Page 120 of Bad Men

Alejandro, Eduardo’s right hand man had killed him because of a lie, because Eduardo hadn’t told Alejandro Cortez was still alive. As his leader, Alejandro had no right to any information Eduardo didn’t want to give. He had the power to forgive Cortez and bring him back into the family — a stupid and dangerous decision — but one a boss was allowed to make. He didn’t have to explain himself. It made me think that what Alejandro had said about partners was true. That Alejandro didn’t work for Eduardo. But that raised the question: who was Alejandro? He worked for someone, someone above Eduardo. I guessed the Syndicate. They were the only ones with the power. The only ones with motive to have someone like Alejandro in every house.

“We are watchers.” Alejandro’s words filled my ears.

I could dispose of him, I mused. But getting on the bad side of the Syndicate was a stupid move, a deadly one, and I had Mia and Davien to protect. I would have to play their game if I was to keep the people I loved safe.

Pulling my keys from the ignition, I swung one leg over and rose to my full height. The keys were stuffed into my pocket but I kept my helmet on until I was in the elevator going up to the apartment. It dangled from my fingers as I stepped off and headed for my front door.

“Nero!”

I barely had time to brace myself when a tiny figure leapt off the sofa and barreled into me. Thin arms locked around my shoulders.

“Hey baby,” I murmured into Mia’s shoulder, inhaling her soft, clean scent peppered through with Davien’s.

She drew back to search my face. “What’s wrong?”

Over her head, Davien met my gaze. He stood in the sitting area, clad in boxers and a t-shirt. His expression said nothing but I knew he was relieved to see me.

“It’s been a long twenty-four hours,” I said to Mia as I kicked the door closed with the heel of my boot.

“What happened?” she pressed. “Where did you go?”

I was tempted to tell her to get milk, but the energy for even that lie was too great. Instead, I dropped my helmet and scooped her up into my arms. In five wide strides, I hauled her to the sofa and sat with her cradled in my lap.

“Eduardo is dead,” I announced once Davien had taken a seat on the edge of the coffee table facing us. “He did it himself,” I lied when both stared at me with wide eyes. Well, Mia did. Davien seemed less surprised until I was finished. Then even he was taken aback. “He named me his successor.”

Davien’s head jerked back. “Can he do that?”

I shrugged. “Apparently?”

It wasn’t the time to tell him the truth, not with Mia there. We’d both learned the hard way to be careful about what we said around her. There was no telling whether or not Alejandro or the Syndicate had bugs all over the apartment and I wasn’t about to put her life at even more risk.

“Wait. So, you’re the new boss?” Davien blurted.

I shrugged again. “Apparently.”

There was a moment of silence before the other man gave a hoot of triumph. “Well, that’s perfect! That’s what we wanted.”

I said nothing. Instead, I turned my attention to Mia cuddled against my chest, big eyes peering up at me with more trust than I deserved. I wondered if she could feel the cold bite of steel nestled between us, hidden beneath my coat.

She wore one of my t-shirts, a black one with no designs. It hung off her tiny frame but it had never looked better.

“What are you thinking?” I asked her, smoothing my fingers over her bruised cheek. “I know you didn’t sign up to be part of all this.”

“Maybe,” she murmured. “But I feel terrible about what happened to Eduardo. His poor family must be devastated. No one deserves that.”

I said nothing. I didn’t even glance at Davien because I knew he’d see it in my face.

“It only gets harder from here,” I told her softly. “You’ll always have to watch your back. You can’t go out without me, or Davien, or a guard. Your parents will have to be careful who they trust. People, really bad people may try to come for you again to get to us. But more than all that, we will have a life you can’t be a part of. There will be things we can’t tell you, places we need to go that you can’t know about and do things that may upset you. You have to really think about this before you agree to take this road with us.”

Mia sighed and lowered her gaze. Her fingers fidgeted with the hem of her top, twisting the material around the brace in her left middle finger.

“I will think about it,” she murmured at last. “I don’t like the idea of us keeping secrets from each other, but I understand that this is business and things I’m not sure I even want to know about. The only thing I ask…” big, doe eyes lifted to my face. “Can I ask for one thing?”

I hesitated. Not going to lie. While the thought of denying her anything hurt deeply, I knew there were things I would have to refuse.

“What?” I asked cautiously.

“No human trafficking,” she blurted. “No children involvement in anything business related. I guess that’s two things. But those are the only things that I can’t stand by. There are others, but those are the two I’m asking for.”

---