“Saw someone on the street while you were busy. Too dressed up for a late-night run.”
I stop dead in my tracks, blood boiling over. It’s easy to hide with Eduardo weighing down on me.
“And?” I bite back my aggression behind a grunt while lowering Eduardo’s body beside his wife.
His beady eyes bulge with confusion. “Could be trouble.” Rico saw her. That’s reason enough for punishment. If he keeps talking, it’s gonna get a whole lot worse for him. “What if she saw or hear?—”
“She didn’t.”
“How can you know that?” Rico’s posture shifts aggressively.
That’s it, big boy, make your move. I dug their grave deep enough for three.
“It’s been hours. We’d be swarmed by cops if she did.” Which makes me wonder why we aren’t. Is her silence out of fear, or is she too smart to get the cops involved in our bad business? “Besides, Don Bernal won’t like you causing a scene with a civilian. We don’t need another mess to clean.”
“Ghost’s right,” Tony chips in. “We’ve got enough trouble on our hands.”
I slam the van’s sliding door shut and turn toward Rico lazily. At least one of them has some common sense.
“You think you’re hot shit, don’t you? Like wearing that mask makes you special.” He kicks off the van, baring his teeth at me.
“It doesn’t.” The mask doesn’t make me anything. But I am the best in the business, and everyone knows it.
“Why am I even asking you? You don’t call the shots.” Rico shakes his head.
I don’t respond. I won’t give him the satisfaction. Because my mind’s already drifting back to her. The girl with terror in her eyes who couldn’t even muster a scream when she saw me. The nameless beauty who turned me into a mess. Her eyes burning into mine, seeing something that isn’t there.
Not the monster I am.
But, her savior.
A set of headlights pulling up to us breaks the tension. Rico and Tony reach for their pistols until they notice it’s one of my guys delivering the new furniture.
“Go back to your car and shut the fuck up.” I smirk behind the mask. “We’re almost done here.”
An hour later, with the Vasquez residence returned to its previous state and the remnants of the mob’s crime buried, I step into Don Hernando Bernal’s office.
He’s lounging in a dark leather chair and rolling a fat cigar between his fingers. But it’s the beaming smile on his face that unsettles me more than anything.
Rico and Tony got here before me, and they’re opposite him in the guest chairs. Tony doesn’t bother looking, but Rico makes it a point to size me up over his shoulder.
“Done?” Hernando asks.
I nod.
“Excellent. I knew I could count on you.” He slides an envelope across the desk, and as I look down, I notice the bulge in my pants. Fuck. Hours later, and my cock’s still solid. Not even getting knee deep in Eduardo’s grey matter could wipe her out of my head.
Down boy, we’re not letting her get far. Just need to finish our business first.
“As always, it’s been a pleasure.” I barely glance at the cash before I pocket it. No point dragging a meeting out with anyone in this room.
We can all walk away satisfie?—
“I saw a girl outside while the Ghost was cleaning,” Rico says, just as I turn to leave.
My jaw locks down so tight it feels like my teeth are about to shatter.
“She isn’t important.” A lie that feels wrong to tell. She’s more than important. She’s everything. “A passer-by being blown out of proportion.”
