Page 8 of King of Hearts

He moved, sitting up and getting to his feet at a speed that shouldn’t have been possible, and before I could even muster a single thought in my head, he was walking away.

Chapter Four

I knewI had company the moment I parked my car. The Range Rover with wide, chrome rims and blacked-out windows sat in a parking space reserved for the owner of the building. I knew it was for the owner, everyone knew it was…but when El Peligro parked in front of your establishment, you didn’t say a goddamn word. Richie, the owner of my apartment complex, only had to learn that lesson once.

I grabbed my bag from the back of my car and trudged upstairs, wishing I could sulk over my encounter with Taylor alone. Seeing her again, after months of nothing…it was definitely a mind fuck. She’d cut me out of her life cold turkey, moving and giving me no indication of where she went, and then she’d blocked my number. We weren’t friends…or friendly in any real way, but she had to know I would be there for her if she needed me to be. I had been when she needed to get in touch with Mal and couldn’t seem to on her own. I had helped then…I’d always help her if she really needed it, so her being alone on campus without anyone didn’t sit right with me.

Even without our failed kiss, I was somehow coming to protect her…scaling one wall at a time. It was partly why I was so harsh with her, because she was always one second away from falling apart, and the only thing that seemed to drive her was fire.

So, I had determined to be her own personal dragon, breathing fire down her neck as often as I could…until her fire came back strong enough to force me out. I hadn’t anticipated she’d turn into a mouse and sneak away without a word. Mallory had told me that Taylor was pregnant and had even asked if there was any way I’d ever accept Taylor as a roommate, but I had merely laughed as the idea rolled through and left me. There was no way I’d ever be stable enough to room with Taylor Beck, especially not while she was pregnant with another man’s child, a man she had mistaken me for when we kissed.

My apartment door sat ajar as plumes of vaping smoke billowed from inside.

I hated when he smoked in my space, even if it was just vaping…I hated that he thought he could come in and do whatever the hell he wanted to.

“Primo.” My cousin reclined on my couch, wearing a pair of navy blue Dickie shorts, a blue and white checkered flannel buttoned to his throat, and a pair of stark white Nike Cortezes. I had the same shoes in my closet, and once upon a time I had sported the blue colors of El Peligro, but that was a long time ago.

I shoved the door closed with my foot, giving him a slight nod.

Hector was bald with varying tattoos inked into his skull, face, and neck, most of which he’d acquired while in prison.

“Don’t fucking vape in my house.” I set my things down and walked to the fridge. My cousin laughed, shaking his head, but he put away his vaping pen.

When he laughed like that or even smiled in any way, it reminded me how close in age he was to me. I was on the brink of twenty-two, and he was only twenty-five. I tried to remember a time when we were just kids, playing on our abuela’s floor with a few cars and army figurines. Those were good times, back when we were unaware of our family being mixed up with the messy business ethics they’d adopted. My mother and biological father were born in America, but their parents weren’t, and incidentally several of my aunts and cousins were immigrants. Most of them were working toward getting their citizenship, regardless of how fucking difficult the government made it. The others didn’t give a flying fuck about papers or any of that shit.

They saw an opportunity and took it.

“Speaking of houses…why the fuck you still in this tiny-ass apartment?” Hector lifted his eyes to the ceiling, his nose scrunching in distaste.

I glowered at him while fixing myself a sandwich. I would have loved to move out of the shitty apartment, but one visit from my uncle at hockey practice and that was all it took. Everyone in Rake Forge knew of El Peligro and knew the further you were from them, the safer. I was let go from the Hornets immediately afterward, told it was a conflict of interest with the team. I had no idea what the fuck that meant, but it essentially meant they didn’t want to risk being involved with a notorious gang.

“Why are you here?”

Hector rubbed a hand over his head, letting out a sigh. Things between us had been a little tense over the past two years. My uncle had found out about my best friend, Mallory Shaw, and decided maybe it was a good idea to try to scam her or her dad for a couple million. When I told him to go fuck himself and said I’d kill anyone who touched her, they backed off. They weren’t the only ones who had a reputation in the family.

“Pops feels bad about your hockey gig…he wants to make it up to you.” My cousin shrugged his shoulders, his massive shirt nearly swallowing him whole.

I eyed him, slapping turkey on my bread. “I don’t want anything from Tío.”

I’d handle my own shit. Just because I had lost my position on the Hornets because of my family didn’t mean I’d resent them for it. Family was family at the end of the day.

“Too bad, primo. He bought something for you, no strings attached…we all know how you feel about those.” He dangled a pair of keys in front of me.

I turned my back on him. “I don’t fucking want anything from El Peligro either. I’m not taking whatever is attached to those keys. I’m not in…I’ll never be in.” Not again at least.

“Such dramatics. Relax, homes.” He laughed, walking forward to shake my shoulders. “It’s just a gift, no cords…and you won’t exactly have a choice. Poppy bought this shit hole, and everyone is getting evicted.”

He said it like it was no big thing, like all my neighbors losing their place to live would be perfectly fine. This was why I’d never consider being a part of El Peligro again…that and the murder and theft they committed.

I let out a sigh and rubbed my eyes. I wouldn’t be able to afford a down payment anywhere new, and the market had just flexed and popped like a goddamn rubber band. Getting into a new spot would be nearly impossible.

Reluctantly I tugged the keys free of my cousin’s fingers. “What am I going to find at the end of this?”

His brown eyes lit with excitement. “A sick-ass place.” He rubbed his hands together. “It has a pool.”

* * *

“Hijo mío.”My mother’s whiney voice echoed from the back of the kitchen, and I rolled my eyes at how dramatic she always was. I usually tried to stop by and help them in one of their restaurants whenever I had a free moment, but since signing with the Hornets, I hadn’t been in months.

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