Page 29 of High

Thiago

Outside was chaos, men running around everywhere speaking in Spanish to one another. If I wasn’t so worried about Preciosa, I might have laughed. But as it was, I didn’t trust my neighbors not to shoot her. Nico and Parker were assassins—hitmen, who lived with each other—and while I didn’t see them as cruel to animals, I’d rather be safe when it came to my bear.

“What kind of bear?” Manny asked, following me out into the sunny backyard, his bare feet padding on the bright green grass that ended at the beach. The waves were gentle today, a soft rocking in the sea of blue, with only some capped white.

“You’ll see,” I answered, walking up to Rafael, who yelled orders at the men. “How did she get out of the house?”

Rafael winced. “One of the men let her out. He didn’t realize she was behind him when he left through the back door.”

“There are rules. They know to keep an eye on her,” I snapped, irritation stirring in my gut. It was the one rule I expected them to follow because they wanted to, not because I would be angry. Preciosa was so sweet.

“Yes, Jefe.” Rafael pointed toward Mamá’s greenhouse and yelled more orders to check in there.

“Who was it?” I asked, muscles tense. Preciosa was a nocturnal animal and hated bright light, making this trip of hers even more distressing for her. I needed to find her and quickly.

“Alejandro, Jefe.”

I rolled my eyes. I shouldn’t have been surprised it was him. He was the son of my father’s friend, and he was as useless as they came. Not like his older brother, who had more skills than most of my soldiers. Alejandro was a walking mistake. He always made a mess of things, which is why I preferred to keep him close to the house for Axel to keep an eye on him.

I stormed out into the middle of the wide expanse of yard, not checking to see if Manny followed. Placing my fingers into my mouth, I whistled. Ever since Preciosa was a baby, I’d taught her to come at the special tune, and like the good girl she was, it didn’t take her long to come running out from some bushes. She sprinted across the grass and I crouched, holding out my arm. I was low enough that she could bound up my arm and onto my shoulders.

“Hey, bebita. Why’d you come out here, hm?” I rose and turned, fully expecting Manny to be beside me, but to my horror he was where I’d left him, on his knees and crouched over, almost like he was in pain. “Manny?” I ran to him, concern making my skin prickle. I ignored the weird looks my men were giving him now that they’d calmed since I’d found the bear. I’d deal with them later.

I dropped on my knees beside him and noticed his chest rising and falling fast, his body trembling. He muttered something that was too quiet for me to hear, but I knew a panic attack when I saw one. He used to have them when he was younger, too, when he got too anxious about something, mostly how angry his father would be about the day’s latest issue.

Draping my arm across his shoulders made Preciosa move to my other shoulder, almost like she could tell I needed the extra room for Manny. “Hermoso, estás bien? Tell me what’s wrong so I can fix it.”

“I can’t… I’m not. Mierda.” He turned his head and buried his face against my shoulder, his body shaking more viciously. “I was fine.”

“You are safe, hermoso,” I whispered in his ear, kissing his cheek. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

“It’s just too much. It’s all too much. There’s too much space, too many fucking people.” He squeezed his eyes shut and burrowed against my side.

“Here, meet my bear.” I clucked my tongue at Preciosa, holding out my fist to her. She ran from my shoulder and down my arm, her claws digging into my skin. I winced, but it was something I was used to. She jumped onto the ground, rolling onto her back. “Rafael, fruit.” I held out my hand and my cousin stalked forward, passing me a piece of apple he’d snatched from one of my men. “Here, hermoso.”

I held out the apple between my fingers, and Manny took a deep breath, pulling back just enough to glance from the fruit to Preciosa. His mouth curved, and I felt the tension in his body slowly bleed out the longer he stared at her.

“She’s a honey bear,” he said, awe in his voice.

“Well, if you want to get technical, she’s a kinkajou.” I grinned and passed him the apple. “But yes, she’s a honey bear.”

Preciosawasn’t exactly a bear, but it was a name the locals in South America had given kinkajous. She looked more like a big, adorable possum, light brown in color, with sharp teeth that could give a man a decent bite and talons. Big black eyes, rounded small ears, thick tail, and a cute button nose. While she seemed harmless, she was anything but.

He took the fruit from me and held it out to her, and Preciosa snatched it from him, holding it in her clawed paws as she nibbled on it. The shaking in his body had stopped as he stared at her in wonder.

“How did you get her?” he asked, not tearing his gaze away from her. She stared right back, and it felt like a connection had been born between them, an understanding, the same kind that I had with Preciosa. I would keep her safe, fed, and wouldn’t ever hurt her, not like her previous owner.

“She was taken as a newborn from her mother. I don’t know where she came from, but when I found her she was in Argentina. We were dealing with some farmers there when we came across one of them with her. He was beating her for biting him.” I petted down her back and she glanced at me with those big black eyes. “I killed him for it and took her.”

Manny’s mouth parted, almost like he wanted to say something about me killing someone, but then he closed it again and sighed.

“Qué chingados pasa con el jefe trayendo a esta nena para acá. Pinche maricon!” The conversation was whispered, then there was chuffing, and I turned to look at two of my men. It was one thing to question why I’d brought Manny here, but calling him a loser and a fag? That was fucking unacceptable. I’d worked hard to make sure the men in my cartel respected me, regardless of my sexuality, and I’d do the same for Manny.

They stopped when I glared their direction, clearly not expecting me to have heard.

I smiled and they froze.

“Lo siento, Jefe,” Daniel said, bowing his head. The other man beside him, who I didn’t know well, tensed and inclined his head forward, but it was too late for apologies. I’d fucking heard what Daniel had said.