“No.”
I steal my spine and impale her with a stern gaze.
“Give me your phone.”
She reaches into her pocket and hands it to me.
“Now, go to your room and wait.”
“Wait for what?”
“I need to figure out what the fuck I’m going to do with you.”
“I’m sorry. I—”
“Don’t. Just go.”
Her chest caves as she turns away and leaves.
I look back at Eric and shake my head. “I can’t fucking believe this. What a perfect plan to screw with me, and inside my home.”
“I agree, but try to focus. We don’t have a lot of time. We can use what we know to our advantage. They’re not expecting her to tell you what’s happening. All they’ve used are scare tactics to make sure she complies.”
I sigh and grit my teeth. “I need to come up with a plan to make this work in my favor.”
“And use her,” he cuts in. “Lucia could lead us to them. Right now, she’s the only link and way to reach them. I’m sure Thiago is with Lorenzo, and we might find El Diablo with them, too. If we come up with a hypothetical plan to get Mia to them, we lure them out.”
A shadow of worry crosses my heart. “Using her puts her in danger, Eric. If the plan goes to hell, they’re going to know what happened. They’re going to know she told me what they’re up to. They’ll kill her and either continue using her father or kill him, too.”
“I know it’s a long shot, but it’s all I got. I think it might be all we have.”
“Let me think about how we could make it work.”
“What about her father? If he’s still in the States, we have a location. Getting him might help in some way. We’d need to plan it out, though. If you agree.”
How could I not? I’m not the kind of monster who would allow a man to die in the manner I know my father would kill him.
“Contact the Chicago crew and get them to fly to New York. Clue them in.”
“Sure. Are you okay, Alejandro? I said Lucia cared about you, but I never pointed out that you care, too.”
“She broke my trust, so no I’m not okay.”
He gives me a look of sympathy I hate. It makes me feel like shit and not the ruthless king I’m supposed to be.
“I’m sorry, man.”
“Mia’s mother did the same thing to me.” And so did Vanessa. They all lied. Every one of them, and they all had good reasons to do it.
Life’s such a bitch, though, because I feel it worse with Lucia, and I don’t know why.
It took me well over twenty years to get over Vanessa because I knew her the longest and she was my first love. The damage Priscilla did widened the hole in my heart, but Lucia did something to my soul. What’s she’s done feels so bad I can’t even think about her reasons for doing it.
Maybe it feels worse because of Mia.
She’s the only right thing I’ve done in this world.
My light.
Lucia felt like my light, too, and that’s what made me fall for her.
“We’ll figure this out.” He rests a hand on my shoulder, and I give him a nod of appreciation. He then leaves me to my thoughts.
I place my hands on the rails and dip my head.
It feels like the end is nigh, and I hope I make it out alive to protect the people I love.
Everything is still hanging in the balance of life and death, because my father wants me dead.