Page 64 of Empire of Carnage
Not that I understood anything of the sort. I was allergic to healing. The thought of being examined under a lens gave me hives.
Or maybe I had just become bitter. Cynical over time, and maybe that was the problem. I’d never been delusional enough to think that I could ever earn myself a happy ending. When I turned thirty, I realized I was really only ten years away from outliving my papá.A rare feat for a Flores. That was what brought me to the Black Crow Brotherhood’s door in the first place. I was alive because I was lucky, and I knew that luck would eventually run out.
I might have not been ready to die yet, but we weren’t the ones who got to choose that day.
Santos pulled into the villa with a screech as he yanked on the emergency break. He opened his door, but I wrapped my hands around his wrists and pulled him back down to me.
“I want him alive.”
He grabbed the back of my neck, closing his mouth around mine and sliding his tongue between my lips. Kissing Santos was like inhaling summer in the middle of the snowy winter, like drinking clear tequila with no chaser.
It was liquid fire.
But it didn’t last nearly long enough. He broke free, and the right corner of his lip curled up.
“Then you shouldn’t have brought me.” He got up, walking around the car and opening my door for me.
“Who said chivalry was dead?” I joked.
He pulled his phone out, scrolling through the texts before shoving it back in his pocket.
“Zerkos and Kane are headed here now, we should wait for them,” he said with a wince, like he expected some sort of angry outburst at his logical suggestion.
“We should. But I’m also well aware my uncle will use anything I give a damn about to get to me, and to get what he wants.” Both could be one in the same, depending on how you looked at it. “Which is why I need you to stay out here. I don’t need distractions and I don’t need him to use you against me.”
A deep V formed between his eyebrows.
“Fuck no morena, I won’t be at the mercy of the unknown again. I won’t be helpless,” he said with a rising panic as if it was something he had to prove to me.
“You’re not at the mercy of the unknown, you’re atmymercy Santito,” I whispered, tapping his cheek with my hand gently. “I need to do this alone, if I’m not out in thirty you can come look for me.”
“Screw that. You can’t seriously think I’m just gonna let you go in there on your own, to possibly fucking die. You don’t know how many men he might have in there, and you don’t know what’s waiting for you,” he screamed.
“I had to watch Guillermo hurt you, over and over again. Every single day I watched him carve you up, I watched him maim you and kill your spirit. I will not risk hurting you again Santos. Whose sins are you paying for at this point?” I asked.
“I’m fucking coming, stop being so goddamn stubborn.” He grabbed my wrist, yanking me towards his hard chest with a slam. “We’re done making stupid decisions Celia.” His nostrils flared out passionately. “We do this together.”
I stared at him for a long moment. So many words and emotions silently passing between us. “Let’s go,” I sighed, releasing the safety on my Glock as we walked towards the side of the villa.
I didn’t know how many men he had inside, but we only had so much time before the cavalry arrived. It wasn’t that I wanted to do this alone, it was that Ineededto do it alone. I needed to kill him for the sake of my family, for the things he broke within us… within me. The minute the others arrived it would become a shootout.
I knew exactly where he was, and I knew exactly how to get there without being noticed.
“Are we not going inside?” he whispered.
“Not through the door.” I led him through the side of the villa, ducking under the windows and staying closer to the shadows as we snuck around the building.
Once I found the right window, the one just below the veranda door of my papá’s second story office, I peeked inside the glass to see if I could see anyone. It was empty.
“Give me a boost to the balcony,” I whispered.
He clasped his hands together to hold my foot and lift me up. It was just barely enough to get my arms up onto it. I muscled my way, struggling to get my lower body up on that balcony. Fuck, how much did my legs weigh?
“How am I supposed to get up there?” Santos whispered, too loudly, and I shushed him with a reprimanding stare.
“I’m sorry Santito. I told you I have to do this alone.” I gave him one final look before I turned my back to him, ignoring his hissing of my name from below.
“Celia! What the fuck!”
