Page 101 of Married with Blood
Together, we exited the house.
Under the instructions that I’d given the guards watching the interaction between Carina and Arturo, they captured him and dragged him further out into the desert. Strategically created walls of dirt and long mounds of dirt were placed out here for the purpose of screening in case we didn’t want to see the entire desert in this direction. Mountains lined the distant horizon, but out here, in what I personally considered my private no-man’s land, I disregarded the remoteness. I ignored the carcass of a vulture, too, the skeleton remaining from when the guards hadto kill the scavenging bird when they hadn’t removed a corpse fast enough.
Arturo Garcia was on his knees as my men bound his hands behind his back.
As I came into view, Alexei shook his head. “What are you bothering with that for? He’s not going anywhere.”
“Of course, I am,” Arturo shouted. “This is a mistake.”
I rolled my eyes as I retrieved my gun from its holster. “Like I haven’t heardthatbefore.”
“Of course, this is a mistake,” he insisted, jerking his head from side to side as my men gave up tying his hands. They formed a circle around him, removing any possible chance of his escaping, of even getting up onto his feet again.
“This is a mistake, Volkov,” he shouted, like increasing the decibel of his voice would make more of an impact with his lie.
“Like that shipment to the Hernandezes was a mistake?” I quipped wryly.
“Sure. Sure. Shit happens. You know that, right?” He volleyed his gaze between me and my cousin. “This is amistake. For fuck’s sake, we’re supposed to be friends. Allies.”
“You plan on listening to this bullshit all day?” Alexei asked gruffly, shoving his hands into his pockets.
“No.” I approached him calmly, measuring my steps and letting him see that this was a controlled execution. A deliberate move. One that he’d earned all by himself.
“You have to listen to me,” Arturo argued. “This is a misunderstanding. Whatever you’re thinking, it’s not right.Of course, this is a mistake!”
I pressed the end of my gun’s barrel to his forehead, right between his eyes. Sweat dripped down his brow as he squinted up at me. Slight tremors overtook him, and I supposed he’d be a weak asshole even as he faced death.
“This is a mistake,” he insisted, begging for mercy that I wouldn’t give him.
“This is a message. One all of us in the Volkov Bratva will stand by. I am severing ties with the Cartel you ruined with your leadership. And I am letting the world know, again, that no one uses my wife as leverage.”
Before he could open his mouth, I pulled the trigger. The kickback of the gun barely registered in my arm. I was too used to it, too familiar with the reaction.
I was more than familiar with the relief that hit me like a drug in my veins. Pure triumph at taking out the trash. The overwhelming peace of knowing I’d done my small part in removing one more vermin from the face of this earth.
His eyes stayed open. No blinking, stuttering, whiny begs would ever sully my ears again.
As I stepped back from delivering the clean shot to his brain, ending his life immediately, he slumped over. Pitching forward, he nearly dropped onto my legs and feet. One shove of my gun at the side of his head redirected his fall to the side.
Returning to stand next to my cousin, I sheathed my gun and then faced him calmly.
“Done.”
“With him,” he said.
Together, we walked away, letting the men handle the disposal and cleanup. No funeral would be planned on our part, but I supposed we’d need to arrange some way to let the rest of the Cartel be informed. It seemed like they anticipated this happening, perhaps with the trap from last night that alerted them to how I was onto his games and lies.
“Not done with the Cartel,” he said.
“That’s true.” I squinted at the desert that filled the land, unbothered about the fact that I’d just taken a life. In the name of protecting my wife and child, and her sanity, it was necessary. “We’ll meet about it and discuss it. I imagine Carina could assist in finding a decent replacement. Just so Yusef and Gregori can’t acquire any more power through them.”
“And you’re not done with her.” He cleared his throat. “You’re going to tell her that he’s gone right now?”
“Yes.” I owed it to her to inform her that we could have closure now.
“You’re not worried about the possibility that she might regret how this ended?”
I shook my head as we continued walking. “No. I have no reason to be concerned. I am confident in what I share with her. What Carina and I have is more than an arrangement. We’ve grown together since our relationship began.”
