Maria, all dark eyes and dark hair and soft Spanish accent, smiling at me over breakfast. Another vision of her with a shotgun in her hands, standing beside her brother. Maria laughing. Maria singing. Maria dancing around my kitchen in nothing but her bra and panties, trying to drag me into it...
I'd fallen for her fast and hard. And in the process, I'd become soft.
Another memory flashed through my mind. This one of Maria straddling me, her naked body slick with sweat, full breasts bouncing, and her head thrown back in pleasure as she rode me on the couch inside the warehouse. Again, I heard a pop and saw her head fly forward, her eyes wide with surprise for a single heartbeat before they became dull and sightless as the blood trickled down her face from the single hole between them. I knew the moment her life force faded away. Felt it leave her, no matter how hard I tried to hang on.
A knock on the door pulled me from the nightmare that continued to plague me every day and night. I blinked hard, bringing my focus back to my life now. "Come in," I called.
Tristan walked into my office, his cell phone to his ear. I eyed his dark suit as I waited patiently for him to finish talking. I was one of the few people who knew how many scars it hid. Most from knives and bullets. But there were some he wouldn't talk about. Not even to me or Enzo.
"It's done," he said when he got off the phone. "No one will find that body when the cartel gets done with it."
"Perfect." I sat forward, indicating for him to sit in the chair across from me. "So, now..." I hesitated, but only for a moment, "now we convince Veda to become her sister."
"Will you be able to do that?"
I caught the double meaning behind the question. "I have no choice," I told him. "Not if I want my position back in this family. Not if I want the respect of my father." Not if I want to stay alive. The words went unspoken between us. Mario getting away with what he'd done had gone on long enough, and only because some members of the family were torn as to how to handle his betrayal. My father most of all. It wasn't every day a boss had to decide on one son over another.
"Are you going to tell her about her sister?"
I leaned one elbow on the arm of my chair as I thought about that. "It wouldn't be right to keep it from her, and knowing the truth might help convince her to do things my way. Especially if she thinks it will help her stay alive."
"It's a shame," Tristan told me.
I narrowed my eyes, knowing where he was going before he said it. "I can't afford to have feelings about this."
"I know," he told me. "I'm just saying it's a shame. Veda has a lot of spark. She's a good match for you."
There was a lot more than "spark" to her. She was strong, and she was a fighter, yes. But there was something else. Something I wanted to explore more, if only we had the time. I sensed that she would not only be a worthy opponent, as Tristan had just said, but a worthy partner. She had fire.
And I wanted to make her burn.
I rose from my chair and pulled my jacket on. "Keep on the happenings with the cartel. Let me know when they've finished the job and there's not so much as a toenail left of Nicole to be found."
"I'm on it," Tristan said, rising with me. Then he followed me from the room as I went to go find Veda, heading off in the opposite direction. It took me a while, but I finally found her standing at the railing of the balcony off of the main floor.
She glanced over her shoulder when I opened the sliding door. But upon seeing it was me, she turned back to the burning colors of the sunset and proceeded to ignore me. I joined her at the railing, not one to back down from a challenge.
"How is your throat?" I asked her.
"What the fuck do you care?"
Taking her arm, I spun her away from the railing to face me and gently lifted her chin with my other hand. Bruises mottled the sides of her neck where my fingers had pressed into her skin. My gut twisted at this reminder of the violence that overtook me more often than I'd like to admit. Without thinking about what I was doing, I pressed a kiss to the darkest area.
Veda sucked in a breath, her body going completely still before she quickly backed away. I released her. Reluctantly.
"I have news," I told her. My tone brought her eyes back around to me. She searched my face as she waited to hear what I had to say.
"It's about your sister."
"You found her." It wasn't a question.
"I did."
I couldn't quite read the expression on her face. There was more I needed to say, of course, but I was having a hard time getting the words to come out. "That was quick," she finally said. "But I guess I shouldn't be surprised." "We found her in Mexico." I paused, not wanting to be the cause of the grief I knew she was about to experience, no matter how much she liked to give off the impression that she didn't care. How could she not? Nicole was her twin. And family was all that was there for you in the end. As she started to turn back to the railing, I said, "Your sister is dead, Veda."
She didn't respond at first. She didn't move. She just stared out at the sunset. "What did you say?" she finally asked without looking at me.
I told her again, adding that she had supposedly checked into a rehab there.
She made a sound, something between a laugh and a sob and a gasp of disbelief. "That's not possible." She shook her head. "My sister didn't do drugs."
"I'm so sorry," I told her, and I was surprised to find that I actually meant it. "I don't know the whole story yet, but I'll find out."
Veda stared at me, searching my eyes for lies. And when she found nothing, her face crumpled as tears swiftly filled her eyes. Violently, she shook her head. "No. NO. I don't fucking believe you!"
I didn't bother to argue with her. She had seen the truth in my expression. She knew it was true.