Page 126 of Hostile Love
While my brothers brooded, Mama slept on the couch near the cockpit. Her bodyguard covered her with a blanket, sank into the opposite seat, and made the most of his rest time too.
He may as well be an honorary Souza, given he’s with Mama twenty-four seven—just like Dani and me these days.
Although after the chapel massacre, she’s one of us and always will be.
I stroked her arm as she’d napped while sitting upright on the seat beside me, her head resting on my shoulder and our fingers linked, both of us content in each other’s company.
I’m sure it was exhausting to hold rank next to the Souza cartel given her history, but she recognizes there’s more to us outside of the drugs and violence.
If it’s possible, I love the woman even more for trusting me.
Afterwards, my brothers shook her hand and André even kissed her on the cheek, making my blood simmer. A few slugs to the chest didn’t change that cocky fucker.
After the shooting, Blanco and Mama spoke at length outside the chapel. She escorted him back to the house, opened a bottle of cognac, and offered him a Cuban cigar.
He wasn’t amused by the Souza show of authority, or the fact he’d been duped into attending a fake wedding. However, Tomás and he shook on a new syndicate. A Souza led kinship which involved Blanco and the Mannix family.
After too many hours in the air, we finally stepped off the jet in Manaus airport under a dark sky. We met a guy named Salvador who introduced himself as Carina’s brother.
His tightly wound curls were clipped short, and his vigilant gaze almost black. He wore combat pants, a loose t-shirt, and a pair of work boots laced up to his shins.
Salvador didn't say much to us at the start, other than barking out a few non-negotiable instructions. The main onebeing that all weapons, including Dani’s daggers and Giovanni’s concealed guns had to be left behind.
I’m surprised Tomás had agreed to it, especially when Giovanni didn’t look happy in the slightest.
At one point, I thought he was going to punch our guide in the throat to stop him from speaking. However, as Salvador pointed out, trusting Carina’s family was the price we had to pay for absolute safety.
We were given assurance that the only threat we might face would be the wildlife and, if we respected their territory, we had nothing to worry about.
Mama soon squeezed a conversation out of Salvador in the chopper, and then Tomás joined in too.
A few minutes ago, the two men actually shared a joke––and laughed briefly at the same time.
Giovanni kept his arms folded over his chest and wore his typical low-key scowl. Whereas André unfastened his harness, popped open the buttons on his shirt, loosened the tails, and scrubbed his face, clearly fed up with being confined.
We’re skimming over the Amazon jungle in a passenger helicopter. Dani gazes out at the never-ending moonlit treetops.
The view is unlike anything we’ve ever seen before.
I like that. Knowing we’re together exploring and sharing firsts.
In the distance, clustered lights dot the landscape, and the chopper swoops low, descending between towering evergreens in the middle of the rainforest.
A circular helipad guides the pilot into what feels like a big black hole since it’s circled by skyscraper high trees.
When the helicopter door opens, André throws off his headset and jumps out first.
A loud chorus of nocturnal creatures swarms the cabin and muggy heat moves across my face.
I shrug out of my jacket, unbutton my waistcoat, and strip it off. There won’t be a need for a three-piece suit in the wild, and once I shower, I’ll lose the dress shirt and pants too.
Beside me, Dani gets ready to disembark. I drop my gaze to her tits trapped behind red material and smile to myself. That dress won't last long either.
“Fuck, I need a smoke,” André mutters.
He digs out his tin of rolled up blunts and sparks his lighter flint, flaming the tip, and inhaling smoke deep into his lungs like he needs it to breathe.
“Right, you guys have bored the fuck out of me for long enough.” He exhales smoke as he speaks. “I need my wife and kids.Adios, motherfuckers.”
