Page 103 of Bad Men

“We were told you were dead,” I blurted. “How did you get away from Joseph?”

“Joseph is an idiot. I ran when he wasn’t looking. I’ve been hiding here in this shit hole for months. It’s the only place Alejandro hasn’t looked for me, but it’s only a matter of time before he finds me. Joaquin was bringing me food and clothes, but I can’t stay here. I need to get out of the country and that twenty mil is a nice start to a new life in Bora Bora.”

Joaquin.

I would have rolled my eyes if I wasn’t afraid any sudden movements might startle him.

“Did Joaquin tell you we have men looking for him?” I asked.

Cortez nodded. “He really hated you. Kept going on about how he was going to take you out and claim the seat for me, but I’m not an idiot. I knew the only reason he wanted it was to have it for himself. He looked so surprised when killed him.”

The confession was so casual, I wasn’t expecting it, but I probably should have given no one had been able to find the guy in months. No one was that good at hiding, not even Cortez. Everyone assumed he’d been dealt with, a fact we were all made to believe by Eduardo. That train of thought pulled along other thoughts I didn’t have time to think over when I needed to focus. It was a matter for later.

“Why would you kill the only person on your side?”

“Because he was sleeping with my wife. They thought I didn’t know, but I’ve known for months. They were making plans to get rid of me and take over the sector together. When Eduardo came for me, that bitch took my kids, my money, my car—.”

“Your dog?” Mia garbled sarcastically. “You should write a country song.”

Any other day, under any other circumstance, I would have laughed. I would have pulled her to me and kissed her smart mouth. But I could do nothing but stand there like a giant tool as Cortez fisted her hair and yanked her head back.

“Hey!” Dav and I shouted in unison.

“Put your hands on her again and I will fucking rip them off,” Davien growled. “I don’t give a fuck how pathetic you are, or who your wife was boning. You are a dead man. One way or another. You have no idea the shit hole you’ve dug yourself into taking what belongs to us.”

“Fuck you! Fuck you both.” His fingers uncoiled from Mia’s hair and joined the ones curled around the handle of his gun. “Maybe if I put a new hole in her, you’ll—”

I opened my mouth to speak, to say anything to keep him from pulling the trigger when Mia inexplicably doubled with a guttural groan.

Everyone froze.

Even Cortez seemed puzzled as he took a step back, gun lowering a notch.

“Mia?” I started forward. The heels of my shoes lifted.

It happened in the blink of an eye. Mia twisted her fingers around the armrests, planted her feet and flung herself backwards, sending herself and the chair crashing into the man standing directly behind her. The momentum and gravity pulled them under. Cortez hit the ground with Mia slamming on top of him. The gun went clattering out of his grip and that was all the opening I needed.

I lunged at him. My fist closed around the fabric of his dress shirt while the other one raised the Glock and slammed it into his face.

Once.

Twice.

Over and over until his blood sprayed across my face and over my hands, hot and sticky. I was vaguely aware of Dav pulling Mia and the chair up. I could hear her crying softly, but there was nothing but a wall dividing my madness from them. All I saw was my bloodthirsty hunger to destroy the man in my clutches.

“Nero!” Dav’s voice jarred me just long enough for me to lift my head.

Mia sat small and shivering in the chair with Dav kneeling in front of her. He was saying something; his mouth kept moving in time to the hand he kept waving at me.

“Knife!” he was saying when I registered his words.

My gaze went from him to the white strap of plastic around Mia’s raw wrists. I reached under the hem of my pant leg and freed the switchblade I kept there. Dav caught it with both hands and turned back to Mia.

He murmured to her the way he had that little boy earlier. He soothed her gently as he snapped the restraints and pulled her into his arms. She went, wrapping herself around him like a lost child needing comfort. All I saw was the blood. Her blood. Her swollen eye, her busted lip, her broken fingers, and as much as I wanted nothing more than to join them, I stayed.

“Take her to the hospital,” I ordered with as much calm as I could master when my entire being vibrated with barely restrained fury.

Dav looked over Mia’s trembling shoulder and met my eyes. He didn’t ask questions. He didn’t say a word when he scooped her up against his chest.

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