Several aftershocks hit, causing Eden to scream, her cries muffled by my own chest. My ears rang, the blast reengaging the deafness I’d experienced following the stash house explosion.
“Mateo, what the fuck?” I blinked through the clouds of smoke permeating the windows. As soon as I spoke the words, a second blast ripped any other words from my lips as the SUV took a hard right onto a side road.
He barked out orders, breaking rank in the chaos. “Stay down!”
“Val!”
I pushed up on my hands and knees and grabbed a handful of her hair, shoving it down onto the leather seat. “Head down,Cereza!” The blast seemed to have quieted, so I risked a look around. Black smoke billowed from the horizon, a mushroom of explosion, leading the way for sirens gaining volume in the distance.
Mateo slammed his hand against the steering wheel and made another sharp turn. “Keep her down!”
“What the hell happened?” I demanded, watching the dark funnel cloud fade into the distance. I’d had enough reactionary shit. I hadn’t ruled most of the United States as the top importer, forcing any rival cartel that dared challenge me back to Mexico with an empty bank account and skeleton crew because I sat back and allowed myself to be challenged.
I’d been enthralled with a woman and let business get out of hand long enough. It stopped right now.
Mateo’s jaw ticked as he casted a side-eye at Emilio. “They lit the safe house.”
Fighting under my hold, Eden popped up, her wild hair wrapped across her chin. “What do you mean lit?”
Closing my eyes, I drew a long breath, knowing the blast was only phase one. “He means the safe house is gone.”
“Gone?”
“Gone. As in blown to hell and back.”
Disbelief coated her widened eyes. “But…we were just there.”
“Cereza…” Raking my palm down my face, I willed her to stop talking.
“Oh, God,” she stammered, her voice catching with understanding. “We almost…they tried…oh, God!”
I wanted to touch her and reassure her we’d be okay. Instead, I stared at her blankly then turned my head away in frustration. I couldn’t tell her something that might be a lie.
“Are you sure? Jesus, you’re sure?” Letting out a string of curses, Emilio punched the dashboard in front of him as he gripped the phone tightly against his face. “Is she all right? What hospital? Yes, take care of all the bills and make sure you talk to her. She knows not to say anything, but I want it reinforced, understand?Bien. Update in fifteen minutes, or I’ll have someone’s ass.” Cursing again, he slammed his phone against the window, punctuating each hit with a new expletive.
I steeled my jaw. “What now?”
“They got RVC too. About twenty minutes ago. My men don’t know much—only that the bomb originated from the giant hole that used to be your office.”
She.
“Janine? Is she…?”
Emilio shook his head. “No, she’d just punched in the code to open it up for a client who’d put in a call for a Saturday appointment. The blast knocked her out, and she’s cut up pretty bad from the glass, but she’s going to be all right.”
We spent the rest of the ride in silence, the hard reality of the situation weighing on all four of us.
The Muñoz cartel just made a decisive move in a war I had to finish.
Something told me not all of us would make it through to the other side.
* * *
The last thingI wanted was for Eden to be sucked into my world.
Out of safe houses and places to go, we’d driven for forty-five minutes before making the reluctant decision to return to my own house. Miraculously, it still stood, unscathed from Muñoz artillery.
For now.
