I knock on the door and open it before walking inside.
“Come in, Valencia,” Boss says, looking at me from behind her desk.
I swallow my nerves and step inside, trying to keep my features relaxed. “What’s going on?” I ask.
Beretta, Muffler’s ol’ lady, is sitting with Boss, and it does nothing to calm my racing heart.
“Valencia, I want you to tell me about your past,” Boss says, raising an eyebrow. Damn, she’s cutting straight to the chase.
My hands are sweating, and I wipe them on my jeans that just moments ago I was so happy to be wearing. Now I feel like I’m being strangled by my clothes. The tension is thick enough to cut with a knife. They know something. There’s no way around it.
“The thing about secrets is they don’t stay that way for long,” Beretta starts off.
I could lie, but I have a gut instinct that doing that would only hurt me more. So, I take a deep breath and prepare to step out from behind my secrets.
“I’m sorry for not saying any of this before, but I hope you know it wasn’t easy for me. I was worried about telling you all the truth, but I’ll come out with it. I’m the daughter of a drug lord in Miami, and my life wasn’t much of a life. It was more like a prison. I’m tied to the Salazar cartel,” I admit, pulling up my hair to show them the tattoo on the back of my neck.
Beretta looks at it and nods. “It’s legit,” she says.
“I’ve been controlled from the very beginning by my father. He was essentially using me to get his boys out of hard time after I got my degree as a criminal defense lawyer,” I explain.
Boss looks from me to Beretta and nods. “Go get Reno,” she says.
Hearing her say that has my stomach flipping and my hands shaking. Once Beretta leaves, Boss looks at me and sighs.
“Now that I know the truth, you have to tell Reno,” she says. I’m sure she knows Reno would’ve come to her about it if I told him. He’s loyal like that, so now I have no choice but to get this off my chest.
I don’t say anything because I feel like my nerves are choking me, so I simply nod. Telling them was hard, but telling Reno is going to be impossible. I’m going to hurt him, and they’re all going to tell me to get the hell out.
A few minutes later, the door opens, and Reno walks into the room with Beretta. He looks around and crosses his muscular arms.
“What the hell is going on?”
“Valencia,” Boss says, waving her hand.
I clear the nerves out of my throat and turn to look at Reno. His eyes soften, and I feel like my heart shatters in my chest. Before I even open my mouth, a tear runs down my cheek, and I don’t even bother wiping it away. I know there will be more to follow.
“I’m tied to the Salazar cartel. The tattoo on my neck, the one that guy pointed out in the car lot . . .”
He interrupts, saying, “El veneno protegera la corona.”
I nod and lift my hair, showing him the tattoo. Tears are running down my face as I turn back toward him. “My father is a drug lord from Miami.” A sob rips through me. There’s no telling how Reno’s going to react to any of this. I take a breath and continue. “He’s been in control of me from the beginning. My life wasn’t much of a life, Reno. He was using me to get my criminal defense degree so I could get his boys out of doing hard time. All he ever wanted me for was to be a resource to the Salazar cartel.”
I close my eyes briefly and try to control the emotion in my voice. “I’m so sorry, Reno. I’m sorry I lied to you and to the club. I was afraid you’d be mad I kept this from you, and I was so scared that the club would cast me aside,” I cry out, tears running down my face as I stare into his dark eyes.
Reno steps toward me and pulls me into his strong arms. I cry into his chest as his hand rubs circles on my back. “I’d never cast you aside, Valencia. You’re my ol’ lady, and that’s fuckin’ important,” he says.
His words shock me, and I lift my head to see him. He wipes my tears and presses a soft kiss on my forehead. I’ve been hiding and scared this entire time for no reason. He’s not pissed or hurt. He accepts me completely, and that means more to me than he’ll ever know.
“We’ve known for a while now that Reno’s been attached to you, and over these last few weeks, it became evident that he was going to make you his one day. Valencia, you’re part of the club because you’re Reno’s woman. The club will do whatever we can to protect you,” Boss says, smiling.
“Thank you so much,” I say. Every fear I had deep down vanished within an instant.
The Iron Vex MC is my family, and they won’t let anything happen to me.
Boss looks between us and leans back in her chair. “Go, get outta here.”
Reno grabs my hand and nods his head toward Boss. I don’t know what that means, if anything, but I feel like they just had a silent conversation, and both accepted me and my past.
