Page 89 of My Desire (Mi Deseo)

I place her on the sofa, leaving her with a tearful Kat as I jog to the bar and make a hotTatidrink. Sitting beside her on the sofa, I push her hair over her shoulder, watching her take a generous drink robotically.

“Baby,” I try to coax her to look at me but her eyes stay on something in the distance. “How did you know?”

Finally her eyes land on me, empty and lifeless as she chugs the rest of the hot bourbon mix drink. “Marío sent me a picture.”

She stands, leaving the glass and me as she walks up the stairs like a zombie, slamming the door behind her.

“You need to call Alvaro,hermano.Tell him what's happened so you two can kill that vile motherfucker and be done with it.”

I nod my head in agreement. Taking my phone out, I gesture to the bedroom with my hand. “Go sit with her, please. I don’t want her to be alone.”

Katalina kisses my head before following Vicenta.

THIRTY-ONE

ROMERO

“Rise and Fall” by Felicitas

I listen to the line ring with my teeth grinding as Vicente comes inside, his eyes red and angry.

“Bueno,” Alvaro’s voice comes through the speaker as I watch Vicenta’s brother grab a drink from the bar, roughly twisting the top off and pouring himself a large serving before shooting it back.

“Alvaro, I’m gonna need you to pull your head out of the darkness for a while.”

My tone has his voice sobering in an instant. “What’s up? IsBrujaokay?”

“Just get over here. I need to speak to you and Vicente. It’s past time we end this shit with Marío before someone else they love shows up in a box.”

He's quiet for a minute, his voice coming through the line a second later as an angry growl. “I’m on my way.”

I hang up and walk over toDiabla’s brother. “You wanted to help kill Marío, now you can.”

He turns to me, his jaw as hard as his eyes. “You should have thought of that before he killed Lydia.”

He goes to shove past me, but I grab his arm, blocking his swing to my face before slamming him to the wall, knocking liquor bottles from the bar to the tiles.

“I get that you’re beyond pissed right now, Vicente, but channel that anger where it truly belongs. I couldn’t let you kill Marío then because we needed him to break the non aggression pact between thefamilias. Now he has. I didn’t know Lydia, but I know you and your sister—you are my family now and by extension, so was she.”

I shove off him, adjusting my shirt before grabbing the liquor bottle which never dropped during our scuffle.

“Now, do you want to get shitfaced and wallow in your pain, or do you want to learn who you are and what power you hold in this cartel world and plan your vendetta?”

“What do you mean?” he asks roughly, running a hand through his hair.

I give him a smile and tilt my head to the side. “Ever heard of the Vargas Cartel?”

* * *

Alvaro arrives not long after we hang up, his worry for Vicenta so strong that he doesn't hesitate to come into the house like he normally would have done. I clap his hand when I greet him, keeping him at my side when he tries to go in search ofDiabla.

“She’s sleeping upstairs. Katalina is with her, she’ll be fine for an hour.”

I gesture to the seat beside Vicente who struggles with the bit of information I’ve given him concerning his mom’s heritage.

“Compa,” Alvaro says sadly, clapping the troubled brother on his back. “Mis condolencias,Vicente.We’ll make sure Lydia is properly buried and avenged.”

I guess he spoke to Javier on his way in.

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