MARCUS.
The Castillos, Héctor's family, had always run this cartel. After Héctor's son died at nine, he never had another child, leaving no heir. As their tradition would have it, he had to pick one of his sister's sons to take over, but Héctor hadn't followed tradition and had put his trust in a non-Castillo. In Tyrone. Héctor's family hated Tyrone, and when Héctor finally strangled that viper with his bare hands, they thought he'd finally come around. That he'd finally choose a Castillo. But then he shocked them some more by choosing me, and I wasn't even Mexican. I guess that was the last straw.
Now his family wants to play dirty.
They've turned some of the cartel members against Héctor, ordering them to hunt him down and kill him because after all, if he dies, he can't make me the next Don, and his sister automatically gets to choose the next leader.
Why hadn't they come for me yet? I was the face of legitimacy. In other words, their frontman. Just like my father, whose reputation shielded all the illegal activities, making us experts in money laundering. They needed me. And if they ever managed to kill Héctor, I'd have no choice because they were bound to threaten my sister's life - she was the only one I cared about in the family. The rest could go to hell for all I cared.
"What the hell?!" Jade had regained her consciousness. Her body writhed against the restraints of the chair, sending tremors through the flimsy metal frame. The hem of her dress had hiked up, revealing a flash of her chocolate thigh.
"Stop moving so much," I growled, a warning laced with a hint of amusement. "You'll topple over if you keep thrashing like that."
She froze, sending a daggered look my way before swiveling her head to take in the sterile surroundings. We were still in her sister's hospital room, but the bed was empty. Panic flared in her eyes.
"Where's my sister?"
I ignored her outburst, taking a leisurely drag from my cigarette. I exhaled a plume of smoke that drifted towards her.
"Did I pass out? What did you do to me?"
A smirk played on my lips. "Just a little tap on the pressure point in the neck. Makes people take an involuntary nap, two minutes tops."
"My sister!" she shrieked, her beautiful face contorted with rage.
I pulled a chair closer, settling myself comfortably in front of her. Her defiance sparked something in my gut, but I pushed it down. Reaching out, I tugged down the wayward hem of her dress.
"Sebastian can't protect you or your sister," I told her.
A flicker of vulnerability crossed her features, a stark contrast to the defiance etched on her face moments ago. "Does he even know?" she whispered, her voice barely audible.
"Know what?"
"That you're this fucked up!," she spat, venom returning to her voice. "I mean he did tell me that back in school you were really violent and did a lot of bad things to hurt your own family, but does he know how worse it gets? Does he know you're in a damn cartel?"
Fury burned in my gut. My jaw clenched. I wanted to rip someone apart. Typical Sebastian! Playing the victim again. No one ever listened to my side. Even if they did, he'd spin it as a lie, and they'd believe him every time. He'd painted himself as the angel and me as the monster. The only reason he was alive was because Dad made me promise to leave him alone, no matter what. I wouldn't break that promise, but it didn't mean I couldn't.
"Don't be naive," I growled, forcing myself to speak past the clenched jaw. "Trusting one person with your life is a recipe for disaster."
"Says the guy who wants me to trust him for protection after his people almost got my sister killed because they couldn't decide who gets to keep the container of marijuana or whatever shit you guys deal in."
"Let me tell you something interesting," I leaned in close, my nose picking up the sweet scent of cinnamon and vanilla on her skin. I pushed aside the cozy feeling it gave me and said, "While Sebastian's bodyguards were still learning the art of writing love letters, most of the men in the mafia had already made their first kill and I'm not talking about hunting deer."
Her eyes darted around the room, finally landing back on me, fear replacing the defiance. I pressed on, "While his men were signing up for the job, our men were pulling off million-dollar heists and vanishing like smoke. They didn't need training. They relied on experience. The more people they killed, the more powerful they became. That's their currency, their power. Protection isn't their game. They claim what's theirs, take what they want, and eliminate anyone who gets in their way. Even if it's familia. And right now, these are the same type of men that will not hesitate to kill your sister just to smoke our leader out of hiding."
The weight of my words hung heavy in the air. Jade's eyes were wide, pupils dilated with terror. Finally, she managed a shaky voice. "Does this leader... care about Meredith that much?"
I rose from the chair, pacing the room like a caged animal. "He does."
She took a shuddering breath. "Then," she said, her voice laced with a deadly calm, "if you think you can keep her safe, do it. But fail me, and I'll make you regret the day you were born." Her voice held a promise of violence.
Frustration gnawed at me. "Sebastian knows what I'm about," I growled. "He'd have ended me a long time ago if he could."
"I'm not Sebastian," she shot back. "I do things differently."
"You need protection too," I insisted. "They'll come for you eventually."
"No, I don't. Not from you. I still trust Oliver and I trust my husband. And besides, I'll stay inside until this blows over, alright? You will get it under control, right?"
Her blind trust in Sebastian surprised me. I just nodded.
"Good," she said. "Let's get this over with. Untie me."
"Wait just a minute," I sat in the chair in front of her again, surprised to find myself leaning way too close. The comforting scent of her skin filled my nose. I jerked back, like I'd gotten burned. "Don't you even think about running to the cops after this."
"Thought you were untouchable?" she scoffed.
I gave her a hard stare. "Don't think just because Don Héctor is sweet on your sister, she's untouchable. Sacrifices are a fact of life in this business. We will take her out if it means protecting ourselves. You understand? Cops sniffing around my shipments every other week? Yeah, that's a problem I can't tolerate. You got that?"
She nodded, fear in her eyes. She wasn't bluffing.
"Good."