Page 76 of Cartel Viper
We hear Maks moving, then my sister’s on the line.
“Madeline, why are you withthem?”
“Laura, there’s—I—” I inhale a fortifying breath. “I left Drew a month ago because things have been—I wasn’t safe there. I am now. I’m with Javi, and I don’t want to be anywhere else. Drew found me, and he’s threatening me again. He sent me a photo of you and the twins going into the grocery store today.”
“Madeline—” My sister’s speechless.
“Laura, I’m okay.”
“Take me off speaker right this minute and go somewhere private. I’m speaking to you alone. Now, Madeline.”
I glance up at Javi and nod. I stand and look around the room. None of the men appear surprised. They all know Laura. They know she has an iron will no one can bend. But they also know she wants to ask me things only I’d share with her or Javi. Shit that’s private.
I step out of the office and look around. I see Elle and her dog in the living room. He’s just like Laura’s Mastiff but a different color. I can’t take this call in front of her. I head up the stairs.
“Madeline?”
“Just a moment. I was in Enrique’s office with the guys. I’m headed to Javi’s room.”
“Why do you keep calling him Javi? And Enrique has enough guest rooms in that mansion that you don’t need to go anywhere but to the one we used to share.”
We spent several Christmases here when we were kids. When we were really little, we’d fall asleep before the evening was done. She and I would climb into a bed together and whisper about the gifts we got or the ones we thought we’d get the nextday. I didn’t think about that room until just now. I still go to Javi’s.
“You’re going to lose all your shit, but you have to let me tell you everything while I have the courage to say it.”
“You better hurry because a comment like that doesn’t calm me down.”
“I know. I don’t know which end of the story to start with, and it might jump around as I think of things.”
“I can follow. Get on with it.”
She doesn’t snap at me. I hear dread instead, but I know she’s already formulating a plan to rescue me. She just needs to know enough details to figure out how. I need to stop her.
“When we were in high school, Javi and I wound up with our dates in the same park. The guy I was with didn’t like it when I said no. Javi heard me scream and got me out of the car. He took care of the guy. After that, he insisted on being my shadow for nearly a year. I had a total crush on him throughout high school, so I accepted and felt safer for it.”
“You did a shitty job keeping that secret, Mads. I knew about your crush.”
“Did you know Javi was watching out for me?”
“No, but I suspected it. I thought you might have been hooking up.”
“You never said anything.”
“Back then, I trusted that he might have been an asshole to everyone but never to you.”
“You need to trust that’s still the case. He and I ran into each other a while ago. I trust him even more now than I did back then. He found out what’s been going on with Drew. I ran away from Albany a month ago. Things haven’t been good with Drew since I moved in with him. Do you know who he is? Has Maks told you?”
There’s a protracted silence before my sister answers.
“Maks warned me that he’s mob. I know you’ve figured out a lot of stuff about Maks and his family without me telling you. That was all Maks needed to tell me for me to figure shit out. Since you don’t ask me about shit I can’t tell you, I figured I’d do the same.”
“I appreciate that. But Maks and Drew couldn’t be more different. Laura, Drew’s been—he’s—fucking hell.”
“Madeline, did he hurt you?”
I don’t answer fast enough.
“Maks! Maks!”
