Page 109 of Cartel Viper
“So, I can look for a gown and make sure it’s ready for next week. What color should I pick?”
“You’re so bossy.”
“I’m practical.”
I huff a pretend sigh. “Lavendar.”
“Figured.”
We laugh together, and it feels good to have a reprieve from everything that happened yesterday. I’m just hanging out with my sister. But I know we can’t avoid discussing things. If Maks hasn’t filled her in, there must be a reason. I know he consults her on a lot of shit he would deny ever discussing with his wife. If he hasn’t told Laura much, there’s bound to be a reason. That won’t stop us from talking about what we can.
“I know you won’t judge me, so I need to tell you more about the past four years. You know it took me two solid years before I was ready to move in with Drew. After what happened with my last relationship and how things fizzled when I thought we were moving toward marriage, I was hesitant to commit. He was persuasive, but I took my time. It was within a couple months of me moving in that he inherited his title.”
I keep to myself that I suspect Elle had something to do with Drew’s father’s death.
“Everything changed. I didn’t know what was going on at first. I thought it was grief that made him lash out. When I found out who he’d become, it infuriated me that he hadn’t been upfront since Maks never hid from you who he is. But I rationalized that Drew and I aren’t you and Maks. I tried to leave after the first time he hit me. His reaction made it seem like leaving would only make everything worse. Things settled down, and I figured we were back to normal. I didn’t forgive him, but I decided to move on.”
No greater fool was I than not to go to Maks when it happened.
“Even though I’m a midwife and hadn’t patched anyone up since nursing school, he insisted I stitch up his guys when they got injured. After two guys died of wounds medical care could have treated, it progressed into me going on missions but staying out of sight. He claimed he didn’t want to lose any more men to stupid shit that could’ve been cured in the field.”
I throw my voice into a mockingly deep one when I repeat the bullshit he spewed.
“You can’t ‘cure’—” My turn for air quotes. “—GSWs and stabbings, but he made me go. He picked me up and shoved me into the SUV the first two times. Again, it was just easier to go along with it. There was an incident where a rival fired over my shoulder and hit a guy I was patching up in an SUV’s trunk. I didn’t think twice about grabbing the gun in front of me and shooting back. I hit the guy three times and killed him. Traumatized the fuck out of me, but I lived and so did Drew’s mobster.”
Laura’s holding my hands as I confess my sins. I know her temper’s on a steady simmer because Drew is already dead. If he were alive, it would be boiling over.
“I feared how Drew would react to me getting involved. It was the nicest he’d been since I moved in. He was back to theguy I originally dated. But it was his usual subterfuge. Less than a month later, he coerced me into taking three duffel bags of money to Rochester. I didn’t know the money was counterfeit or that I’d be picking up product to bring back to him. It shocked the shit out of the guy when I showed up. He didn’t expect a woman. It made him suspicious until he realized I was far less likely to get pulled over after leaving a known mob neighborhood than if I were a man. It just went downhill from there. I became his best mule. I even negotiated some of the deals.”
“You worked for the mob.”
“Pretty much.”
“After the shit I saw and heard, I didn’t doubt Drew would target you, Mila, and Konstantin.”
He sent me the photo of them at the grocery store. That wasn’t the first time he used them to blackmail me. It just didn’t work this last time because I had Javi with me.
“I didn’t want to cause a war between Maks and Drew. I knew it would wind up being a proxy war that was really about Maks and Dillan. I feared it would explode into something way bigger, so I sucked it up.”
“How did you wind up with Javi?”
“We had a chance encounter at the hotel where I hid in Brooklyn. I recognized him immediately, but I’m a lot thinner than I used to be. He spotted some bruises on my wrists that weren’t completely healed. He came back to see me once he realized who I was.”
I won’t give away more than that because that’s Diaz business.
“How long had you been there?”
“Nearly a month.”
“And you still had bruises? What the fuck? I’ll resurrect that motherfucker and kill him myself.”
“They were faint, but you know these guys. You know they’re more observant and recognize shit like that far more than the average person. If anyone else would’ve asked, I would’ve said my boyfriend and I were into kinky shit that got too rough. That tends to shut people up fast.”
Laura nods and darts a glance in the living room’s direction before cocking an eyebrow. I grin and nod. We giggle. That’s as open as we’ll be about our sex lives. She’s never shared intimate details about Maks and her, and I would never reveal intimate things about Javi. But I’ve known she’s been into BDSM for years, so it never surprised me when I figured out she and Maks are into it together. She knows I’ve preferred it in the past. Luckily, Drew wasn’t into it. I never would’ve willingly given him that much control. Even during the good years—the first two—something kept me from suggesting it, so we stuck with vanilla. I’m far better sexually matched and fulfilled with Javi than any previous partner.
“When do you think the O’Sheehans will strike next?”
Laura knows like I do—it’s inevitable.
