Page 20 of Bad Blood
Carlos: No, you won’t sabotage things for some piece of ass. Besides, this just means one last Jeventino left in the world. I thought you would be happy about this. At least then they’ll know what it feels like.
Me: It’s not about that. There’s something bigger going on here. Something bigger than the Jeventinos?
Carlos: He got to you somehow, didn’t he? I don’t know how he did it, but you need to pull your head out of your ass.
Me: It’s not what you think.
Carlos: Sure sounds like it. I’m not getting you that name. You’re doing this job. Either you kill Mateo Jeventino, or I will.
He wouldn’t touch Mateo. I’d never let him get close enough. I curse loudly at my phone, kicking at the dirt with my shoes as I walk back to my car. If he isn’t going to get me the name, I will get it myself. I’ll find out who sent that hit on Mateo and there just may be a new target. No one puts a hit on what’s mine.
But Mateo isn’t mine. I don’t even want him.Do I?If I didn’t want him then why did I need to touch him when he was near? Why did I fall asleep to the memories of me making him fall apart in my arms? The plan was to ruin him, but he was ruining me instead. Making me weak, reckless, and stupid. Coming here tonight was a risk. Every time I met with him was. I glance down at the gun in my holster and back at my phone. My brother was right, we had rules we stood by. I shouldn’t break rules for one person, even though that person makes all the bad thoughts disappear when I was with him.
When I am near Mateo, I forget why I was so angry and the urge to kill slips away from my mind. I did what I did to help me get out of my head, it gave me a chance to destroy men like Miguel before they could continue to break families apart. Before they could turn more kids into the bitter and broken man I was today. I didn’t just watch my father die that night, I heard my mother’s screams beneath the flames and I’ve never stopped hearing them. I grip my gun in my hand, thinking about how easy it would be to climb into Mateo’s bed and place a pillow over his face and take him in his sleep. It could all be over in an hour. Killing Mateo would also take care of all my problems.
It would weaken his father and it would weaken Santiago. They didn’t give a reason why it had to be the day after the wedding. Usually we did things on our own time. We didn’t work on other people’s schedules. If they wanted someone dead, we did it as long as we felt there was enough reason for the person to die. We did it at the most convenient times. Besides, killing Mateo after the wedding would be a bigger challenge. I always did enjoy challenges, but not this time. I release my grip on my weapon and reach for the phone instead. Mateo isn’t anything like his father and now that I know that, I know he doesn’t deserve to die.
Me: I need a favor.
Angel: And what might that be?
Me: I need you to find out who was the last person to contact Carlos about a job.
Angel:Is this something I may regret later?
Me: What if I told you just to trust me?
Angel:Then I will. I’ll have it for you as soon as I can. It may take a day or two.
Me:The sooner, the better.
I toss the phone onto the seat, knowing this is something I may end up regretting more than my brother. But I meant what I said about this being bigger than the Jeventinos. If the person who wants Mateo dead is the man I think it is, and he gets his wish, then we will have much bigger problems than my tragic past. The revenge for my family would have to wait.
19
Mateo
“Father...”
“Quiet, Mateo. I have a small problem waiting for me downstairs. I care to only deal with one issue at a time and don’t have time for your little games today. Someone I’ve trusted has been stealing from me. Taking me as some fool. Is that what you take me for, Mateo? Should you be put down there too? Maybe it will help knock some sense into you.”
Shouts and yelps come from the bottom cellar. My father turns his back from me, making his way down the narrow stairway. As I turn to walk back to my room, loud music plays; it’s the same song I heard playing earlier. It was a ploy my father used to get his victims to break. Shutting the door to my room, I stare at the double doors leading to my balcony. I pace back and forth in front of it, glancing at my clock, watching the seconds pass too slowly. Waiting until it is time to meet Gabriel at the same tree near the fountain. The place that has become ours.
Seconds turn into minutes and an hour later I am walking down the balcony stairs. In too much of a hurry from the excitement running in my veins to care if my feet were hitting the metal too loudly. It’s dark and cold the same way it has been, but something seems different today. It’s more quiet than usual. I walk toward the tree, hoping Gabriel will be there, but he isn’t. I stand here alone under the quiet trees and even sounds of nature are absent.
I stand there for what seems too long and the night only grows colder. My watch reads an hour past the time we are supposed to meet. I shiver, pressing my body against the tree, seeking warmth from anywhere I could get it. As the night grows more wary, I head back inside with the sting of disappointment in my chest. My heart sinks at the thought of him not coming again tomorrow. I turn on the shower until the water is nearly scorching hot, before stripping off my clothes. Relaxing into the warm shower, I allow the hard water hitting the floor to drown out the thoughts in my head. I freeze underneath the shower steam when the glass door opens and closes. The fear I’ve become accustomed to hiding courses through my veins when the sound of wet footsteps get closer. I stand still, breathing heavily, waiting for whoever it is to make their next move. They press their hairy chest against my back, breathing in my hair. The smell of cinnamon and blood saturates the air. “Miss me,juguete?”
I close my eyes, getting lost in his scent. He smells of death and freedom. His hands are cold against the skin of my hips as he pulls me back against him. “This is how much I’ve missed you.”
His hard cock presses against the crease of my ass and my moans beg him to keep going. I keep my hands pressed against the wall, knowing I’m not allowed to reciprocate his touches. My fingers beg to sink into his hard muscles, to move along the straining veins of his long, thick cock. But instead, they remain digging into the rough edges of the tile. Loud scratching noises fill the small space as my lower lip slips between my teeth to keep me from screaming when his long, thick finger slips inside my hole, pushing through my tight ring of muscles. My ass cheeks clench as he slips in the second finger and a soft whine escapes my mouth.
“Quiet,mi juguete. You don’t want them to hear us, do you?”
I shake my head, pressing it against the tile. I love it when he calls me his. And I love it when he has my body screaming in desperation and need. I suck in a breath as he moves his fingers in and out of me, leaving me to shake against the wall when they find my prostate. “Ahh, looks like I found your sweet spot. Feels good doesn’t it?”
He reaches around the front of me with his other hand, wrapping his fingers around my cock, giving it long, slow strokes. My hole tugs on his fingers when the overwhelming sensation has me arching my back and pressing my chest into the wall. “Ohhh.”
“Such sweet music you make, mi juguete. You are like my own personal instrument.”
