“No,” he snaps at me. “These people are my responsibility and if the pact has been broken, I need to see it for my own eyes.”
He walks by me and I look at Enzo in disbelief. He shrugs and rolls his eyes, “His cojones will shrivel up and fall off when he sees what those two are capable of. I wouldn’t worry too much about it, Tati.”
I chuckle and shake my head. He’s always had such a way with words—they’ve just always managed to fall short with me.
“Vamos,” he tells me as he steps out into the daylight, then holds the door open for me. “I don’t want to have to explain to Vicente why one of his daughters was reduced to nothing more than a bloodstain in a place she had no business being in to begin with.”
With as much as I hate to admit it, I know he’s right. And I don’t want to have to tell Papa that Ana Sofia was here because I couldn’t handle a little danger.
* * *
The three ofus drive to and from the park in Bachimeto in Thiago’s car. While Enzo and I have substantial standing in any state we’re in, Thiago has the respect of being the one to keep the citizens safe from people like us.
“Come on, Ana Sofia,” I mumble nervously under my breath. Enzo gives me a glance in the sideview mirror, and I turn my gaze away. I can feel the tears beginning to well in my eyes and can only hope that she’s somewhere safe.Alive.
“Where else do you think they could have gone?” Thiago asks as he turns left at the street light.
“I don’t know if she’s ever been here,” I answer him honestly, my breath catching in my throat. I take a deep breath to keep from crying as Enzo turns in his chair to glance at me over his shoulder.
“If anyone can get out of this, it’s Sofi. Don’t worry about her so much, Tati,” he tells me kindly as he rests a hand on my knee. I instantly slap it away and Thiago chuckles at how rigid Enzo becomes. “Then again, if there’s a God in Heaven, she’s probably already fucking dead,” he grumbles as he turns back around in his seat.
Rage takes over me.
Blinding, unequivocal rage that I’ve never felt before.
I throw myself against the back of his seat and begin to claw at his face. He grunts in surprise as Thiago reaches over in an attempt to catch one of my arms and steer the car at the same time.
“Tati stop!” he yells frantically as I continue blindly clawing at Enzo.
That’s the initial moment, the next is met with a searing pain as I’m thrown back against the seat, white lights exploding in front of my eyes.
“You want to act like a man, then I’ll fucking treat you like one!” Enzo shouts as he attempts to climb into the back seat with me. Between the blaring lights, I can see how scratched up his pretty boy face is now, and I’m damn proud of myself. I may not be able to take him in a physical fight, but I’ve left enough marks all over his skin to let the entire country know that I fear no man.
Thiago slams on the breaks causing Enzo to fly backward into the console, letting out a grunt of surprise and pain. He parks the car, removes the keys from the ignition and gets out.
The back door opens first as he leans down to look at me, then gently takes one of my hands in his and helps me out of the car.
He puts a hand on either side of my face, tilting it toward him, then gently runs the tips of his fingers against the bump growing on my forehead. I wince at the gentle touch, and he shakes his head.
“Quédate aquí,” he instructs me quietly. He doesn’t move until I nod in agreement, and when I do, he takes the two steps toward the passenger side front door and pulls it open.
He reaches in and pulls Enzo out by the scruff of his shirt, dragging him into the sunshine, and dropping him onto the pavement.
“Look at what you did to her, you fucking idiot!” he growls at him.
Enzo quickly gets to his feet, squares off with Thiago and points to his face, “A debt repaid,” he informs him evenly.
Thiago puts his hands on his hips as he takes a deep breath, then glances at me. He opens his mouth slightly but shuts it immediately when his gaze flickers from to just beyond me.
I turn my face to follow his gaze, then smile slightly.
Walking toward us with curious looks on their faces and Raspados in their hands are Ana Sofia and Guillermo.
Flavored shaved ice has always been one of her favorite treats and it seems that they found a common ground to stand on rather than to die for.
“What’s going on?” he calls out as they approach.
I turn my face away.