“I would advise against…” Matteo begins, but I hold up my hand.
“Don’t finish that fucking sentence if you value your life. I need to make a stop before we see Luca. We’ve been over this. The last thing I want to do is roll up in the limo, bringing even more attention to myself.”
“Very well. Don’t die,” he responds quickly before turning in the other direction.
With a nod of my head, I put the keys into the ignition and point my car toward the bodega. Thankfully, it’s only a few blocks over from Nocturne in an up-and-coming neighborhood and on the way. I pull to a stop in front of a nondescript bodega in the center of a random block near Celia’s apartment, the perfect place to have a secret meeting.
I stroll into the bodega, my eyes scanning the small shop, searching for any threats. I doubt anyone would look for me here, of all places, but I can’t be too careful. There’s an older woman tucked away in the corner, stocking shelves. Her eyes are laser-focused on me.
“Hello.” I flash her a smile and add in a wink for good measure.
“Hola,” she breathes, her cheeks pinking slightly before she ducks her head, focusing on the shelf in front of her.Hello.
“Can I help you?” a male voice calls from the opposite end of the store, his eyes tracking my every move as I head toward him.
I should hurry and get this over with, but there is power in intimidation. I need this man to help me keep track of Celia and to let me know who she might meet out on the street. I have my team working on backtracking the cameras in her apartment, but that takes time. Anything can happen when we don’t have eyes on her.
His eyes track my every movement as he moves slightly, reaching below the counter and grasping something in his hand. I don’t have to see it to know there’s a gun pointed right at me below the counter.
“Mr. Gutierrez.” I hold out my hand, clasping his hand in mine and giving it a firm shake.
My father always said you can learn a lot about a man by his handshake, and Santiago Gutierrez is no different. He’s strong and has great character, evident in the way he sized me up when I walked into his business earlier today. “There’s no need for the gun pointed at me below the counter. If I were here to hurt you, you’d be dead already.”
His hand slides from under the counter, and he places a small 9mm on it between us. “No disrespect.”
“None taken.” I smile at him, hoping to put him at ease. “I wouldn’t expect anything less from anyone. You aren’t the first person to pull a gun on me, and you won’t be the last.”
He nods his head but doesn’t say a word. If it were anyone else, he’d have a bullet in his head.
“What do you want withla mujer?” What do you want with the girl?
“She’s special to my family, Mr. Gutierrez. We only want to ensure she stays safe.”
He cocks his head to the side, searching my eyes for any hint of deception, but he won’t find any. Celia is important to us in more ways than one. She’s the key to finding out who’s after my family, but she also has the potential to become our everything. The woman we will have standing by our side as our queen—if she isn’t a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
“A man came into the bodega,amenazandola. I had to putmi escopeta en su cabezato scare him away.”A man came into the bodega, threatening her. I had to put my shotgun on his head to scare him away.
“Did you see his face? Can you describe him?”
“Some. Black hair and dark eyes,pero…” His eyebrows pull down in thought as if he’s searching for the right words.Some. Black hair and dark eyes, but…
“But what, Santiago?”
I’m quickly losing my patience with this man. Santiago called me away from a very important meeting, and I came here looking for answers. Instead, the only thing I’m getting is a play-by-play of an overzealous man trying to get close to Celia. It could be anyone.
“But the man… the man gave her something.” He pauses, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Un regalo.”A gift.
“What?” I snarl, three seconds from pulling out my gun and putting a bullet between this man’s eyes for wasting my time. “English, Santiago.”
“Gift.” Santiago waves me toward the back of the store, motioning toward a room. “Tengo cámaras de seguridad. Cameras.”I have security cameras.
I stride through the door into the room. A small monitor with an ancient-looking computer is sitting on a table tucked into the back corner. The screen is filled with different boxes, one for each camera angle. Santiago slides past me, takes a seat at the table, and taps away on the keyboard.
“Aquí.”Here.Santiago points at the picture in the top left-hand corner.
I watch as a man comes strolling into the store like he owns the place, his lips moving slightly as he searches for something. Celia ducks down behind something, trembling in fear as he inches toward her before she pops up from her hiding place. The man says something to her but stops cold in his tracks when Santiago presses the barrel of a shotgun into the back of his head.
My hands tighten on the back of a nearby chair as I fight to maintain control. This man was threatening Celia for some reason, but he knew she was there. He didn’t have to search for her. He came specifically to this bodega, looking for Celia.