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 put out the cigarette and they slid into bed naked, to be as close as skin allowed.
Miguel’s head was filled by a jumble of thoughts, but as Nero’s breathing slowed to a rhythm that made it obvious he’d fallen asleep, the chaos in Miguel’s head formed into a plan.
Nero wouldn’t like it, but Miguel saw no other path.
Cano needed to die for what he’d done, and if he knew the whereabouts of Miguel’s sister, there was no time to waste. Once he was eliminated, preferably torn apart by a machine gun, Miguel would join forces with Nero again, and find Elisa.
Nero would have gone with him in a heartbeat, but if the Caimans wanted access to the information he carried in his own head, then taking him on such a dangerous job would be too much of a risk. They could argue about it once Miguel was back. Better ask forgiveness than permission.
With a heavy heart, Miguel slipped into the bathroom and turned on the water to muffle sound, just in case.
The ringtone felt like a defibrillator against his ear, but Miguel’s heart stopped when Cano picked up.
“I have something you want,” Miguel said, even though what he meant was ‘Next time, I will check if you’re dead’.
Chapter 27
Nero
By the end of the night, Nero’s blood was liquid fury. Yet he stayed still, like a bear about to wake with a thirst for blood after months of hibernating. He waited for the tap of treacherous feet. For a cold blade against his throat. For hands that held him so firmly just hours prior to squeeze his neck.
But Miguel kept still in the dark, resting alongside Nero as if he hadn’t offered to give him to Cano, all because of a sister he hadn’t seen for almost twenty years. Whether that was a choice made out of affection, guilt, or a misguided sense of honor, didn’t matter, because there was no honor in selling out the man one claimed to love, under any circumstances.
Nero heard every single word Miguel uttered behind the flimsy door, but since confronting him about it would have given the traitor a chance to spew more lies, Nero waited.
When the snake left their bed again, Nero readied himself for a fight, but a blade never came close to his throat. There were no handcuffs, and no gag. He wasn’t being taken. Miguel probably wanted to make sure Cano had his sister before making the exchange. Nero heard the faintest scribbling of pen against paper, then the rustling of clothes, and finally… the softest click of the room’s lock.
Traitor. Bastard. Cold-blooded reptile of a man.
Just last night, Miguel had almost taken his own life, and it was Nero who’d been there for him. Not the sister. Not anyone else.
He wanted to scratch out those black eyes, which Nero now remembered as icy, like two pebbles fished out of the ocean. He sat and grabbed the clothes prepared for the morning while making sure that Miguel had taken his phone. He was ready to follow the blue dot on the app when his gaze stopped on the pale shape resting on Nero’s bedside table.
A part of him wanted to ignore it, since all it contained was lies, but the meatgrinder chewing up his insides made him switch on the light and pick up the piece of paper as heat climbed his face.
I’m sorry. I can’t let it go. If I don’t come back by evening, find my sister.
Miguel.
He’d never been a man of many words, but this vague, bullshit-soaked message took the cake. Was this a note meant to keep him in the room so he could be taken at Cano’s leisure? And what was the apology for, were the message honest? For leaving? For sacrificing him for a blood relative?
When Nero overheard Miguel’s secret conversation, he’d been convinced it was an attempt to manipulate Cano, and had fully expected to be woken up the moment it was over. But that never happened, and instead of talking to him about whatever mad idea he had, Miguel had quietly slid back into bed.
And that could only mean one thing: the offer he’d made Cano was honest, and Miguel intended to sacrifice Nero, not long after confessing his feelings. Had that been a lie too?
He tossed the piece of paper to the floor with a low hiss. “An ambush. You fucker…” The fact that he had left this note for Nero to read and agonize for hours before inevitable capture and torture, was the cherry on top of this shit cake.
Nero had been right to protect himself by spying on Miguel and sleeping with one eye open, because like life had taught him, he could trust no one.
That was how it had always been, and regardless of the hopes he’d allowed himself to harbor, that was how it would always be. He’d just sink into the depths of Lima, or find work on a cargo ship to discreetly travel to a different continent, disappearing without a trace.