Page 57 of Blood Ties
He's the only thing keeping me half conscious. I get closer to waking up the more the rush of memories hit me. Marcus holding me in the lake water, him sneaking me kisses behind the old church building and everything before, in between and after.
"Go back, go back."
My eyes flash open and Marcus is leaning over me with tears filling his eyes. "Miguel," he whispers and kisses my forehead. "Papi." His lips peck my cheeks and nose. "I almost lost you."
I smile lazily, my eyes growing wet. "I'm right here." My voice comes out strained and quiet. My throat is so dry and sore, the words come out rougher than they sounded in my head.
He presses his fingers to my lips, tears rolling down his cheeks, his eyes beaming. "Don't speak too soon, mi amor. You're still recovering. I don't want you to overdo it."
He grabs something from behind him and lifts my head up, bringing a straw to my lips. "Drink. It'll help your throat feel better."
He's right. I sip on the cool water, and it slips over my tongue, wetting my mouth and soothing my aching throat. My lips part when he pulls the straw away and he clicks his tongue. "Someone's being as stubborn sick as he is when well. Must be a good sign."
I'm only refusing to listen, because these words have to be said. They can't wait anymore. What if something happens again and he never knows how I feel for him?
"Marcus."
His eyes blink and he leans in closer, lightly resting his hand on my shoulder. "What is it, mi amor?"
"Te amo."
His eyes grow heavy and he laughs in between sobs. He kisses my lips softly, lightly rubbing our noses together. "Yo también te amo."
I release a drawn out sigh, aching the more my chest moves, and I close my eyes again, falling back into a deep sleep, hoping the exchange was real and not a dream or my imagination.
Chapter 26
Marcus
Miguel closes his eyes and drifts back to sleep after waking up for the first time in over a week. I stroke his hair, studying the easy fall and rise of his chest. He's sleeping more comfortably today than when we first brought him into the room.
Isaiah leans on the wall by the door with his arms folded over his chest. "I knew no one could take down my father with some weak ass car bomb."
My lips form into a thin line and I brush a strand of loose hair from Miguel's face. "They don't know that though and we won't let them. Makes it easier to catch Del Rae off guard when he thinks he's won."
"What makes you think this was his doing?"
I open the drawer from the nearby nightstand and pull out Miguel's beat up phone. "I don't think, I know."
I toss the phone his way and he quickly steps forward with open arms, catching it between his palms. "What's this?"
"Proof I got the right man. Able located Miguel's phone a foot away from where they found his body. Check the last text message sent from an unknown number." The screen is cracked with a few black lines running down it, but if you look hard enough, you can make out every word in the message. He had warned Miguel to go back to Mexico or he'd hurt his family.
He never wanted to leave me.
He was doing what he thought he had to do. Isaiah turns on the phone, his eyes studying the screen closely. "So, what do you suggest we do? Stand around this room, watching my father sleep his way to recovery while that asshole gets away with trying to have him killed?"
I shake my head, sinking my nails into the pillow beside me. "No. We blow his fucking house down after destroying everything he thinks he has."
"I'm all ears." He stands taller, leaning off the wall.
"First things first, we make sure a few pictures of Del Rae and his lover end up in the hands of his wife. She will care less to hear about his death once she has the evidence of his secret affair."
"How do we get these pictures?"
"It's already been done. Antonio is on his way to deliver them as we speak. It was easy finding the guy he occasionally sneaks away with. Every man makes a mistake and Del Rae's was falling for some big mouth stripper who spends most of his free time bragging about his big, powerful crime lord boyfriend. After Julia's sister was delivered to Del Rae's places of business, he ran scared to make sure his precious pet was safe. Cesar was outside the apartment waiting with a camera in hand."
"Something tells me your plan doesn't end there."
