“I really got to look up all these words. First, Tara is calling me Marito, and now you are calling me Figlio. I have to make sure you aren’t calling me an asshole or bitch or something worse.”
Elio and Ava’s eyes narrow on me, and I shrug my shoulders like it’s no big deal that I’ve been calling him husband. That’s what I want for my future, so fuck it.
“We have to go. I have a meeting with Lilly Harris. Call me to let me know about...” I wave my hand at the half-burnt house. Tears spring to my eyes at the sight of it. Besides Gabe’s home, this is the only other place that I have felt safe and loved.
“Take my vehicle and be safe,” Vance says, handing his keys to Gabe. “The trunk is packed. Tara, you know the code.”
“Thanks, man,” Gabe says, then pulls me toward the blacked out SUV. I pull back on his hand, stopping him in his tracks.
“Reaper,” I call out and click my tongue. Ava drops the leash and he rushes over to us. I look at Gabe who is staring at him and say, “He won’t hurt you unless I tell him to.”
“Whatever, let’s go, Princess.”
Chapter
Nine
GABE
Tara leans over and inputs the address to the place we are meeting Lilly, while I pull away from the curb. “Who the fuck would be stupid enough to go up against Elio?”
“I have no idea but whoever it is has a death wish.” Tara settles back in the passenger seat looking out the window. Reaper lays down in the backseat and I forget all about him to be honest.
“So, tell me more about why you stayed away?” I don’t want to hear how hurt she was by my actions anymore but I need to know everything. If it’s just because she didn’t think that I wanted her I already plan on fixing that but I have a feeling there is so much more.
“At first it was because I wasn’t sure if I would be welcomed back. I started to train with Vance and Elio to make sure that nothing like what happened that night would happen again. Then Dean went missing and I started looking into his disappearance. In the meantime while I was chasing loose ends I started helping other women who couldn’t get justice the traditional ways.”
I quickly glance over at her and ask, “Why didn’t you go to the cops?”
“Because I knew that I wouldn’t get justice.”
She says it in a way that sounds so final, like she truly believes it. “Why?”
“After I woke up I started looking into Dean and Ned more. I wanted to know who I was up against if I went to the cops. Did you guys look into Dean?” I feel her eyes on me and know she is looking at me without having to take my eyes off the road.
“We didn’t really have time to do much digging into him before Ali killed him and since he was already dead we never thought to.”
“Well that was a mistake. I don’t know how Ali got away from him. Dean was raised by his mother until he turned sixteen. Then he was sent to live with his brother. I didn’t know any of this until I started to look into him. From what I was able to find out he moved here a year ago but I couldn’t find out why. The story he told that night might be true but I don’t know. According to Dean he had to get out from under his brother’s thumb and picked a random town on the map one day,” Tara says, undoing her hair only to pull it back in a ponytail again.
“So who's his brother?”
“Carlos Ramirez. He is currently living in Chicago, does that name ring a bell?”
I say his name over and over in my mind trying to place him but nothing is coming to me. The way she asks means that I should know this man but I don’t. “I’m sorry, Princess. I feel like you want me to know but I don’t.”
“Fuck, how much do you know about the Mexican Cartel?” Her fingers are flying across her phone screen frantically.
“Only that I never want to get caught up with them.” I’m not scared of anything but I’m smart enough to not get tangled up with the Cartel or the Mafia. It’s bad enough that we have the Ricci family to worry about thanks to Ali.
“Hold on, I want to make sure I get the story correct.” The sound of her calling someone comes through the speakers of the SUV. She must have connected her phone to the car’s bluetooth.
“Tara, I heard what happened. I’m on my way to Elio’s house right now. I’ve offered my services to him,” Jackson–aka Demon–says. Why the fuck did she call him?
“Thank you for that, but that’s not why I’m calling. I’m trying to log into my files but my phone internet is shitty this far in the country. Does the name Carlos Ramirez ring a bell to you?”
“Goddamn it. What is it with you little girls from small towns getting mixed up in stuff that you have no right knowing about. Of course I know him and even I wish I didn’t. The question is how do you know the fucking leader of the biggest Mexican Cartel that lives in America?”
“What do you know about his family?” Tara asks completely ignoring Demon’s question.
