Page 59 of Sin and Seduction

“Shhh, mi ciela. We got this under control. Stay here and do not mention a word to anyone. I have guards staying behind to watch. Paolo and Oscar are already on their way to Diego’s location. We’re finishing this once and for all,” he says, kissing me deep before pulling away and walking out of the family room.

Please, God. Let this be over once and for all, and let my husband come back to me.

I chug my wine and walk back outside, grabbing Gabriela’s hand when I find her and putting on the best fake smile that I have yet.

23

Dante

My menand I get into our vehicles and leave the party as quietly as possible.

I feel like a son of a bitch for leaving my wife like that tonight, but I have no choice but to kill the bastard responsible for all of our trauma once and for all. When I’m done with him, I’m beating the shit out of Rowen for doing this tonight. We’ve had this plan tweaked and perfected down to the final detail. I have no idea why he would storm off and do this out of nowhere.

We drove for about an hour, Diego’s location in the outskirts of San Francisco in a warehouse. We near the location, and I find both Paolo and Rowens’ cars with Paolo walking to us with his hand wrapped around Rowen’s neck in anger.

Good, serves him right, putting us in danger like this.

“Load all of your guns and have them on hand and ready. Act quietly and act fast, just like we’ve trained,” I order my men, and they all nod, stepping out of the car and approaching the warehouse that’s about a mile away.

I load my handgun and step out, walking to both Paolo and James and immediately cocking my arm back and punching him in the jaw. His head snaps back to me, and he glares at me, his eyes narrowed as he wipes the bit of blood away from his mouth.

“The fuck was that for?” he snarls, and I punch him again.

“For putting not only my men in danger but my family as well. You could’ve killed us all. What about my wife—”

“And what about my unborn child that everyone knew about but me?” he roars and I freeze, glaring between him and Paolo who gives me a sheepish look.

“You told him?” I ask Paolo, and he shakes his head.

“Your dear sister spilled the beans at the party,” Rowen hisses, and I nod slowly.

“She told you directly?” I ask, and he scoffs.

“She should’ve. You all should’ve, but no, I had to find out about my little bundle of joy through eavesdropping since she won’t even look at me!” he hisses, and I stop him.

“She didn’t tell you because you act out of line like this. Because you have no regard or care for anyone other than yourself. You think she wants that for her child?”

“Our child,” he sneers, and I sigh, taking a deep breath and looking at the warehouse.

“We will discuss this later. Right now, we have to clean up your mess and kill this bastard. Thanks for the quick expedition,” I say, pulling out my gun as Paolo and James do the same.

“Anytime, sir. Now, let's go kill this bastard once and for all,” he says, and I nod, marching forward with all of my men behind me.

Rowen pisses me off beyond belief, but he’s smart and tactical unless he’s angry in which then he becomes majorly impulsive. Something I need to discuss with him if I decide to negotiate a new deal after all of this. Diego’s men are nothing but pawns. They have had a long track record of betraying him, which resulted in their deaths or their leaving, which means that all of his men now are new and have little to no loyalty to him. If we do this right, once Diego is dead, we will have a new cartel to lead, and I’ll need a partner. Oscar has already taken the lead in our family business, and I could use James for this new one. He just needs to get his fucking anger problems in check.

We march forward in the night, crouching low as we near the warehouse. I order my men to take every side of the building, making a wall of soldiers and ammunition that almost no one can break. We move fast and crawl through the windows, looking in them and finding nothing before we break inside. We hold our guns high and move stealthily, kicking in all of the doors and coming up short.

If this bastard isn’t here, I swear to God…

My thought flees as we find the staircase. We knew this was his planned hideout, and James was able to hack into their server to find the blueprint of it, staging and strategizing every room and corner of the building. We walk down the staircase, half of my team staying upstairs with their guns drawn.

I kick down the door and walk inside with my team of thirty men trailing behind me. We are in a cellar full of concrete, and I see screens pulled up with camera footage rolling of us. He must be in here somewhere; the real question is, how well is he armed?

“Move in close,” I tell my men, ready to kick down the final door of the warehouse.

Just as I rear my foot back, the door opens, and I am greeted by none other than Diego Flores. He is in a red suit and sips from a glass tumbler filled with gold liquid. It smells of tequila, and I hate it instantly. He gives me a small, cocky smile and offers his hand and for me to shake it. I sneer at the request, and he walks away from the door and into his office, a room full of about ten heavily armed men.

“You have me outnumbered, Dante. Come, enjoy a glass of scotch and call off your dogs so we can settle this like men,” he says, and I look to Paolo, Sergio, and James.

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