Page 117 of Cartel King

“Is that pride I hear?”

“Respect.”

“Anton has a theory about who it is.”

Here we go. His brother oversees their men’s day-to-day assignments. He’s as big as Alejandro and nearly as smart. He’s a trained computer programmer and isn’t a half bad hacker. It’s his best friend, Sergei, who’s the master hacker in that family. He heads their intelligence gathering.

“What does your big brother have to say?”

“The woman you’re dating went out of town at the same time Alejandro went to Brazil. While she’s gone, Ignacio and Benicio wind up dead. Alejandro lives. You ordered the hit on my wife’s uncle. You used Alejandro as a decoy to make me think you weren’t responsible for it.”

I remain silent when he pauses for dramatic effect.

“Your girlfriend’s flight landed in Rio. On the way home, she stopped in the Caymans. Are you dating her because she threatened to kill you if you didn’t put out?”

“Tread lightly, Pasha.”

“She’s a beautiful woman. You’ve had a drought for a decade.”

I’m merely more discreet than the rest of them.

“I can’t blame you for falling for her. Has she been busting your balls?”

“So, you know who she is.”

“Yup.”

He was fucking with me, saying “he” at first.

“Is that why you were watching her before she and I even met?”

“What’re you talking about?”

“The photos.”

“What photos? She wasn’t on anyone’s radar until you couldn’t keep away from her and her dog. He reminds me of Sebastian.”

“The photos you sent her. The ones from the car parked on her streetbeforeshe and I met.”

“Whatever photos you’re talking about, no one in my family is responsible for them. We don’t fuck around like that. That’syourfamily’s MO.”

“He’s been gone a long time.”

Luis and Margherita’s other son, Juan. My heart aches thinking about him. He broke the cardinal rule that women and children are off limits because his childhood crush—Sebastian’s owner—broke his heart by falling in love with and marrying Pasha’s cousin. It didn’t help that Maksim is the bratva’spakhan—my equivalent.

“But your family didn’t learn from him fast enough.”

“Don’t deflect. You know who she is to me. You targeted her.”

“No. I didn’t.”

“She was involved in your in-laws’ deaths, and you want me to believe you aren’t getting revenge?”

“I’ve been busy comforting my wife. Your woman did a job, but she wasn’t interesting enough to spare a second thought while my wife and her family grieve.”

“Then who?”

I know the only other possibility.

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