Page 9 of King of Hearts

“Mom,” I replied, walking toward her then kissing her cheek.

“¿Dónde has estado?”

Where had I been? Hilarious. It may have seemed like a harmless question, but coming from my mother and delivered in that tone of hers, it was like being slapped across the face. I may have been blessed with her eyes, but hers were always twinkling with judgment. Which was really fucking rich, coming from her—or my father, for that matter.

Their restaurant was a front for running drugs, and while she made the best street tacos in Rake Forge and I loved her dearly, she helped dirty the streets of this city. I loved my family, and while our past was complicated and most of it I just accepted with a devotion that would never waver, I never accepted guilt from my parents. I wanted a life free of this shit, free of hiding and doing backdoor deals, running drugs, all of it. I wanted the Hornets, or some other team where I could play, but it was likely word would spread about my family and anywhere on the east coast wouldn’t touch me.

“I’ve been working, and now I’m going back to school.” I turned to stir a pan of chicken. “You added way too much pepper to this,” I said to one of the cooks.

“Talk to him.” Rodrigo pointed at the man who’d raised me, Leo, who was viciously flipping a dish of sauteed veggies and shrimp.

“Papá, you can’t add so much pepper.”

“Don’t speak to me about this. I was cooking before you were even a thought,” he rumbled in that grumpy tone that only made me laugh.

I considered Leo my father, even if we didn’t share DNA. I had even taken on his last name the second my biological father passed. Leo hated the life that came attached to my mother’s as much as I did, but like me, he made the best of it. Originally, he started the restaurant as a way to distance himself from El Peligro and my biological father, but my uncle just roped him in, giving him little to no choice in the matter.

“Juan, when are you going to bring a wife for me to meet?” asked my Aunt Maria.

She was flattening a few tortillas, something that made our restaurant so successful. Her tortillas were an obsession for most of Rake Forge, especially the university students.

“Not sure. Guess when I find someone who can put up with me.”

“What about that girl who keeps coming by here asking about you?” my father asked, and I had a feeling I knew exactly who he was talking about. Angela, the girl I had taken to the wedding, had gotten the idea in her head that I wanted a relationship instead of just a distraction.

She’d hopefully learn soon enough that her tagging me in pictures on Instagram and sending me vague texts wouldn’t be doing her any favors.

“Hector was here earlier—he wants to talk to you about something,” Maria said, rolling more dough into a ball.

“I know, I saw him.”

“So what did he want?” my mother asked, dicing a tomato.

I felt weird not helping with something, especially while discussing that I had accepted something from my uncle.

“Victor bought a house and is letting me stay in it while he purchases the building I’m in.” I shrugged, grabbing a piece of chicken from one of the serving plates. Way too much pepper. I coughed.

“A ese diablo no le recibas nada,” my mother rattled off in a quick rush. It was her brother, so I didn’t know why she was even trying…or if maybe she didn’t know that I was aware of what she was currently accepting from him for allowing the restaurant to act as a cover for his drug running. Her calling him the devil and telling me not to accept anything from him was just one more thing I had to bite my tongue about.

“It’s done.”

“Undo it,” she begged, and I shrugged. She also knew her brother had effectively ruined my place on the Hornets.

I had nowhere to go, and I knew even if I tried to find a place, it would just be a headache I didn’t need at the moment. This way I could take my time and be comfortable for a few months while I figured out my next step.

My mother’s firm grip tightened around my wrist as she pulled me away.

“My son, I love you very much…but I beg you not to do this.”

I hated when she whined like that, as if me not following in her footsteps would somehow save my soul. “Madre, stop. It’s just a house.”

She blanched and looked down at her feet. I was about to walk away when she said, “It’s never just anything with El Peligro. They’ll take your whole life, my son, one I don’t think you even know you’re ready to part with.”

Chapter Five

“Why don’tyou just live here?” My mother kept her gaze down on her cell phone while she spoke. I was used to it, but now that I was pregnant, it felt more annoying than usual.

“I’ve already told you why I don’t want to live here. It’s too far, and my first class is at seven thirty in the morning.” I gripped the duffle bag by the handles and moved it toward the door. Gareth, our driver and house manager, jogged across the foyer to grab it from me.

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