Page 71 of Embedded
“I know, brother.” Chili held up his hands as Armondo approached with a gun pointed in our direction.
“What the fuck is going on here, Chili?” he boomed then whistled for his men to get Bruno. “This was a meeting with you, not…” He squinted at me and his gun wavered. “Impossible.”
I greeted him with a nod then was shoved from behind to start walking around the side of the house.
I’d been to the place a few times in the past but was never welcomed inside. To even get past the gates required an extensive background check. One of Frank’s specialties. It was the Perez family’s property. I knew it was where Bruno had been born and raised and I also knew it was his mother, Esmeralda’s, main place of business. It was heavily protected and well patrolled by soldiers and attack dogs.
We were directed through to a room that led out to the back patio where Bruno Perez greeted us. His face registered shock as he set his eyes on me.
I expected it; after all, I was dead.
“Eric Noah?” He said my name like he couldn’t believe it. “You’re the last face I expected to see,” he paused, “well, ever again.” He quickly pulled a gun, and we heard the clicks as his men did the same. “You tried to kill me. What makes you think I shouldn’t return the favor?”
I shook my head at Chili so he wouldn’t speak. I knew it was me Bruno wanted to hear from.
“You can,” I lifted a shoulder, “but something tells me you’d be more curious to hear about my sudden resurrection before you decide to splatter my brain over your patio.”
Bruno might seem unpredictable to most, but not to me. I understood him. He thought of himself as a badass, but he was just a spoiled boy with a temper and a mother who loved to order him around. I knew he hated that his mother still had control. It was almost pathetic the way he stood there waving around his gold gun with its ivory handle. He was all show. Evil and dangerous, though, so I knew I’d have to handle him carefully.
“Sit.” He pointed to the table with his weapon, and Chili and I took a seat. A beautiful humidor sat in the middle of the round marble top, and I leaned over slowly to raise the lid and took an appreciative sniff. If I was to appear the same man as before, I had to act the part.
“Cohiba Behike.” Bruno nodded, and I reached in carefully and held one up to show Chili. “You have always had excellent taste, Eric.” He nodded at me in appreciation. “When those were first released, they sold for eighteen hundred US dollars a box. That humidor was one of only one hundred sold and held forty cigars.”
“Really? That’s incredible.” Chili blew out an amazed breath and leaned close to take a whiff, but he didn’t dare touch it.
“You were always a man of incredible taste.” I eyed Bruno. His chest puffed up as he accepted my compliment. We made ourselves seem comfortable. Hopefully, it would convince him to let his guard down.
“I enjoy only the very best.” Bruno’s cocky side showed, and I knew it was time to dive in. “Well?”
I gently replaced the cigar and closed the lid. To show appreciation was one thing, but helping myself to one would be going too far.
“So, Bruno, I want you to know I had no idea that when I ran up behind your vehicle someone had planted a bomb inside.” I started with the betrayal first. Bruno was an emotional man, and his ego needed to be stroked some more. “I can’t figure out who was behind that. Though I have heard rumors.” I made a show of glancing at Armondo. “Interesting how you both were there but only one of you was burned.” I stated that quietly for only him to hear. A flash of memory found me of when I attached the explosive under the vehicle and how it had let go on one side. Then it must have fallen to the ground before it ignited.
Bruno rested his hand on the table, but I noticed he still held his gun. “The full story.”
“That night, I was being followed by Rafeal Cruz on Perez territory. I was coming to get you so we could circle around, trap him, and kill him for trespassing.” I gave him a wicked grin. “You know like the old days.” The crease in his jacket around his shoulder smoothed out as he visibly relaxed at my comment. “Only I didn’t get the chance.” I pushed up the short sleeve on my shirt to show him where my fake burn started and traveled down to my hand. We had made sure the cosmetic scars covered the length of my arm in order to conceal my tattooed sleeve. “You weren’t the only one who was left with a reminder of that terrible day.”
He studied the ugly grooves and, without thinking, touched his own. My eyes shifted to Chili, and he gave me a slight tilt of the head that he’d seen too.
“I had every intention of finding you after the blast, but Rio got to me first.”
“Rio?” he interrupted, and I swore I saw Chili’s lips twitch. Bruno loathed his mother’s right-hand man. He knew he’d never measure up to him.
“After your car exploded, I woke up in the back of Rio’s car. My arm was bandaged, and they’d drugged me up with something for the pain. The stuff knocked me out for hours. Now I know the reason.”
“Which was?”
“Well, after the fog from the drug wore off, I realized your mother had joined us in the car. She said you were alive, but things were going to be different.” I knew the next part would raise his temper. “She thought our plan for Talya wasn’t being handled correctly.”
“Of course she did,” he muttered more to himself. “What did she say?”
“She thought it would be a good idea for you to pretend to stay dead and for me to keep working our angle with Talya.”
He cursed and shook his head. “She wanted me out of the way, you mean.”
“No, look,” I leaned my elbows on the table and lowered my voice, “you and me, we had come up with the perfect plan. We had the Canos daughter betray her own blood to work with us!” I added a level of excitement to my voice. “She was feeding us information, and we were actively stepping in and blocking their drug runs. We were making a dent, but your mother saw the writing on the wall and wanted in on it. Can you imagine if shit hadn’t gone sideways?” I shook my head with a sly grin. “They would never have seen that coming.”
“I know it was a great plan, because it was my idea,” he said through a clenched jaw. “What else did my mother have to do with this?”
