Page 164 of A Lick and A Promise
“Lee is here. So is Hector. Hector used to be DEA. For a variety of reasons, he’s kept his ties strong with ex-colleagues. And since I got shot, Lee and Hector have been single-minded in succeeding in the mission of neutralizing my family.” Emotion moved over his face that tore at my heart at the same time it fed it. “You don’t mess with one of Lee’s men.”
He’d never had that, someone stepping up for him.
Not since his mom left.
“Honey,” I whispered.
“He’s pissed. And a man like Lee pissed is fuckin’ something. It isn’t that Mace isn’t pissed, all the guys. But Lee’s in the fuckin’ zone.”
“What’s happening?”
“They’re talking to the cartels.”
Wait…
“What?” And yes, that came out as a screech.
“Not direct. Hector’s doing some behind the scenes shit. Lee’s riling up some rival players. They’re playing both ends against the middle. Endgame: either the cartels deal with them, or their rivals take them out.”
“Take them out…” I let that hang.
“Outside NI&S involvement being cloaked, none of this is under radar. If they’re smart, my family I mean, they’ll see the writing on the wall and make moves to get clear. Those moves being going somewhere remote and disappearing. If they’re not, they’ll face the consequences.”
I studied his expression, and I did this thoroughly before I asked, “Are you okay with that?”
He slid his beer across the countertop while he bent over to rest on his elbows.
Once in position, he explained, “Baby, this has always been my life. I think it might be part of why Mom left Dad. People in these careers do not have a long shelf life. Honest to God, every day I woke up, I did it wondering if Dad or one of my brothers would bite it. One of my uncles. Crew and Poe’s friends. And sometimes, Luna, they did.”
Were those tears springing to my eyes?
They were.
But who could blame me?
I detested it that this was the life he’d lived.
Reaching to him, I took his hands in both of mine.
“How did you survive that?” I asked.
“I had no choice,” he answered.
I squeezed his hands.
He turned the one without the beer in it and caught mine. “That’s not to say I don’t have any feeling about this. I don’t want any of them dead. They’re my family. I don’t want anything to do with them, but I don’t want them dead. It’s just that I came to terms with the fact this was the life they chose.” His jaw hardened. “Even, recently, Gypsy.”
I wasn’t so sure he was committed to that declaration when it came to Gypsy, but I didn’t prod at it.
And since there was nothing to say, I didn’t say anything. I just held his hand all the tighter.
“The thing that’s messing with me is how balls to the wall Lee, Hector and Mace are going at this.”
“Why is that messing with you?”
“They run a business, Luna. And all three have dropped everything to focus on this.”
“And if it was one of the other guys who was in your position, would you find that surprising?”
