Page 76 of Mex

Something for them?

I look up at them in confusion. Mex refuses to meet my eyes.

It kills me that he’s so angry.

It hurts on a level I’m not sure I’ll recover from.

“What?” I whisper.

“You’re goin’ to give us some information we need that your mother had, before Marek takes over. You provide it to us, we’ll let you go, and you can go live the life you were so willin’ to sacrifice everything for.”

“What exactly do you want me to get?”

“We need information someone workin’ with Ivan.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know his name,” Western mutters, “but your mother did. He has been hidden in all of this, a silent partner. Your mother knows who he is, but we can’t seem to get our hands on his information. You get us that, you go.”

I have heard Death and my mother talking about a silent partner. I’m not certain for what reason anyone would need a silent partner unless that person was in a position of power or someone who had a reputation to uphold. I already know Mayor’s enjoy getting their hands dirty, so could it be someone higher? It’s possible and incredibly likely. Those kinds of people are the dirtiest of them all.

I nod. “I have head them talking about a silent partner.”

“We want a name. You get us that, and you can go.”

I narrow my eyes. “That’s it?”

“You gave us Ivan,” Western mutters, “if it weren’t for that, you’d be dead now. You get me this name; we’ll call it even.”

“Okay,” I say, my voice careful. “I can do that.”

“If you try to run,” Mex warns, his voice so low and deep it hurts me to hear it, “then we’ll hunt you down and make you wish you were never fuckin’ born.”

“I got it,” I grind out.

“You better move,” Western tells me, “You’re runnin’ out of time.”

Pushing to my feet, I walk towards them. Four men at the door, all over them scarily overwhelming. They don’t move for a second, instead they look at me with warning. All of them are telling me, without saying a single word, that if I try anything, I’m going to wish I hadn’t. It’s Mex’s gaze that hurts the most. He is looking at me with betrayal mixed in, too.

I dare to say it, even though I know it’ll mean nothing. “For whatever it’s worth, I truly meant no harm. If you understood the life I live, then you would understand that sometimes, you’re given no choice. I did want to hurt you all to begin with, but after a time, that changed. Now, I wish you no harm. I’m sorry.”

I push past them and get out of the club as quickly as possible.

I’m running out of time and the first thing I need to do is see Death. After today, I know it’ll destroy something inside me if I have to kill him, so right now, the best I can do is go warn him, tell him that’s his fate, try once more to get him to leave. I pray it works because if it doesn’t, I’m left with no other options. I don’t want to have to do it, but I’m so close to the end of this mess.

Mex’s face lingers in my mind as I make my way over, and it hurts.

I want to talk to him, to make this better, to say something that’ll stop him looking at me the way he was, but I know nothing I say will change anything. He hates me, and with good reason. I didn’t expect to feel the kind of pain I’m feeling, the ache in my chest that won’t go away, the desperate need to fix something with a man I’m not even dating. I know I’ve developed feelings for him, though, and I know that those aren’t just going to leave.

I think I might be falling in love with him.

As I reach my destination, I take a deep breath before heading in. I know Death will be here, but before I speak to him, I really need to get the name of this girl. If I can give the club what they want, maybe Mex will hear me out. It’s worth a shot, at the very least. I speak to a few people as I make my way towards my mother’s office. Nobody seems shocked to see me again, so I’m hoping that’s a good sign. As I reach the office, I see it’s empty. I throw up a silent thanks and pull out the key, unlocking it. Thankfully, Death hasn’t changed the locks.

Once inside, I sit down at the desk and open her computer. I go through everything, but I can’t find any information at all. The entire thing has been wiped clean, as if nothing ever existed, as if she never existed. I resort to digging through her drawers, the cupboards, anything that might hold what I’m looking for, but it’s all empty. Everything is gone. The office looks exactly the same, but there is not a trace of her here. Death is the only person that could have removed all of this.

“You won’t find anything.”

Spinning, I see Death standing at the doorway, a gun dangling from his fingers.

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