Page 38 of Tesoro: Mayhem Makers

“Careful, Marcus, lest you forget who wears the ring,” I interrupt, not above pulling the leader card. If Marcus wanted a fight, I'd gladly give him one.

“My apologies…” Marcus trailed off and I could almost picture the scowl on his face. “The Maldonados are requesting compensation for an incident they say we are responsible for.”

“You should know better than to entertain the ramblings of a psycho.”

The sound of tires crunching over frozen snow pulls my attention to the long driveway.

“If he can prove our involvement?—”

“Chuy Maldonado couldn’t prove he took a shit if he was carrying it in his fucking hand. Since when did you start bending the knee to pieces of shit like him?”

Reaching for the gun at the small of my back, I make my way around the side of the house as Johnny parks one of the SUVs under the oak tree.

Narrowing my eyes, I notice his face is covered in blood, lip split and the knuckles wrapped around the steering wheel are cut and bleeding.

“I’ll call you back.”

Not waiting for Marcus to argue, I end the call and run to the driver’s side.

“What the fuck happened?” I demand, jerking the door open.

“Frankie asked me to check the roads. I needed gas, but when I stopped a car full of Chuy’s guys jumped out.”

Pushing away from the door, I point at the front door of the house.“Go inside and have Kate take a look at you.”

Johnny shook his head, “I’ve been hit harder by my grandmother.” He laughed, wiping a trickle of blood with the back of his sleeve. “They did have a message for you, Boss. The guy driving said to tell you,checkmate.”

Moving to ask Johnny if they said anything else, Frankie rounds the front of the SUV, a worried look on his face.

“What?”

“Remember when I told you not to ignore your past, it might catch up to you?” Handing the phone in his hands to me, the message on the screen makes my heart skip a beat.

“When did you get this?”

“When I got it isn’t important,” Frankie takes the phone from my hand, scrolling for a second before handing it back to me. “Where it was sent from, is the issue.”

Looking at the flashing dot on the screen, the sound of a horn blowing elicits an oath from my lips. I watch a car fishtail down the drive, the driver waving like a fucking loon in my direction.

“That’s not the worst of it, Boss.” Frankie’s voice is full of regret. “The pilot says the runway is clear, we can leave within the hour.”

“But Angelo?—”

“He made the call,” Frankie cuts me off, regret coating his words.

“Why do I get the feeling there is more you’re not telling me?”

“Because there is, and you’re not going to like it.”

Chapter

Twenty-Seven

KATE

Warmth surrounded me, its comfort working overtime to keep me from waking. Reaching over, I expect to find Dante lying beside me, however when my fingers touched cold sheets, I shot up in bed.

The room is pitch black, not even the light from under the door is showing. Slipping from the bed, I tiptoe over to the door, recalling what Frankie said about my footfalls.

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