Page 17 of Bad Blood
“Don’t you trust me anymore,hermano?”
“No. You haven’t been yourself lately and you haven’t been responding to jobs as quickly as you used to. And then, you almost missed your mark the other day. It always seems like your head has been in the clouds lately. What is going on with you? Please tell me you aren’t still trying to go after the Jeventinos. You know we will never win.”
My brother was always against my idea of revenge, which is why I sought out doing it alone. All these years I have been plotting and planning. Normally I am more discrete with every action I take. Tampering with those drugs was a bold move and so was killing Gilbert Alverez’s main runner. I knew they would be, but I pulled the trigger anyway. It was only a matter of time.
“I told you, I had nothing to do with any of those things and my head hasn’t been anywhere but here.”
It was a lie and I knew he could see right past it. My head was anywhere but here today. He shifts his weight against the chair. “You better be telling me the truth. I won’t take the fault for your screw ups. Father paid the ultimate price getting involved with those people and so will you. Learn to let things go. It’s for the best.”
I shift my feet back and forth. I couldn’t let things go as easily as he could. The screams of my family still haunted me at night. The memories of my parents burning beneath the flames haunted my dreams. I wouldn’t stop until Miguel Santiago felt my pain. Until he lost everything. I couldn’t let Mateo get in the way of my plans again. I had to let him go soon. When I do, I have to make sure it hurts him more than it hurts me. “You’ve always been able to shove away what’s happening around you and move forward. You forget, we don’t work the same way.”
“Let it go,hermano. Learn to walk away.”
“The only thing I’m walking away from is this conversation.”
I walk out the front door of my brother’s small apartment and he doesn’t stop me. He knows me well. I always do what I originally set out to do, no matter what. The next step would be making Miguel feel like he couldn’t trust anyone, not even the people closest to him. I would start with his right hand man, Danny Garcia. I had something in store for him. Miguel had some of his shipment go missing a few months ago and he was about to find it soon. I sent Trey a message, making sure everything was set in place.
Me:Is it done?
Trey:It’s done boss.
The missing package has been set in Danny’s car. I send one more message to complete the job,
Me:Make the call.
Teo:Consider it done.
I pull up in front of a bakery, watching Mateo walk inside, not noticing my car. His new bodyguard follows behind him, taking in the scenery with his eyes never landing one me. Oh, you could do better than that guy, Miguel. It’s your son’s life we are talking about. I call a random kid walking down the sidewalk over to my car, with a ten dollar bill in my hand. “Hey kid, want to make some quick cash?”
He nods, reaching for the money and I snatch it away before he can grab it. “I need you to call that man over, create a distraction. Tell him you have an important message from the boss.”
His eyes shift from Mateo’s diver and back to meet. “I can do that.” He reaches for the money and I release it into his hand.
He runs across the street in panic. “Mister, I need you to come here. It’s important.” He yells across the road. “Please, Mister, I need you to come here.”
“Fuck off, kid,” the driver spits.
“Please. It’s important. I have a message for you, from the boss.”
The driver’s eyes widen, and he hesitantly walks across the road. I run up the sidewalk, making sure the driver’s attention stays on the kid. I open the door and slip a note in a place I hope Mateo will see it. Mateo is the only one who ever uses this car and I made sure to put it where he usually sits. I walk away with a smug expression. Now I have two plans set in place. I was more excited about the wrong one.
17
Mateo
It’s only been a week, but one week too long. I go back to the same club, searching for him, needing to see those dark eyes and needing to feel those large, rough hands on me again. My gaze is met with nothing but strangers moving and laughing in the dimly lit club. I walk to the bar, ordering a drink, hoping after my second one he will magically appear, but he doesn’t. Someone yanks on my arm and I turn to face them, almost letting my cup drop from my hand. “You came back. Looks like your big hero didn’t come with you.”
The same man from a few weeks ago smiles maliciously, licking his lips. I slide my hand under my coat, pulling a knife from my corset when he presses his body against mine, swiping his tongue against my cheek. “You’re coming with me tonight, pretty boy.”
I spit in his face, gritting my teeth. “I don’t think so.” His screams are loud and deep when I plunge my knife into his thigh. “You little...”
I lift my knee, hitting him in the groin and he lands on the ground with a thud as people step back from his tumbling body. “What the hell is going on here?” One of the managers appears from behind the bar.
The man on the ground huddles around himself, appearing small and weak. “That asshole stabbed me. What kind of a place is this where you let little delinquents in like him? I am a VIP member here, and this is unacceptable.”
The manager stares at me, brows bunching together. “Who the hell comes into my club, stabbing my high end customers? Who the hell let you in?”
I stand up straighter, flattening out my coat. “I am Mateo Jeventino, son of Miguel Jeventino, and fiancé of Santiago Morales. This man here assaulted me, and I did what I had to do to defend myself.”
