Page 86 of Property of Bones

I burst out laughing, the sound still shaky but real. “Just checking where it is.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Max

“Everything in place?” Muerte asks.

How the hell am I going to get a message to Spike?

Fuck.

“Yes, boss,” I say, voice steady, emotions locked behind the same dead-eyed mask I’ve worn since the day I stepped into this hellhole.

Muerte studies me. “You good with this, hermano? Still got soft spots for those bikers?”

I meet his gaze without blinking. “You promised me the club,” I say flatly. “Once they’re out of the way, I get full ownership. That was the deal.”

“They’re nothing to you, huh?”

“Never were,” I lie. “They didn’t even let me rise pastProspect Leader.Didn’t trust me then. Why should I care now?”

All a damn lie.

Iaskedfor that position. I was good at it. I earned every damn ounce of respect I had… Until I lost it all in a single night.

Muerte chuckles, raising both hands like I just accused him of stealing my bike. “Just checking.”

I nod, slowly. Controlled. My fingers twitch toward the Glock in my jacket pocket.

It’d be easy.

One shot. Center mass. Drop him right here on this fancy-ass floor.

But I wouldn’t get out alive. Not with his men posted at every door. Not with half the cartel within shouting distance, itching for blood and a promotion.

So I smile.

Cold. Empty. Believable.

But inside?

I’m counting minutes.

Seconds.

The bodies I’ll stack like firewood when this ends.

And the bullet I’m saving just for him.

“Your mamá dying was the best thing that happened to us both,” Muerte says casually like he’s talking about the weather.

My jaw tightens.

She took out a massive loan from Los Fantasmas. Spent her whole damn life trying to pay it off. When she died, her debts became mine.

I didn’t betray the Shadows…not the way they think. But Ididhand over buyer info from the club’s database to keep myself off a kill list.

Still makes me a traitor.

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