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)
It felt like holding a toy car that might prove to be a bomb.
Nero had no idea what would happen to them after the carnage they’d left behind, but he had a distinct feeling that his life would never be the same.
Ramiro’s dead eyes settled on him as Miguel stopped at the gate and waited for the other car to pass.
Fuck. Couldn’t the bastard have killed Father sooner and given them more time to run? Once those two men saw the bodies, the target on Nero and Miguel’s backs would be intense, and knowing they only had five minutes advantage to run off—tops—was already making Nero sweat.
But he smiled, and nodded, lowering his window despite Miguel’s fingers pinching his thigh in warning. “You guys better be quick, or there might be no girls for you. I’m off to find…different company,” he said and winked at Cano, who looked away with a barely restrained scowl.
There. This was enough to explain their sudden departure.
Miguel gave a long-suffering grunt, but he was tense as if he was wearing a thong made of caiman leather.
Ramiro nodded at them, and the car passed as if everything was fine. The guard smiled as he held the gate open and let Miguel drive through. He wouldn’t question Raul Moreno’s son borrowing his boss’s car.
“Go right,” Nero said with tightened lips, and when Miguel did as asked, he pressed his fingers to his face and inhaled the hot air scented by the citrus air freshener hanging from the rear view mirror. That fucking thing made him nauseous.
“We should get to a larger road and drive on as long as we can, just swapping as drivers,” Miguel said in a steady voice, as if he wasn’t the cause of this mayhem.
Nero had nothing but the clothes on his back. Technically, he didn’t even have that because he’d left his top at the villa. All because Miguel decided to go on a rampage. And what the fuck had that suicide attempt by bodyguard been about?
It took Nero two seconds to catch up on the nonsensical nature of his plan. “W-what? Are you for real? You think they’re not gonna find us with face recognition software and helicopters? The cartel has massive resources. No. We need to lay low and do the things they don’t expect us to,” Nero growled as the car sped along a road carved into the steep slope of a mountain.
“Maybe join a circus while you’re at it, you’d fit right in,” Miguel growled through clenched teeth.
“Not a bad idea. You could be the new clown,” Nero snapped back before ripping the lemon-shaped air freshener off the rear view mirror and tossing it out of the window.
Miguel’s scowl deepened. “Or a caiman-tamer because I’ve had the patience of a saint with you for months!”
“You got paid for it. With money and the chance to take Raul Moreno’s life!”
Had Miguel been planning this since they’d first met or since he’d started working for Nero? Or was this some kind of suicide job for a rival cartel, meant to gain a big pay out for his living relatives? “Who are you working for?” Nero asked after all those things passed through his mind like water down the rapids.
Miguel’s tattooed fingers tightened on the steering wheel, but there was nowhere for him to turn, so arguing about their destination could wait.
He wouldn’t even glance at Nero. “I did this for myself.”
“Oh, so this was some attempt to go out with a bang? Suicide by cartel? Fuck you!”
“No! I did it because your father needed to die! I don’t give a shit about anything else!” Miguel slammed his hand on the steering wheel, more animated than Nero had ever seen him. He was losing it. “It’s none of your business, but he destroyed my family, and he had to pay no matter how many years passed!”
The puzzle pieces scattered in Nero’s head slammed in place, and he hit the back of his head against the seat as Miguel raced down the winding road, stepping on the brake whenever there was a bend, to avoid falling through the barriers and into the abyss below.
“Of course he did. Why didn’t you wait for your place in line?”
“I waited long enough.”
A vein on the side on Miguel’s neck became more pronounced, and as the sense that Miguel wouldn’t hurt him settled in Nero’s stomach, the urge to lick that tense spot floated to the surface of his mind.
He needed to get them out of here but how? The only chance they had was to stay hidden. The car was too much of a giveaway, and it would be spotted easily from a helicopter, so they needed something less attention-catching. And a way out of those fucking mountain roads.
Miguel kept dashing toward the steel barrier protecting cars from falling off the road and braking in the last moment. Each time, the sudden pressure of the seatbelt on Nero’s stomach made him nauseous.