Page 65 of Brutal Enforcer

I didn’t want to lie to him. “Do you think you could be around Omar and Angel without trying to kill them?”

His expression soured. “Probably not.”

“That’s your answer, then.” We stood together, and Matteo hugged me hard. “You’re going to be fine,mijo. Just keep being the apple of Apá’s eye.”

“It’s not Apá that I’m worried about,” he muttered, but he refused to explain what he meant. “Te quiero.”

“Te quiero mucho.”

Then my brother was gone, and my chest ached, even as I hunted down the bank of payphones again. I used the phone card and dialed Lili Castillo’s number, praying that she hadn’t changed it.

“Hola?”

“Lili.”

“Who is this?”

“It’s Lyse.” There was a flurry of movement on the other end of the line. “Wait! Omar is in trouble! Please, don’t hang up!”

Lili sighed in my ear. “You have ten seconds.”

“My father sent someone after him; he’s supposed to bring proof that he’s dead. I don’t have any way to warn him. Please, I need you to do something.”

“Mierda!”

My sentiments exactly, I thought. “You have to tell Omar. Warn him.”

Lili made a wounded sound deep in her throat. “I can try…but Angel sent Omar back to the island as a test of his loyalty. He can’t fail.”

I wasreallyover all of this stupid family nonsense. “So, Angel won’t help him when he’s in danger? How is my family coming after him a failure?”

“He told us to trustyou,” Lili said. “And now the Rojas are coming for him. Angel is going to see this as just one more thing that Omar failed to prevent from happening in the first place.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose to stave off the headache that was building behind my eyes. “Can you call the island? Give him a heads up?”

“I’ll call,” she promised, and for a moment, my shoulders relaxed. Omar was fully capable of taking care of himself. With a little warning, he would be fine. “I just wish –” Lili cut herself off.

“What? You wish what?”

She sighed. I could almost picture her chewing on her nail. “Before he left, Angel had Omar beaten as punishment. Mauricio was…thorough.”

Dread pooled in my belly. Omar’s body had been through the ringer. How much more could he possibly withstand? Even with prior warning? The need to see him screamed through me: I needed to see him whole and safe. “I need to get out there.”

“To the island? Are you crazy?”

“Can you make it happen? Please?”

She was quiet for a long moment, and I worried that she hung up on me. Finally, she asked, “Can you get to the marina?”

I would have to call for a rideshare, but Omar did leave his credit card. “Yeah, I should be able to.”

“Head that way,” Lili said. “I’ll have a boat waiting for you.” I snorted, briefly imagining myself trying to figure out how to drive a speedboat without killing myself. “That’s great…I can’t drive one.”

“I can get you a ride,” she said snippily. “He’s one of Omar’s favorite cousins, so he’ll do just about anything for him…but he hates your family more than anything else on the planet.”

Fantastic. “It’ll be fine,” I said. “Thank you.”

“Just…prove Angel wrong, okay? Prove to all of us that you are worth all of this.”

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