Page 85 of Cartel Viper
“I don’t know. Wait a minute. Maks!”
“Jav—”
“Maks, what do you know?” Do I sound as panicked as I feel?
“The last you told me, she was coming over, but you didn’t say when she would be here. I figured she was still at Enrique’s.”
“Fucking hell, Maks. I don’t have a tracker for her yet, so I don’t know where she is.”
I look over at my uncle, and his expression shows he’s as alarmed as I feel. We’re using our satellite phone for this call, not any of our cells. They’re all off, so he can’t easily pingTíaElle’s phone or the necklace she wears with a tracker in it.
“I have to go, Misha. I need to get back to my uncle’s house and see what’s going on with Madeline.”
“We can head over there.”
“No. You’ve done more than enough. Stay the fuck away from my girlfriend.”
“Girlfriend?”
“Like you hadn’t already fucking figured it out. Don’t be a douche on top of all of this, Misha. I have to go.”
I hang up the call while I’m unfastening my cuffs, then unbuttoning my shirt. I changed into my regular clothes—a suit—before I leftTíoEnrique’s. It’s cliché as fuck, but José knew all six of us showing up in suits meant we were there to do business. I took off the jacket, so I had full range to swing the crowbar.
I strip as fast as I can, hopping from one foot to the other as I prepare to jump in the shower. It’s not just a way to freshen up after a night here on a cot. We scrub away any evidence we might have picked up in order to preserve our anonymity here and to protect us against bringing any evidence with us.
It also means we go through clothes faster than a group of sorority sisters. We burn everything when we leave. Pablo’s already collecting my cast-off clothing to put in the burn bin. Alejandro’s pulling something out of the community closet we have since we can all share clothes just like sorority sisters.
My heart races with a sense of urgency I’m all too familiar with. But as I shower, it grows to an intensity that alarms me. It wasn’t that long ago we needed to rescue myTíaCatalina. She’s always been like a second mom to me since she andMamáare best friends and have been since they were little. There’ve been times when my brothers, cousins, and uncles have been in danger too.
This is different. It’s never been the woman I want to spend my life with. It’s never been the woman I can’t imagine taking another breath without. She’s become my everything in what seems like a matter of moments. But in truth, I’ve always had feelings for her, and she’s had the same for me. It just took us two decades to admit it. Considering how long it took, I refuse to give up now that I finally have her.
I’m barely dry enough to get my clothes on without them sticking to me.
“Do you want me to drive?” Jorge holds out his hand for my keys.
We could’ve all come here together in town cars or our SUVs, but I knew I might want to leave before we finished in case Maddy needed something. Did I tempt fate by wondering that?
I nod to my brother, knowing his lead foot will allow me to concentrate on trying to track Maddy. Even though no one knows our place is here on Long Island, we still turn off our phones at least five miles away to give us a perimeter to protect our secrecy.
I know the others will finish up with José, and I know they’ll begin a plan to retaliate against Misha. The bratva’ll lose a fewmen or a few thousand dollars’ worth of goods over this just to remind them they fucked up.
However, we can’t hit them as hard as we’d like. Otherwise, we could wind up doing something that endangers Laura, Maddy, or some other woman in their family. We refuse to be like them. My phone pings within seconds of me turning it back on. There’s a voicemail from my aunt Elle’s number. My heart may have just stopped as I listened to Maddy’s desperate plea for help.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Maddy
“Madeline, we can head over there whenever you’re ready. Enrique said Maks knows to expect you. We just didn’t say what time, so if you want to have something to eat before we go, you can, or we can set off right now.”
I wound up staying upstairs for a couple hours after Javi left. He was concerned that I looked exhausted and got worried. He said it was safe for me to stay at Enrique and Elle’s for a while if I wanted to nap. Once my niece and nephew see me, they won’t leave me alone until their bedtime. I admitted I felt ready to drop. I was going to rest on the bed, but of course I passed out. Hard. I came downstairs after my siesta.
“I’m sure Laura’s kitchen is fully stocked just like yours is with that many large men coming and going. There’s always food in the house. Plus, one of their moms is usually dropping off something.”
Galina, Svetlana, and Alina are all superb cooks who still spoil their sons and daughters-in-law. It gives them excuses to go over and see their grandkids as well.
“Thank you for the offer, but Laura’s only going to freak out more if I don’t get over there soon. She’s likely to come banging on your door. I didn’t realize how long I slept.”
Elle grins. “Enrique tells me all the time she’s a younger version of me.”
