Page 109 of Outcast

The man in the passenger seat was lifting up a mask.

And I recognized him.

My fucking heart was going to explode from my chest.How fucking dare he. This whole time I was certain it was the new club, even if they didn’t want to admit it.

Maybe it was, but a Dirty Dog in the vehicle meant…

Fuck, I needed to lock it down while the kid was here. Blowing out a hard breath, I forced a smile on my face.

“What’s your name?” I asked, moving away from Matías. I didn’t need to see that shit in Matías’ hand anymore.

“Crisanto,” he muttered, watching his feet.

“Hey.” I stepped forward and touched his shoulder. “Why did you bring it here?”

His gaze shot to mine. “You’re a nice lady. You’re nice to mymamá. I saw what happened and I had my phone out anyway.” He shrugged.

“Why now?” Matías asked, shoving the photo in his back pocket. “Why not bring this the day it happened.”

The kid mashed his lips together. “At first, I was…” He shook his head. “I was scared. By the time I got the courage, you were gone. I printed it, but I haven’t seen you since.”

Well, shit. I had been gone a lot.

There was zero emotion on Esteban’s face, yet his muscles were bunched so tight that when he pulled his wallet out, I thought the seams on his shirt would burst. “Here kid,” he said, gruffly, handing him a faded auto shop card. “If you ever run into trouble, you call me. I’ll come no matter what. Got it?”

Crisanto clenched his fists and jaw as he tucked his chin. Esteban shook the card, and when he raised his hand to take it, his lips trembled.

“Thanks,” he mumbled.

Matías opened the door, peeked out, then stepped back to let Crisanto out. “Don’t be a stranger. You did more than you realized, and we’re in your debt.”

He jerked his head up once and then slid past Matías.We crowded the door and watched him walk home. His family lived three doors down across the street and I never knew they had a son.

I was an ass.

"What are we going to do now?" Esteban asked.

"We're going to the compound, we’re going to take the gang for Rita. Then we're going to clean house." Matías rolled to a sitting position as he stretched his arms over his head.

"And after that?" Esteban grinned over my head.

Locking my rage and betrayal in a tidy little box, I smiled. There would be plenty of time to let those babies out to play.

"Then the guys get the girl, don't you know that?" I placed a hand on each of their chests.

Despite the fury that I could feel trembling in their bodies, they busted up laughing and I smirked.

I was serious, even if it felt like a happy ending for us was still miles away.

27

MATÍAS

Esteban and I waited in the living room as Rita got ready. Her house was exactly as it was when I'd been here before. Nothing had changed. Except for us.

She was both stronger and softer than she used to be. More jaded.

I wasn't a slave to my father anymore. I was grabbing hold of what I wanted with both hands, consequences and fear be damned.

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