Page 69 of Saving Blood

Juan smirks. “Yeah, but if I wasn’t in there, I wouldn’t have heard Maxine and Hector.”

“I want you to tell me exactly what they said. Nothing added, nothing left out.”

Juan squares his shoulders. “Hector was giving her shit, telling her she better come through for him and throw the fight, and she told him she’d do what he wanted. She said it more than once.”

Juan jerks his head over his shoulder again, then leans in. “He threatened her, telling her she belongs to him, and no matter what she thought, you would never want her.”

“Fuckin’ bastard.” Hector knew exactly how to work her insecurities. “What else?”

“She said he had nothing to worry about, and she would do exactly what he wanted. She didn’t fight back with him or nothing.”

“Anything else?”

“Yeah, he said all kinds of shit about you and admitted to killing Javi.”

My brain ricochets inside my skull. I already suspected Hector killed Javi, but hearing it drives the knife deeper. Then using me as leverage is just another way Hector manipulated Maxine. He preyed on her vulnerable childhood history of repression and punishment—both mental and physical. A hard chain to break, especially when the torment started so young. I know only too well.

I have to connect with her before her fight. I have to see where her head is at, make sure Hector hasn’t gotten her twisted, and make sure she still trusts me.

I push my hand in the pocket of my jeans and feel the passport Ricky gave me earlier. I planned on holding it until after the fight as insurance she wouldn’t get spooked and run, but I’ll give it to her now to prove I trust her, prove to her what she means to me.

“Good info, right?” Juan rolls on the balls of his feet.

“Consider your debt paid.” I get in his face. “And stay the fuck outta the ladies’ locker room.”

28

BLOOD

“C’mon.” Smoke meets me halfway between the bleachers, then jerks his head toward the other brothers. “We got business to handle.”

“I gotta talk to Maxine.”

“Not now.” Smoke slings his arm over my shoulder. “Right now, you gotta be my VP and make nice with Hector.”

I glance back at the gym, then fall in step with Smoke. “It was Hector who murdered Javi.”

Smoke angles me to our seats on the bleachers. “We knew that already.”

“Now I got proof. He’s a fuckin’ sadistic bastard.”

“A sadistic bastard who we gotta?—”

“Very nice setup you have here.” Hector holds out his hand to me.

I glare at him, then return the gesture, shaking hands with the fuckin’ devil.

Hector spreads his arms wide. “I see how you’ve made many improvements since Rico ran it.”

“Blood’s responsible for all of it,” Smoke says.

“Amazing job.”

I hold his gaze. “It’s called hard work.”

Smoke shoots me a side-eye saying “play nice.”

“Ahhh, yes, I never doubt American ingenuity. You have a way of making things happen, much like your neighbors here in Mexico.”

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