Page 105 of Cartel Viper
“I made my choice, Javi.” She opens her eyes. “And I don’t regret it. I never will. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy.”
“If anything happens, I need you to promise you’ll come to me and my family first. Only go to Laura if you have no other choice.”
“I know, Javi. You are my first choice. Laura understands. But I don’t know your mom as well as I know my sister, so I thinkit’s understandable why she would be my second choice. But I trust everyone in your family as much as I do you.”
“I’m sorry you’re in this position. If it’s too much?—”
“No!”
The word flies from her mouth. I doubt she intended it to be so loud, but her adamance is clear.
“Do not give me a way to back out of this, Javi. If I wanted out, I would’ve left already. I would’ve bolted today. It wouldn’t have been easy, but there were chances for me to go. You would’ve taken me if I asked, but I didn’t. I agreed to go to Laura and Maks’s because you believed it was the right thing to do. If and when you tell me to go to my sister’s, then I will. But I’m not asking during a crisis.”
I brush hair back from her forehead as I roll onto my side and prop myself up on my elbow. My hand rests on her waist.
“There will be times where the hostilities between the Kutsenkos and my family reach a boiling point. But what goes on between the men is never meant to affect the women. It would be stupid to believe it doesn’t. I hate knowing it may strain or test your relationship with Laura. And I hate knowing it means your parents are caught having to divide their loyalty. Do you believe they would stand by us?”
“Absolutely. I don’t doubt that at all. Can we tell them anything that happened with Drew?”
“You can tell them as much or as little of your relationship with him as you want. They’re not blind to who Laura’s in-laws are. And you know your family has its own history. But you should decide how soon you want to tell them. Your dad is not a man without skills. If you tell him before my family resolves things with the O’Sheehans, he will rightfully demand to be part of it.”
She stares at me for a long moment before she nods.
“I understand. I don’t want any more people I love to be in danger. But I won’t turn down the offer of one more person to look out for you. Just how involved was Maks’s family?”
Again, I fall silent. I believe Misha’s ignorance about Maddy’s involvement in the O’Sheehans operations. But he still accepted the risk that went with associating with the O’Sheehans when she could be so nearby. Yet again, I also have to question Maks’s judgment in allowing Maddy to be with Drew since I’m certain he knew Drew’s reputation with women. I’m struggling, but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he figured the douche had turned over a new leaf, especially since Maddy was with him for four years.
However, as her big brother, he should’ve kept a better eye on her relationship. He might have trusted her, but he never should’ve trusted Drew. I’m hard-pressed to forgive him for that. I don’t know that I ever will.
“Chiquita, there’s a tenuous balance among the families. We know we can fuck with one another, and we can fuck each other over. But we never directly target each other now that so many of us have wives and children. There’s no guarantee what may or may not happen if things erupt, but the goal is no longer to kill each other. Mame, maybe. Kill, no. There are a lot of unwritten, unspoken rules. But no one wants to leave the women of the Four Families as widows. I sure as fuck don’t want to be responsible for that.”
Her eyes water as she nods, and I know she’s thinking about the story I shared earlier. She wouldn’t want her sister to be in the same position as my mom. And I sure as fuck don’t want Maddy to ever be alone like that. There’s so much more to my mom’s story I haven’t shared.
Being without a husband with young children put her at risk. When my grandmother became a widow,Mamáand mytíaandtíoswere already adults. The risk wasn’t the same for her as itwas forMamá. After my father died, my mother became one of the most desirable women in the Latin American underworld—probably in the entire underworld—not just because she’s a stunning woman, but because of her family connections and the wealth my father left us that was independent of his cartel dealings. As a Diaz and a Cardenas, she was connected to two of the most powerful families.
My father’s family runs Medellín, one of the major Colombian cities, and controls all the poppy fields in the country. My mother’s family,los Diaz, have been what they are today for generations. The ruling family of Latin America.
More than once, there were kidnapping attempts. Men tried to pressure her into marriage, even threatening my brothers and me. Street gangs targeted my brothers and me. But if leaders of major cartels couldn’t bend my mother’s will, then piddly street gangs stood no chance. Between that and how gangs targeted Joaquin, Jorge, and me, we had no choice but to leave our home in Colombia. Once ourabuelawas no longer with us, there was little reason for us to stay. There are things about our life in Colombia that I miss, but not much. I don’t need to miss anything with all my family being here.
I know Galina Kutsenko faced much the same danger asMamádid, and that’s part of the reason she and her sons fled to America with her sister and her family, along with her brother-in-law and his family. The difference was they thought they could escape the bratva by coming here. Escaping the Cartel was never an option.
“Javi?”
My focus settles on Maddy again. “I’m sorry, little one. My mind wandered, thinking about making sure I can keep you safe.”
She inches closer to me and offers me a soft peck on my lips. “Nothing will be solved tonight, Daddy, so we can deal with everything in the morning.”
Chapter Thirty
Maddy
Something rouses me from the deepest sleep I’ve had in ages. It takes me a moment to recognize the sensation. It’s Javi’s lips sucking on my nipple, then traveling up my chest to the crook of my neck. His fingers are in my pussy, working me.
I can’t help but moan as I come round a little bit more. However, I’m so tired I can’t get my eyes open.
Then I feel his cock against my pussy.
“Yes, Daddy…Yes.”
