“I can’t promise you I can save them, little warrior.”
“I don’t need you to. Just win your war.”
“With the Russians on side, its more likely.”
She nods. “Good. I need to go and talk to Una. We were planning to go after one of their distributors tonight.”
I stiffen at the thought of her running straight into the line of fire, but this is what I agreed to isn’t it? All of this is forcing me to fight against my nature.
“It will be fine,” she says, flippantly.
“You just killed the consigliere of the Sinaloa cartel. They’ll be on high alert. Nothing about this is fine.”
“Don’t even think about trying to talk me out of it. We have an agreement, an alliance. Not as your…whatever.”
“Mine. Just mine, little warrior.” And I’d be happy to remind her of it.
“This is an alliance between two people with a mutual enemy. Nothing more.” I’m not sure if she believes the lie or she just hopes that I will.
Pushing away from the desk, I stalk towards her. She wants to play assassin with her sister, but I know how dangerous this city is, how lethal Dominges can be. Wrapping my hand around the back of her neck, I tug her forward. Her hands land on my chest, rapid breaths washing over my lips. “I’ll go with you.”
“Strategically, it would be better if you hit them elsewhere at the same time. Confuse them and deal a double blow.” She’s right, but it doesn’t make much difference. “Samuel will go.”
A small smile touches her lips, and she grabs my face, forcing me to meet her gaze. That simple contact is like a shot of everything I crave being injected straight into my bloodstream. She’s innocence and light and everything that’s sorely lacking in my world. “You’ll go yourself.” I open my mouth to respond, but she places her palm over my mouth. “I won’t be your weakness.” And I’m caught between wanting to lock her away, and this tentative fucking hope, because her words imply that we have a future, that she wants a future.
“This is the way it needs to be, Rafe. Take it or leave it.”
“Little warrior…you are trying to be something you’re not.”
“What if I am though?”
“You’re not.”
“Maybe I’m right, or maybe you’re right, but if you never let me go, you’ll never see it.”
I know I’m not going to win this fight with her, and if I push too hard, she’ll just go with her sister and do it anyway. “Fine.” I wind my fingers around her throat and turn, changing our positions and forcing her up against the desk. “But if you die... or get hurt.”
“I won’t.” She swallows heavily, the muscles of her throat contracting against my palm as I force her to sit on the desk. Her legs part around my hips, and I can feel her pulse thrumming against my fingertips. My cock stirs to life as her fingers grip onto my biceps, nails digging in hard enough to leave marks. I touch my forehead to hers, inhaling the subtle floral scent that clings to her. “I won’t,” she whispers.
“I can’t survive a world that doesn’t have you in it, avecita.” I inhale a deep breath and pull back, swiping my thumb over the corner of her lip. Her gaze holds mine for a beat before she pushes off the desk and walks out without another word.
We have to agree to disagree and hope that Dominges doesn’t reap the rewards of her brashness. Either way, I risk losing her, by his hand or my own.
67
Anna
I stare through the night vision binoculars at the green-tinged scene in front of me. There are at least twenty men, all loading stuff into several trucks. This is the base of one of the Sinaloa’s main cocaine distributors. The entire operation is run by a guy they call Scorpion. If we remove him, we land a huge blow to the Sinaloa business. Rafael and his guys are hitting two other big distributors. In theory, we should cripple the Sinaloa drug operation in one night. Of course, this is just one part of their business, but it’s a start. Empires cannot simply be destroyed—they must be picked apart. I’ve learned that much from watching Rafael.
Una slides through a fence, passing by several cows that barely look up from the pile of hay they’re eating. This farm is one of the biggest beef distributors in Texas…but their meat is packing some extra special ingredients. In the cocaine business, a distributor is only as good as his smuggling methods. And Scorpion’s are…inventive.
Una reaches the barn door and my grip on my gun tightens as I get ready to jump into whatever is on the other side of that door. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t scared. I’m not like my sister. For her, killing is a reflex like drawing oxygen into your lungs. More than that though, I don’t think Una fears death. Maybe she’s killed so many people that she’s just desensitized to it. I do not want to die. But sometimes, it’s moments like these that truly force you to live.