“Oh, thank God,” I sigh. Patanza is a hard-ass, but she doesn’t deserve to die. She deserves to live again. She needs another chance.
Diego looks at Draco’s bloody arm and then mine. Mine is not nearly as bad as his. “Both of you need to see a doctor, too.”
Draco nods, shutting his eyes for a brief moment. His knees buckle, but I catch him, wrapping my arm around his waist.
“We need to get you to a doctor,” I say hurriedly. Diego starts to help, but I hold my hand up, letting him know I’ve got it.
“I’m fine,” Draco rasps. “Motherfucker was strong. Took everything in me to get him down with one good arm.” He looks down at me, gripping my chin, fixing my gaze on his. “I told you to stay hidden. To run. She could have killed you.”
I press my lips, walking toward the shore with him, Diego leading the way. “I didn’t want to run away.”
He delivers a ragged sigh, bringing me closer. “Fuck,” he murmurs.
“What?”
“We got her.”
I nod. “We did.”
“It’s still not over. I won’t be killing her right away, like I had planned.” He looks over at Guillermo and Sebastien, who are taking turns dragging Yessica across the wooden beams and then disappearing through the tall grass with her.
“Where do we go from here?”
He runs his tongue over his lips, exhaling. “To the one place I love.” He sighs. “Lantía. Home.”
Before we go, we hear a bell chime and look to our left, at the boat coming to dock. Ruben appears and steps off the boat, coming our way.
“Glad to see you alive, Jefe!” Ruben says boastfully, lightly clapping Draco on his good shoulder.
Draco chuckles. “Thank you, Ruben. For what you did. I will never be able to repay you.”
“Hey, now. You can repay me by remaining my best buyer!”
Draco gives him a light smile, bringing a hand up and squeezing his shoulder. “You have my word.”
Ruben nods and then looks down at me. “La Patrona,” he sings with a full smile on his lips. “Quite the beauty. And one hell of a fighter. I saw the way you got to her boat.” He looks up at Draco. “You’ve got yourself a keeper, Jefe. Don’t lose this one.”
“Trust me,” Draco murmurs, his eyes shifting down to bolt with mine. “I won’t. Not ever again.”
My heart flutters deep in my chest, my cheeks blazing red.
“I will have my men take care of these bodies for you. Clean up the area. Safe travels, Jefe.” He looks at me again. “Patrona.” Ruben steps back, tipping his fedora and slightly bowing his head before putting the hat back on and jogging back to his boat.
We make it back to the hideout, battered and exhausted, taking the tunnel and going through the same building.
Most of us are injured, but no one is complaining—no one but Yessica. It gets to a point where she’s so uncooperative that they have to knock her out with a hard blow to the face just to get her to be quiet.
When we reach the exit of the building, I spot the three BMWs. Beside one of them is a black plastic bag with what looks like a body inside it.
As if Draco sees it at the same time as me, he tenses up, but keeps walking, though his breathing is a little heavier now. My eyes fill with tears in an instant.
Emilio…
Damn it, Emilio.
Emilio risked his life for me and then gave it for him.
From what I was told, Emilio didn’t have many people that knew him other than us. He had no friends. He has a grandpa in a nursing home with dementia. A part of me wonders if his grandpa will even remember him—or miss him.
It breaks my heart.
As we climb into the backseat of the car, I know one thing for sure.
I will remember him forever.
He respected me, and I respected him just the same. He took care of me when he didn’t even have to.
He was good to me…a good man, gone way too soon.
In this business, there must be devotion and sacrifice. He delivered both for our sakes.
For him, for Thiago, for Mom and Daddy, I will live on.
I will conquer. I will rise.
I will be what I need to be in order for their legacy to live on.
For Draco’s legacy to live on.
44
GIANNA
It’s been more than forty-eight hours since we landed in Lantía.
I’m restless, and so is he. I’ve debated whether or not to go to the shed—whether I want to see her one last time and remember the look in her eyes, or just stay put here and forget all about her.
Draco shuts off the TV and goes to the bathroom, picking up a can of shaving cream and a razor. He looks through the corner of his eye at me when I step into the bathroom.