Page 39 of Luka

Could Tall really stop him from hurting us?

“It’s gonna piss you off, so just … breathe. Listen. Don’t react.”

“Fucking—”

“Piper texted me too.”

Leo’s mouth hangs open as his eyes narrow, but he doesn’t argue. He waits for Tall to go on.

Tall runs his hands through his hair, disrupting a curl. It strikes me in this moment how much I’m rooting for him. How much I’m hoping he has words to pacify his brother.

“She told me about your plan to whore the girl out but said, when she thought about it, she didn’t trust you to handle things… I think it was probably more than that. Jealousy, maybe. I think Piper was afraid you’d sample her or something.” He gestures to me.

My brow is scrunched while I listen. I know what Tall’s saying must be a lie. But why does Leo look so convinced?

Was Piper really planning something like this?

What the hell?

“I would never cheat on her,” Leo claims, though his voice hitches and his eyes are downcast.

“I know, I know.” Tall holds up his hands. “And I told her that, but still, she was more comfortable with me taking the girl. We met at the lake yesterday afternoon, and I haven’t seen or heard from her since, but man, I have to tell you, she was acting strange. There was a suitcase in her backseat…”

“What?!”

“Yeah.” Tall nods. “Honestly, part of me thinks therewasno plan to whore this chick out.” Again, he gestures to me. “Part of me thinks she just saw an opportunity that would take your mind off the fact that she was leaving you, then couldn’t bring herself to picture you with another woman.”

Leo is quiet for several seconds, his eyes roaming like he’s thinking about what Tall is telling him. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, he covers his hand over his mouth and sobs.

Tall stands unhurriedly with a frown on his face, and after a few seconds and a sigh, puts a hand on his brother’s shoulder.His brother falls into him, sobbing like a child with a scraped knee.

All the while I stare at the scene, unsure if I should be afraid or puzzled. This feels surreal. The enraged man who would’ve killed me minutes ago is a sobbing mess over the woman I watched Tall strangle, while Tall comforts him. It’s weird.Wrong. So wrong, I look away and wait for the vulnerability to pass.

It doesn’t take long.

“It was her boyfriend,” Leo says, pulling back with a new surge of anguished rage. He stabs a finger at me. “Ithadto be. He must’ve found out that Piper took her, and?—”

Tall’s loud groan cuts him off. “Why, Leo, does ithaveto be the girl’s boyfriend? Why can it not be plausible that?—”

“Because he’scartel.”

Leo only pauses for a moment before continuing, but it feels like an eternity. It knocks the wind from me, pulling me forward, draining the blood from my face. I immediately try to study Tall’s reaction, but there is none.

“He wouldn’t just accept that his girl is missing. He’d?—”

Luka holds up a hand. His eyes close as he takes a deep breath, like he’s summoning patience. “Slow down. How do you know he’s cartel?”

“I found him. He’s staying at a Budget Inn off Bradford and has been hanging around at a bar across the street called Lucky’s with several shady-looking Mexicans, all carrying.”

Oh my God.

They’re here.

How?

Did Mario call them? Are they his friends? Papá would never let Mario live after taking me. He certainly wouldn’t have a beer with him.

My heart pangs as my eyes water. This is all my fault. All of this is my fault. If he called them, it’s because he felt he had to. That it was the only way to save me. He sacrificed his own life to protect mine.

---