Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 127201 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 636(@200wpm)___ 509(@250wpm)___ 424(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127201 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 636(@200wpm)___ 509(@250wpm)___ 424(@300wpm)
He stood in a spot where the crowd from the other side of the street couldn’t see him and pulled out his wallet. A fat wad came out, still held together by a rubber band. “I swear I know nothing about this. We’ll go, and you get this and the kids. How about that?”
The question snapped the young policeman out of his stupor and he squeezed the grip of his gun, raising Miguel’s blood pressure.
The woman stepped closer with her firearm already in hand. “Why aren’t they arrested yet?”
Miguel shook his head. “Look, would we have stopped here, in front of you, if we knew this was in the back?”
Nero pressed the money against the policeman’s hand. “Just say you found it.”
Unable to stand the tense exchange any longer, one of the kids sobbed, prompting the woman to come closer and exchange looks with her partner in silence. Sweat stuck Miguel’s clothes to his back, but then the bundle of cash disappeared up the policeman’s sleeve, and he mumbled, “fuck off.”
Miguel didn’t need to be told twice. He grabbed Nero’s wrist and pulled him back across the street, eager to be out of sight in case the cops changed their minds.
A car honked at them when they cut into its path, but at this point the danger of being ran over seemed like a minor disturbance. Nero didn’t resist when Miguel pulled him down a walkable alley, farther and farther from the valuable cargo this night had been all about.
People’s faces, and shop windows passed in front of Miguel’s eyes as he ran, squeezing Nero’s sweaty hand until they reached a peaceful residential neighborhood, far away from busy roads and the children who’d been saved by nothing but dumb luck.
They couldn’t even hear the sirens anymore.
Nero hummed, and his fingers slid from between Miguel’s just as they slowed down in a small park with a playground as its main feature. By the time Miguel caught his breath and looked back, Nero was already sitting on a bench, bathed in the cool glow of the streetlight above.
Sweat covered his exposed throat, and the firm chest pumped air as he panted, resting after their long escape. Nero might be a terrible person, but that did not make him any less beautiful a creature.
With a strange mix of both elation and defeat, Miguel settled next to him.
“Your father is gonna kill us.”
Nero let his head fall all the way back as he reached into his pocket. “Let’s find out,” he said and stared at his phone while Miguel swallowed his worries, hoping that if he were to die, he’d at least get to kill Moreno before that happened.
In a helpless gesture that wasn’t meant to be intimate yet somehow was, he squeezed Nero’s thigh. Maybe it was Nero who got high, but Miguel should have stopped him. They’d both fucked up.
Nero’s head rolled over his nape, and their eyes met in a moment of quiet tension. But then, something creaked in the receiver, and Nero spoke.
“I think we have a snitch. We were stopped by the police and had to abandon the cargo.”
Miguel cocked his head from side to side. It wasn’t a bad cop out. Oscar was a professional trafficker and had earned a lot of money on people’s misery, so if he were to become the scapegoat for tonight’s failure, Miguel would not feel sorry for him.
Raul’s voice was dull, but Miguel could still hear it. “I should have known you’d fuck up even such an easy job. The guys at the zoo?”
“Can’t say, but who else knew about it? Maybe they wanted to get rid of me?” Nero mused, spreading his thighs and pushing his hips closer to the edge of the bench.
Now that the kids were free and their fate no longer weighed down Miguel’s conscience, Nero looked sexy again, maybe even fuckable.
Miguel was no upstanding citizen, but the main reason why he’d hated Nero in the first place was the Moreno blood flowing in his veins. The more he understood there was no love between Nero and his father, the more ambivalent his feelings toward Nero were becoming. Because while Nero was still a criminal and murderer, who was Miguel to judge?
“I’ll investigate,” Raul said, despite surely boiling on the inside. If he only died of a stroke, Miguel’s problem would be solved. Not that he’d know what to do after that, because what future was there for him once Raul was dead?
“Of course. I have faith in your men. Especially the cute one with the—” Nero said before staring at the screen. It seemed that the conversation was over.
His green eyes were back on Miguel, who realized that his hand still rested on Nero’s thigh. He took it away as if it had never been there and squinted at the other man.