Page 6 of Blood Spilled
I would occasionally tag along on jobs with him, being told to wait in the car or outside buildings in alleyways. His words had always stayed with me over the years, echoing in my ears. “Them or you.”
He would hand me a Rubik’s cube, telling me to have it figured out by the time he came back. The day I finally did was the day I lost him in a fire. He had entered that burning house to save the rest of my family and never came out.
I spin the cube around on my desk, turning on my computer to run numbers for the clubs Gabriel and I own. The latest one we had opened is already bringing in the most money, because of its location. There isn't much competition in that area, not yet. I have clients come in sometimes asking to order the best drink in the house, it’s a code phrase for anyone looking to order something a bit stronger than alcohol.
Usually, the bartender contacts one of my men or me and we make sure their product is delivered to where it needs to go. I have many dealings with a few cartels and drug dealers, but this is my operation. Mine alone and no one would tell me what to do when it came to my dealings. If people don’t like the way I handle business, they were suggested to go elsewhere.
They didn’t always walk away peacefully and I am always prepared for when they don’t. I have two main locations I work from—Texas and Mexico. I keep my locations separate. I do my dealings straight from those locations and the cartels get it across the borders to the smaller guys who distribute it to retailers. I have men that I trust with my life helping maintain things when I can’t be there.
Occasionally there are those who test their limits, assuming I won't notice them scheming behind my back with the competition. That's where my brothers came in. All I had to dowas give them a name and the threats were handled. This time I want to take care of things myself. With Santiago, it's different. It's more personal.
No matter how much I attempt to focus on work, my attention keeps shifting to the door across the way. Normally I keep the men I interrogate or want to teach a lesson in the basement below. Except I want Santiago close by whenever I'm here and most of the men who went behind my back and deserved a wake-up call were screamers.
Not my little mouse though. He may never scream or speak louder than a whisper again due to the damage of his larynx from breathing tubes.
My eyes stay on the door as I respond to messages and phone calls. I never leave my desk and my eyes rarely ever leave the hallway. I pull up the video and my little mouse is just where I had left him. Still huddled in the cage, buried under the blanket. But unlike before, he is curled up into a ball on his side and no longer sitting up. He appears so innocent and frail. This is not the same man from four weeks ago. That man had stood tall, blinded by his own power. This one is nearly defeated, fully vulnerable and locked in a cage with his eyes wide open. No way could it be this easy. He has to be fucking with me. A man like Santiago can’t be this easily broken, or maybe I really don’t know him as well as I thought I did.
“Until tomorrow, little mouse,” I say before turning off the camera. I stand up from my chair and walk through the hallway toward talking in the kitchen. Mateo and Gabriel are arguing, and Gabriel's hands are placed over a very upset Mateo's shoulders, an attempt to keep him in place.
Gabriel's gaze lands on me and Mateo follows it with his own eyes. His face grows a bright red and his eyes nearly bulge out of his head. “Where the fuck is he and exactly what do you think you're doing keeping that monster alive?”
I release a drawn-out sigh. “I'm not sure what you're talking about.”
Mateo grunts. “Save your lies for someone who will believe your bullshit. Gabriel told me everything. At first, I thought it was some joke. Then it came out in the news that his grave was tampered with and the coffin was missing a body. So where is he? You know his mother is looking for him and she has others on her side. They are searching for her son, wanting to put him back at the top. What happens when they find out he's here, huh?”
My eyes grow wide. “You didn't lead them here, did you?”
He laughs and shakes his head. “Of course not. You should know by now that your brother and I have a way of staying under the radar. For all they know, we are still at the mansion.”
“Good. The last thing I need is more dead bodies on my property. Enough attention has been brought here as it is.”
Loud noises come from the hallway and Mateo tilts his head to the side and his eyes fall on the door at the end. “Is that where you're keeping him? Seriously Angel? You have him in your fucking house? What is he, a sex slave for you? You couldn't have gotten someone else to satisfy your needs?”
I laugh, throwing my head back. “It's funny how you assume I have issues bringing people to my bed, and it's also funny you think I'd go through all this trouble for an easy fuck. You, of all people, should know what it's like to want revenge. You should thank me for this.” It's true, I wouldn't have trouble bringing anyone to my bed if that's what I really wanted. The truth is, I haven’t been with anyone in that way in over ten years. I can't remember the last time I allowed someone to touch me for my own enjoyment.
I swallow hard, trying my best to keep the haunting memories at bay, never allowing myself to relive those moments while awake. They haunt my dreams enough as it is. It’s the mainreason I lay in bed awake most nights. My life took a different course after that and never can I allow myself to fall victim to another person again. Keeping Santiago weak and frail makes him less of a threat.
Mateo scoffs. “Thank you for what exactly? Giving one of my biggest enemies free room and board?”
“Please. People receive better treatment in prison than he has here. You know just as well as I do death is too good for him. Besides, he knows stuff.”
He glances between my brother and me. “What kind of stuff?”
Gabriel swallows hard. “About what his father was involved in before all this went down. There were bigger things happening around us and, based on the way things have been going lately, there still are, and it's because of Jose Morales. No telling how bad it would have gotten if he had succeeded at getting your father out of the way.”
Mateo straightens his tie. “And you think Santiago will tell you?”
“Yes. In due time.”
Gabriel sighs. “Well I sure hope it's sooner than it sounds. Two more dealers were found dead with their tongues shoved down their throats. Each body had a message carved into the skin saying the same thing that was carved into Mateo’s when he was a kid. I think it's just to throw us off.”
Mateo’s fingers scratch against the counter loudly. “You need to get rid of him as soon as you find out who's behind all of this.”
I run my hand through my hair. “He may not talk for a while though.”
Mateo pounds his fist against the countertop. “Then make him. Pretend to be his friend. Make him think you're going to let him go free. Do whatever it takes to earn his trust and then destroy every last bit of him that's left.”
It's crazy to think this is the same Mateo that people saw as weak only weeks ago. A man everyone had seen as breakable and easily defeated. They were all wrong and he made sure to let every damn one of them know it. Many think Mateo is stronger because of my brother when, the truth is, they are stronger together. Gabriel grabs Mateo’s hand, rubbing the outside with his thumb. I can see the tension rolling off Mateo's shoulders and his face becoming less strained.
