Page 58 of Brutal Enforcer

“No, we can’t. Angel owns that island; he did even before he took over for my father.” I drummed my hands on the wheel, racking my brain for an idea of where I could take her. “When you were little, where did you always want to go but never got to for one reason or another?”

Lyse thought about it for a minute. “New York City,” she said finally.

New York. We had connections in the city, and they weren’t close enough that they’d tell Angel where I was. “Why there?”

“When I was younger, I wanted to go see the Statue of Liberty, you know? Do touristy things with my family, but Apá didn’t like traveling with us. When I got older, I wanted to go because of the museums and the theater district. I thought I might go to school for something artistic.”

She can do that now. I took her hand. “Let’s do it,” I said.

Lyse smiled at me, beaming and beautiful. It was the kind of smile that a man would do anything for. “Look at flights to New York,” I said, handing her my phone. “If there isn’t one that leaves soon that we can get tickets for, look at Amtrak.”

She nodded and spent the next few minutes scanning on my phone. “There aren’t any flights until tomorrow,” she said, “but we could leave on the train in an hour.”

I started mapping our way to the Amtrak station and turned down the next street: we were headed in the wrong direction. It took thirty minutes to reach the station. We were cutting it close.

“I can’t believe this is happening,” Lyse said as we wove our way through the crowd to stand in the line at the ticketing office. “Are we really doing this? Starting over?”

I nodded, and a part of me was just as stunned and excited as she was. Lyse wasn’t the only one who had thought about what it would be like away from the cartels. I had plenty of good memories of my life, but there were four times as many memories that were filled with violence and pain. My father had made sure of that.

But what if Lili was right? Angelwasmore vulnerable right now. It would take months for him to recover, and who knew what would happen in that time? No one would stand against him if I was there at his back…but without me, who would Angel turn to? Who was most loyal? Manny?

The thought of my fifteen-year-old cousin becoming Angel’s enforcer was as nauseating as it was laughable. Lili would be a better choice…not that Angel would ever allow that to happen. He, like Padre, wanted Lili to train and be able to protect herself in an emergency, but he’d never actually allow her to put herself in danger.

Lyse was rocking on her heels at my side, trying to calm herself down, and I rested my hand at the small of her back, letting her lean against me. It felt good to be with her like this, like we were a regular couple on a regular vacation. It was how life should have been for us…how it would be once we were in New York.

My stomach cramped at the idea.Life with Lyse will be good, I told myself. We could get to know one another for real and not worry about anyone trying to kill us. I could get a regular job: a bouncer, maybe. I had experience with that.

The longer we stood in the line, however, the more time I had to consider Lili’s words. When the people in front of us finally moved, I walked to the counter, ready to ask for two tickets…but I couldn’t make myself say the word “two.” Instead, with a glance at Lyse, I said, “One one-way ticket to New York City, please.”

“Omar?” Lyse said, squeezing my forearm.

The woman keyed in the request, and I paid for it with a swipe of my credit card. Angel could track the card if he wanted, but I didn’t think he’d want to.

Lyse blinked down at the single ticket, dragging me out of earshot of the other passengers. “What’s going on?”

It was hard to look at her. “I can’t go with you.”

“But…Angel threw you out! You can’t stay here. He’ll kill you!”

I shook my head. “I don’t think he will.”

Lyse was pissed; I didn’t blame her. She shoved at me, little jabs with her fingers that actually hurt…not that I would ever admit that out loud. “You’re leaving me in thehopethat your brother doesn’t spread your limbs all over the damn Everglades?¿Estás hablando en serio?”

“Look, Lili was right. If Angel is left vulnerable, there’s a good chance that he’s going to be taken down. If not by one of my Tíos, then another cartel in a push for our territory. I can’t let that happen. Not after he’s worked so damn hard and survived a two-week coma.”

She looked like she wanted to swing at me again. “He kicked you out; he said you weren’t a Castillo anymore. You pickedme. Why would you turn back now?”

I cupped her face in my hands, and even as mad as she was, Lyse didn’t pull away. She grabbed my arms. “If I leave my brother alone, I’m not the man that I thought I was,” I said. “I wouldn’t be the kind of man who deserves you.”

Tears trickled from her eyes, wetting my fingers. “What’s the point of deserving me if you’re not going to be with me?”

“Because I plan to be with you,” I said. “Angel won’t need me forever. He’s going to recover.”

“That’ll take months. Years, maybe, until he’s returned to full strength.” The silentif he ever islay between us. “If I get on that train, I’m never going to see you again.”

I pressed my mouth against hers, trying to bury myself in the softness of her lips so that the twisting and tugging as my heart wrenched in my chest didn’t overwhelm me. “I will see you again one day,” I said and pressed the ticket and credit card into her hand. “Until then, enjoy your freedom. Go to art school. See the museums.” I let her go, rubbing absently at my chest; it ached, but I knew it wasn’t the kind of pain that I could take medicine for. “I have contacts in New York. By the time you get there, I will have someone waiting for you at the platform. They’ll help you get situated, keep an eye on you for me.”

Lyse looped her arms around my neck, keeping me close. “If you get yourself killed, I am going to kick your ass.”

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