Page 12 of Hostile Love
“Even more reason to figure out who took Buffy and why.”
“Dragon…” I growl, growing impatient. “She doesn’t have time to wait for us to gather intel. The other agents are too far away. I’m already here…” I thump my chest. “I don’t need yourpermission to go after her. This isn’t about The Covenant. It’s about me and her.”
My heart pounds in his silence.
“You seem very invested in the woman. Is there something you need to offload?”
“We have a mutual respect for each other,” I admit, matter-of-factly.
“Respect…Christ,” he mutters. “It’s my fault for putting you in the same bedroom together. Does anyone else know you’re fucking her?”
My chest tightens. “I’m not just fucking her. There’s more to it than that. But now isn’t the time to stick your nose into my private life. I'm going after Buffy, whether you agree with it or not.”
Giovanni sighs audibly. “You get more and more like him every day.”
“Who…Papá?”
His grunt comes fast. “Hell no, definitely not that fucker. I’m talking about my reckless twin.”
André.
My heart swells at the comparison, and all I feel is the warmth of love surrounding me. I smile from the feeling.
“I’ll have soldiers with you in less than thirty minutes,” Giovanni continues. “They’ll bring weapons and follow your orders. Once you’ve got Buffy, return her to base immediately for a debrief. Disobey me on that and I’ll drag you both back here myself…myway.”
The no-nonsense threat in his tone tells me he’d make an example of us for deviating from his order.
If I disobeyed him, I’d force his hand and have to accept the punishment he’d dish out to maintain order in the ranks.
Knowing my brother—and the violent methods he uses—I’d suffer.
Whereas Dani—I know for a fact she’d fight back. I couldn’t stand in the wings and watch them go head-to-head.
Giovanni is out of everyone’s league. And if she drew Souza blood, he’d order me to kill her. I know he would.
“How do you know this isn’t a setup? She could be leading you into a trap by the dick, Crow.”
My scalp prickles, paranoia rich in my blood. This must be how Papá had felt for years—a constant whisper of doubt and the heavy weight of possible betrayals.
I don’t like that pull of darkness, because it makes me just likehim. Elias Souza. A man I foolishly looked up to as a father and a leader. When he was neither.
But it’s not my little firecracker I’m doubting this time. Tomás knows I’m into her. Maybe he’s always known I’m not a true Souza and that one day I might step on his toes if the truth came out—if I got close to Blanco.
Then again, each of my big brothers made sure I could fire a gun and cut cocaine. They gave me whatever I wanted. Especially Tomás.
He’s the guy I really look up to more than anyone. While André and Giovanni treat me like a kid brother, Tomás had always taken the role of a father figure.
Our brotherly bond is watertight.
However, if he went behind our backs and executed Elias without discussing it with his siblings first or giving us a chance to help—that's devious. And I’d end up questioning everything.
Then again, the guy was brainwashed. Groomed to keep the Souza legacy alive, whatever the cost.
But does that mean he’d secretly kill off members of our family to secure his position as the big boss of the Souza cartel?
“Did you plan it?” I ask. “Was she kidnapped on the boss’ order?”
Prowling back down the corridor, I wander into Blanco’s office and make a beeline for the liquor cabinet.
