“I might. Nothing I’ve found indicates Marco knew Madeline was involved with Drew. However, there is a text where Drew says ‘My girl’ll take it out there. She’s good. She knows what’ll happen if she fucks it up. She learned fast not to piss me off now that we live together.’”
“Marco still did fucking business with themalparido ñero, even though he just confessed to abusing his girlfriend.”
There’s not an equivalent English word formalparidowhich means badly born. The closest is despicable.Ñerosuits Drew since he was a lowlife criminal.
“We’ve been accused of a lot of shit over the years,hermanito, but we’ve never supported anyone we know abuses women. Marco turned a blind eye to it. What’re you going to do about it?”
Little brother. Joaquin’s called Jorge and me that since we were kids. He started afterMamáforbade him from calling us babies when we were each at an age where that word is super triggering. What toddler wants to be called a baby? Now, it’s said with affection.
“I have to tread carefully. He’s married to Laura’s best friend’s sister. That ties Elizabeth to Maddy. They’ve known each other since they were kids. I can’t do anything that might affect his wife.”
I think about it for a moment before I laugh.
“That fucker won’t have his new polo pony for the match next week. He’ll lose his ever-loving shit when I ride onto the field with it.”
As much as things change, they stay the same. The O’Rourkes, Mancinellis, andlos Diazcompeted against each other in peewee and little league sports. My brothers and I didn’t arrive in the States until we were too old for that, but we played club sports. Since, in a fucked-up turn of events, we all went to high school together, many of us played on the same teams. Marco and I wrestled the same weight class, so we scrimmaged all the time. Dumbass coach never took a hint what a bad idea that was.
We both started riding polo ponies when we were four. We had polo mallets in our hands before we were seven. I wound up joining the same polo club as him when we moved here. We lasted a month on the same team. We bet each other who couldscore more in a game. His ass wound up finding a new team after playing for the same club since he was in elementary school.
“That’s going to piss him off more than anything. He had that horse bred specifically for him, and he’s been waiting for it to be trained and ready for five years. Promise me, you save me the best seat!”
“Second best. I want Maddy to see me in all my glory. I gotta go. I have calls to make.”
“I’ll fucking kill you, motherfucker.”
“Good morning, Marco.”
My grin stretches ear to ear. Shit eating is what I heard it called when I moved here.
“That’s my fucking horse.”
“Mmm. No. I have papers that say otherwise.”
“Fucking forged ones.”
“Possession is nine-tenths of the law. My ass in this saddle on Mercury’s back says he’s mine.”
Mercury—the Roman god of several things, including thieves. Fucking poetic justice.
“I’m serious, Javier. Give me back my pony.”
I snort.
“Do you hear yourself. Do you know how ridiculous you sound at your age?”
I nudge the horse past him, tempted to take my foot out of the stirrup to kick him. Too many people around for that. I make the horse practically prance before swinging out his hindquarters as I turn him around. So far, he’s the best trained horse I’ve ever ridden. We’ll see how he performs on the field,but just grooming, saddling, mounting, and now walking him tells me he’ll be excellent.
I smirk as I ride past Marco, who has no horse today. He didn’t know he lost the trusty steed until he arrived. He’d put a down payment on the horse, if you will, contingent on it being trained well enough to compete. Before he made the final payment, I swooped in. The bank draw was supposed to go through once Marco checked over the animal. I went to the stables three days ago. Bribed the fuck out of the stablemaster to not say a damn thing about me looking at the horse. Then I paid twice the agreed-upon price to the breeder. It cost me half a million dollars, but I recently came into some money. Thank you, Drew. May you rest in hell.
We sent men to the cemetery to retrieve what Maddy buried. I wouldn’t agree to her being somewhere so exposed. We came home with that bounty too. It’s what paid for my new mount. We definitely came out the winner that day. Since getting back to New York, I’ve had a lengthy conversation with the Albany mob’s new leader. Granted I had to wait until Dillan was done housebreaking him, but he understands Maddy is completely off limits. He’s likely to always walk with a limp after I had his shin broken in three places with a hammer.Miserywas such an inspiring movie.
I wave to Maddy as I ride onto the field. Then I’m focused for the next two hours. It’s a long game with seven chukkers—periods. Mercury and I are exhausted, but we won. It’s the cherry on top since I scored the most points. Marco looks ready to murder me as Maddy showers me with kisses after cheering for me during the entire match. Elizabeth looks nearly as pissed as Marco until she has to be gracious when they walk past Maddy and me. She congratulates me with a grimace, but she’s genuinely warm to Maddy.
“Watching you ride that horse was exhilarating, Daddy.”
Maddy’s whispering in my ear as we walk to the clubhouse for the post-match celebration.
“Do you want to go for a ride?”
