However, today, I can’t worry about mending that bridge. I have to do our father’s work and I have to succeed because even though I’m of his blood, failure is still not an option in his eyes.
* * *
“You get angry too fast, Tati.”
I roll my eyes at my reflection in the vanity before I glare at Ana Sofia who’s standing in my doorway.
“Did you forget how to knock?” I ask her evenly.
“This must be something big,” she continues as if she didn’t hear me. I watch as she leans against the doorframe and begins to tap her chin. “Can I have a hint?”
“I already told you, no,” I say as I primp my hair. I like to get dolled up when I threaten people; it makes me feel as pretty as my sister is deadly.
“Okay, are you leaving Navolato for this?” she presses.
“Ask Papa what I have to do today,” I reply sharply. “I’m sure he’d love to fill you in on something that’s none of your business.”
I know that I’m taking a gamble right now, because Ana Sofia has been known to call my bluff more than once, but I doubt she’ll do it this time. No one steps on the toes of El Señor around here; not even his daughters.
“Why do you hate me so much, Tati?” she asks softly.
I sigh as I sit down in the chair in front of my vanity and reach for my favorite ring. Slipping it onto my middle finger, I glance at her reflection again.
“I don’t hate you,” I tell her truthfully, “I just worry about you. You’re getting too far caught up in the dark side of Papa’s business and I’ve watched so many people I care for lose their lives by trying to be the best. I don’t want that for you. That’s all.”
She purses her lips for a moment before glancing over her shoulder out into the hallway, then steps into my room and pulls the door closed behind her.
“Tell me where you’re going,” she insists as she sits on my bed and leans back on the palms of her hands. “I’m not going to follow you—it’ll save me some time if I have to do any wet work after.”
I chuckle.
La Carnicera wants to know where I’m going so she can sharpen her claws in the event I don’t come back.
Her way of telling me that she loves me without having to say it is by letting me know that she’ll personally avenge me if the need arises.
And if that doesn’t prove loyalty, nothing else will.
Chapter Two
“Be safe, Tati,”Ana Sofia whispers as she hugs me. Her and Papa are on the front steps sending me off, and in a weird way, I don’t want her to let go.
I feel like it’ll be the last time we get to hug each other because these outings can swiftly go wrong over the slightest things.
As she finally breaks the embrace, she holds onto my hands for a moment longer. I raise an eyebrow, as does Papa, who sighs and leans over to whisper something in her ear.
She looks up at him and nods as she lets my hands go, and he wraps an arm around her shoulders.
“Come back as soon as you’re able to, hija. I mean it,” Papa instructs me before he lays a gentle kiss against my cheek.
“I will. I won’t let you down,” I promise him as I walk over to the car that Javier has pulled up in. Once he gets out, he holds the car door for me, then closes it behind me.
I nod at him in thanks, then begin to adjust the mirrors and seat until I’m comfortable.
I lean over to wave at my father and sister before I take a deep breath and press down on the gas pedal, heading toward a mission that could help our father’s empire—or bring it to its knees.
* * *
I singalong to the song on the radio as my hair whips in the wind. The fact that I spent so much time getting ready for this meeting is second right now to enjoying a good song and trying to stay in a good mood.