Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 65682 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 328(@200wpm)___ 263(@250wpm)___ 219(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65682 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 328(@200wpm)___ 263(@250wpm)___ 219(@300wpm)
“Arturo is in charge of LTC, and he rules that shit with an iron fist. Cross him, and you die. That’s it, no matter how big or small the infraction. The heir apparent, Benedicto, is made in his father’s image. He’s smart and very likely responsible for their expansion into Costa Rica, Ecuador, and even as far as Bolivia.”
Wild Man whistles out a sigh and pulls up the photo of the man. “Emiliano is the youngest son,” he says to the scowling face on his screen. “Plus, he’s a full-blown psychopath. He gets off on hurting people and killed several rivals against Arturo’s wishes.”
I turn to Ace. “We need to keep an eye on him. He’s a loose cannon, and he’s out for Willow’s blood.”
Willow’s with Banger. Or Joaquin, as she still calls him, and there’s a bounty on her head for killing Alejandro.
Ace nods, clenching his jaw before he motions for Wild Man to continue.
“Then there’s Valentina. She’s smart and pampered, but Arturo is old school and doesn’t think the cartel is a place for a woman.”
Valentina probably hates that. “So why is she here?” I ask.
Wild Man snickers again and shakes his head. “Family vacation?”
Gia grunts and pulls up a photo of a different man. “She’s here because now that her husband is dead, this guy wants to meet with her.”
Who is he?” Ace asks.
“Don’t know yet,” Wild Man says. “Still looking into it.”
So, is she in danger if she doesn’t talk to this shit stain? All of my protective instincts pop up to the surface, even though everything I thought I knew about her was a lie. Her name isn’t Maria, and chances are good she was playing me that whole fucking time I was with her.
Does that mean she knew who I was when she approached me at the hotel bar that first night?
I have no fucking clue, but the only way to find out is to chase her down and get answers. “Anything else we need to know?” I wonder out loud.
Wild Man shakes his head. Ace nods for me to follow him, and we head out back to take a smoke break and talk about what comes next.
“We’re on the right track,” Ace begins, his gaze far off in the distance. “Arturo is smart, but he’s not as smart as he thinks he is.”
I smile. “You played him perfectly, acting like you’re too good to take hundreds of thousands of dollars off the old bastard.”
Ace slicks his hair back as though he’d just put in a long day’s work. He says, “He walked us right into that deal, and now we’re set up perfectly for the next phase of our plan. Morgan gets back in a few days, so we need to hang on to Aria until then, but we can’t keep her here.”
I nod my agreement. Keeping her here feels too much like what this was, a kidnapping. We need Morgan on our side, not pissed off and out for vengeance.
“We should get Lucky to take her home and keep an eye on her there. We need Morgan to see that we got his princess back and kept her safe until he returned home.”
Ace nods. “Perfect. He’ll be ripe to show his gratitude for keeping her safe and pissed at Arturo for taking her in the first place.”
The breath he exhales is long and thoughtful, telling me there’s something on his mind. But I don’t ask. I just wait. Ace likes to think shit through and turn it over a million times in his mind before he shares. I light up a smoke and wait him out.
My mind, of course, wanders back to Valentina. The name fits her better than the alias she’d given me. With her dyed-blonde hair and sharp green eyes, the exotic Valentina is the perfect name for her.
Even if she is a fucking liar.
“We need more manpower,” Ace starts, shaking his head. “Whatever comes next, like another war or shit, will require more men. We need to push some of these prospects. Gotta test their loyalty and readiness because we need to patch in more brothers.” He shakes his head again, proof to me that this has been weighing on his mind.
Then he goes on. “LTC is a fuck of a lot bigger than the Iron Kings, and it took us too fucking long to take them down. We need more men because LTC won’t hesitate to recruit the gang bangers to help them retaliate when it comes down to it.”
He's not wrong. Losing Devon and Jordi hurt us, but we have plenty of prospects. Some of them are actually ready to level up.
“Lucky is definitely ready,” I say. “If not for all the shit that’s been going on, he’d probably be patched already.”
“That’s one,” Ace says with a snort. “Too bad Stone is already patched down in Texas. He’s quiet, reliable, and loyal. I really like that kid.”