I’m wrong since that man we hacked to death with the machete managed to find us. He never divulged who had sent him before Issy put him out of his misery. My money was on one of the other cartels, but there’s areal chance he could be one of the men Stella hired to find her. The relentless bitch put a target on my back… well, maybe I did that myself by stealing her precious heir.

“We are getting reports of them approaching the local villages, seeking out someone to guide them through the jungle. It’s only a matter of time before someone takes them up on their bribes, Diego.”

Years ago, when we first built this compound as a safe haven for my father and me, we worked with the ingenious tribes and villages within the jungle, to ensure we were left alone but informed of anyone seeking to harm us.

The agreement between them and us has held for years, with us providing them with food, needed equipment, and weapons to protect themselves, and in return, they provided intel. Not once has this compound been mentioned to an outsider. I know because I have paid moles inside each of the villages. Call me overly cautious, but I would rather be that than have a knife stabbed in my back.

“Do we know if they have been sent by one of the other cartels, or is it the Stratford witch?”

The possibility that someone in the villages could sell us out is a real problem. I don’t have an army here, just enough men to keep us safe and push back any enemy that comes for us, but Stella will keep sending men our way. As long as she can buy soldiers, we will be in danger.

“My money is on theReyna de Hielo. She will never stop looking for her, Diego. That woman is more dangerous than any of the other cartels. Your father is worried, and I am, too. You taking this woman could mean death to us all. Are you ready to die, us along with you, just to have her?”

His tone is accusatory, as if I am playing some sick game. Doesn’t he realize that I share the same fears, and worry that taking Issy will cost all of my men their lives? Stella won’t stop,and she will take Issy from me at her earliest opportunity.She’s MINE!Anger soars through my veins, and the desire to slam my fist into his mouth, and make him bleed, almost overrides my good sense. I need to calm the fuck down and get control of myself, or my emotions will lead me down a dark path.

He might be right. You are playing a deadly game with an opponent who will not back down, my mind whispers the reminder, as if that fucking thought doesn’t circle inside my head on repeat.

I rub both my palms down my face with exhaustion. I haven’t been sleeping, laying awake night after night, next to Issy while she dreams away. I hold her in my arms securely, knowing that at any moment, she could, in fact, be taken from me. I feel like a noose is rapidly tightening around my throat.

I should hire a mercenary of my own, and have Stella Stratford murdered, so that she leaves us all in peace. I would be doing the world a favor by ridding it of that pestilence. The only reason I haven’t, is because I know Issy will never forgive me if I do. She loves her grandmother dearly.

We have been out here in the jungle for almost three months now. Three months that I have had what is mine solely to myself, but I feel a time bomb ticking away in my brain.Tick, tick, tick,it threatens me with the loss of the woman that is mine. They are coming to take her away from me; I can feel it deep in my soul. Will I be able to keep her safe and still with me, or will I lose her and my life in the process?

“Double the patrols. The men are to stop drinking and stay alert. Send feelers out into the villages to see if anyone has been disloyal. If they have, make sure to send them to see their maker, and leave a reminder to the villagers of the consequences of breaking my trust.”

I can tell by the expression that Santiago tries to mask that is not what he wants to hear, but I also know he will do his dutyto my family, and carry out his orders. He is a general in our cartel, and the men look to him as much as they do to my father, and me, for their directions. He is loyal to the Cabano line, and if there is one man in this fucking jungle I don’t have to worry about slitting my throat, it’s him. He would never betray me.

“Diego…mi mamá, she mentioned theseñoritahasn’t been herself the last two days. She seems agitated and restless. She is not eating again, and what little she does manage to eat is not staying down. You should have Raphael look at her again.”

What the fuck is he talking about? I haven’t noticed a change in Issy in the last couple of days other than her looking a little pale, and I just put that off due to the high heat and humidity we are experiencing. Could she be sick again? Could she still be dealing with more withdrawal symptoms? It’s been two months since she last had any narcotics. Would she still be experiencing side effects from me forcing her to go cold turkey?

Whatever is going on with her, when I’m with her, she doesn’t seem restless or agitated, quite the opposite. She seems to cling to me now, seeking me out on her own and wanting to spend time with me. She returns my affection openly, without me having to force her.Shit,we’ve had sex across all of this damn compound, much to my cock’s happiness and her embarrassment.

Having Issy to myself, holding her and touching her these last couple of weeks, has only cemented my feelings for her further. I’m not only whole-heartedly infatuated with the woman, but I also find myself craving her every minute of the day. Maybe I am the addict now, and my addiction is to a five-foot-two, dark-haired, blue-eyed princess who keeps my cock perpetually hard.

Doubt and worry start creeping up my back, and I clench my hands on my neck to avoid yanking on my hair, the hair myPrincesaloves to run her delicate fingers through. She’s sickagain, not eating, and I didn’t notice. How can I claim to love her, if I don’t see these things?

Fuck, I know I have a lot on my plate, with all of the deals for weapons going through across the world, to strengthen our reach further within the underworld. The other cartels are trying to do their best to undermine us, and murder my family one by one.

It also hasn’t helped that we are being hunted through the jungle by paid mercenaries. Every day, I worry that today will be my last on this planet, and what will happen to Issy if I am gone. None of this has been a walk in the park. Add to all of this shit my father’s constant demands that I return to him, and help him grow our empire, and I’m lucky I can even still see straight with the stress that plagues me.

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