Page 75 of When Sinners Fall
We all end up sitting around the same table, pretending we’re not what we are considering the decor. I light a smoke, look at the classy colours and furniture, and sneer at that thought. Think I’m about the only one that does acknowledge what we are these days. Mother’s off in her fantasy land where nothing touches her, and she’s living the life deserving of the queen she thinks she is. Abel’s constantly in his suit lately, trying to be more like a father each day. And Knox, well, who knows what the hell he has going on in his head most of the time. Too damn intelligent for his own good. Let’s not even discuss Shaw.
Mariana sits there like a wallflower, her coffee neatly tucked into her grip as Mother starts talking through what’s going down. Seems like the Ortegas are encroaching. And not only that, they’re encroaching with the cartels too and beginning to take over. That apparently means our power is lessening because we don’t deal in that poison. It isn’t. And we don’t need that kind of crap mixing with our gene pool.
“It’s not that I think we should become too embroiled in that world,” she continues, lounging in her chair. “But a union with them would show strength. Unparalleled strength. We have what they don’t, and they have what we don’t. I’m on good terms with Miguel for now.” I bet she is. Probably fucking him. That's her normal way of getting in bed with the head of the families she’s trying to bring onside. “He’s visiting me here soon.”
I keep smoking and drinking my coffee and listen to her trying to goad one of us into marrying an Ortega. There are two of them to choose from on a high enough level. Nicolas or his sister Alexia. Neither is going to happen. None of us wants pushing into a marriage for convenience’s sake. We might be assholes, but every single one of us has a heart buried down deep. If I can find mine, they sure as shit feel it in themselves. It’s what keeps us as loyal as we are to both her and each other. Damn shame Elias isn’t still here because he was the only one that would have. He wouldn’t have given a damn who he fucked if it was profitable to his own cause in some way.
“I could do it,” Mariana says. “Nicolas is cute. In a way.”
“No,” grumbles out of me. He’s not fucking cute. He’s an animal. Just like we are. “Not happening.”
“Dante, I think that’s Mariana’s-”
I look back at Mother, a sneer etched in. “I said no. I mean it. Don’t fucking push me.” Corrupting us men into her way of thinking is one thing, trying to take the baby and turn her rotten before she’s ready is another. She's already had her life turned upside down because of my failure. I'm not letting her down again. “She’s not doing it.”
“Who then?” Mother asks. “Which one of you is ready to do what needs doing?”
What needs doing? We all do everything thatneedsdoing. This isn’t a scenario thatneedsanything. “No one needs to do a damn thing. If you weren’t such a power-hungry bitch this wouldn’t even need discussing.”
She stands and hisses at me, throwing a curse my way in Spanish to try making me behave. Cutlery goes flying as she gets invested in her tantrum, and then the coffee cup gets tossed in my direction. She’s still cursing me, too. All kinds of language coming now. I chuckle at it to ease the tension building in me and watch as Abel gets in her face to calm her down.
He does eventually. She sits her ass back down, then smooths her dress and lifts her chin as if she didn’t just show us exactly who she is under that façade. I’ve got to admit, I like her cunning. Respect it in some ways. Always did, whether I agreed with it or not. Maybe it did turn us all into some carnage she could use, but at least she’s never lied about it. Didn’t pretend anything other than this disguise we live in, either.
“Why?” I ask, sitting again. “Make it worthwhile, and I’ll carry on listening.”
“You’re infuriating, Dante,” she bites. Yeah. But this needs realism, and unless she’s about to give me something other than power-hungry shit we don’t need, I’m not supporting a damn thing to do with this.
“If we don’t join, we lose,” she says. Knox mutters something. She closes him down with a glare and nothing more. “We are not enough alone. They will grow bolder and edge closer and closer until there’s nothing but a border that they care little for, and then they will take what we have built. I will not lose my status because my own children won’t yield to simple instructions.”
Abel leans back in his chair and stares off into the distance. He knows all this already, doesn’t he? He’s been thinking it through. Working it out. In fact, the more I think about what she’s saying, the more I’m inclined to think that the only reason this is happening today is to make sure I’m on board. Knox will do as he’s told. Shaw has no real choice in anything anyway. And Mariana’s not important in the grand scheme of things. Certainly not when it comes to situations like this.
I stand and walk to the bar for more coffee, knowing it isn’t going to be me, and damn sure Shaw isn’t capable of managing himself let alone the type of woman AlexiaOrtega probably is. That only leaves Abel and Knox if we really have to.
It makes me look back at Abel as the espresso’s being made, trying to work out where his head’s at. He’s a blank wall of ice on this one as he stares back at me. There’s been no talking to me about it previously. No discussions on what I think, either. Which is leading me to conclusions about how far he’s willing to go for this family. He took the hit by going to prison for us and has taken it plenty of times by getting himself shot to protect us.
Fucking thought fills me with fury, and I glare at Mother for the whole damn scenario. “We can do this without needing to-”
“No, we can’t,” Abel cuts in. “Not anymore.”
We all look at him. That’s all it needed. He’s admitted it out loud. Posturing is done and over. Discussions about whether we can out-manoeuvre it or not are finished. If he’s saying that, it means he’s thought through every viable avenue, and he can’t find one that fits other than the obvious. If I wasn’t pissed before he opened his mouth, I am now.
“Well,” Mother says. “I need an answer from one of you. Soon. This isn’t something we can back out of. It’s arranged.” Knox looks over at me, as steadfast in his stare as Abel is. Even he’s considering it now. Wish I could do something about that, but I can’t, not now Wren’s here.
“I can do it,” Mariana repeats as she stands and walks over to me. “I’m a big girl, Dante. How hard can it be to pretend?”
“Shut the hell up.” I pick up my espresso after the server’s put it next to me, downing it. “In fact, go home. This isn’t for you.” She starts getting all testy, hands going to her hips because I’m treating her like a baby. Not changing my mind. She is a baby.
“When are you going to accept that I’m a woman with her own-”
“Never. Get out.”
“Dante!”
I need a real goddamn drink.
I end up walking around the bar and pouring a shot of whisky so I can do something with my hands rather than kill someone. This is all it ever is: demands from Mother about what she thinks is best. I don’t know why we haven’t just gone and made our point felt about them interfering where they’re not welcome before this. It would have been easy enough if she’d been in front of this fuck-up. Instead, she’s instigated something none of us wants just to gain more power. Actually, thinking about it, she probably arranged it that way, making sure we didn’t know what was happening until there wasn’t a way of us getting out of it.
I eyeball Shaw, considering him more than I have done. Maybe if he just fucked something and kept his mouth closed, we could force him into it. We’d have to manage it, but he’s the one I care about the least. Harsh, but doable. And, to his credit, he’s as resolute in his stare as Knox and Abel are at the moment.
