Page 60 of High

“Go!” she said with a laugh, gesturing toward the walls lined in shelves. “That’s part of why I wanted to stop in here.”

So I started grabbing the many, many books that had come out in the series I liked since the last time I’d gotten a chance to shop. Before I was done, our basket was completely full, and she was laughing over the stack of books she had in her arms. We paid and left not long after that, and I was excited to get home and spend more time with her, snuggled in some warm nook in the kitchen with tea mugs. As much as I liked to read, I’d never been the greatest student, and she’d always been the one who sat me down and made me study, and in a way I’d missed that quiet time alone with her.

We were on our way out of the mall together when I heard one of the guards behind me whisper to another, “I know Jefe likes to fuck him, but is this really the type of guy he wants Octavio to start training? Arlo would have been better.” They both laughed and my face heated to a boiling point. Arlo hated to do anything except party, so that was an insult on top of an insult.

I turned around and stared at the man who had spoken, but the asshole didn’t even pretend to be worried about me obviously hearing him. I was glad to see Héctor wasn’t laughing. Furious, I shifted back around and urged Tía Rosa faster toward the Rolls parked illegally in the fire lane, waiting for us. I wanted to snap at them for drawing unnecessary attention to us the way Thio would have, but I was too upset.

“What’s wrong?”

I shook my head as Tía Rosa got into the car and then went around to get in.

She waited until the door was shut and we were moving, but she wore the same dour frown she used to get when the tutor ratted me out for hiding from him. “Don’t make me repeat myself, mijito.”

“One of the guards was talking shit about me. I mean… sorry. He wasn’t being nice.”

“I heard.” She smiled, and I was surprised at how cold the expression was. “Are you with Thiago, Emmanuel? This isn’t Mexico, and it’s not the same world I grew up in. Are you going to be his spouse?”

She stared into my eyes, and I held my breath. What the hell should I say? “I hope so.”

She nodded. “Then you must make them respect you. Be the partner, the future husband.” She nodded as she spoke, like she was imparting some easy-to-follow recipe for success.

Rubbing my thumb over my forehead, I sighed. “It’s not the same for me. You automatically get respect. You were Luis’s wife. You’re Thio’s mother. You’re practically a queen.”

She smiled at me, and I was struck by how beautiful she was for a moment. “You don’t think I earned that respect? You think my respect came from what? Luis?” She laughed, and again the sound chilled me. “I was called a whore.” She patted my knee.

I gasped. “No one would say that to you.”

“That and worse.” Her smile thawed until it was closer to the one I recognized.

“What did you do?”

“With strangers, I pretended deafness. The people who earned their living on our risk? The ones who called Luis Jefe?” She leaned forward, and I couldn’t help myself, I did too. “I did things a woman’s way, which you cannot.” She tapped my hand hard with her nail so that it hurt. I yanked my hand back and rubbed at it.

I frowned. “Woman’s way?”

She smirked, and I’d always thought Thio looked like his papá, but that expression was all her. “I threw a party. It was the biggest party, one everyone came to, and it went on until nearly sunrise. No expense was spared. At the end of that party, there were several men and women dead. They laid back in their chairs and closed their eyes. At first they were laughed at. People thought they couldn’t hold their liquor. Then there were screams. Only later did people begin to whisper that everyone who had called me names behind Luis’s back had died that night. Well, maybe not everyone, but the worst ones. The ones who needed to be made an example. After that, then I was respected, mijito.”

I gaped at her. “You did not.”

She tapped my chin until I closed my mouth. “That’s between us. You won’t have an easy life, Emmanuel, but you can make it easier on yourself in certain ways.”

“Did Tío Luis know?”

Her smile only widened, and she leaned back in her seat.

“You’re the most amazing woman I’ve ever met.”

She laughed and swatted at me and then asked me about which book I would read first, but the whole way home I couldn’t stop thinking about her advice, and that fucking asshole who had talked about me today. He wasn’t the only one I’d heard say things by a long shot, even after what Thio had done my first day back from Pedregal, but the guard today was the boldest. He absolutely knew I’d heard him.

When we arrived home and got out of the car, the men took our things inside for us, and Héctor again escorted Tía Rosa. I leaned against the Rolls and waited until she was in the house. I knew if I stood there long enough, the asshole would come around to see why I was there. He didn’t like me, so I was banking on the fact he’d want to be a jerk. I was just hoping Thio was already busy with his meeting. Sure enough, about ten minutes later, the fucker who’d had the balls to say something about me stopped in front of me.

“What are you doing?” He was handsome enough, but his suit was cheap, I could tell, and he had a resentful glare I’d dealt with occasionally growing up. Some people thought I was spoiled, the way they talked about Arlo, and maybe I was, but I also wasn’t helpless.

“I wanted to talk to you. What’s your problem?”

He scowled. “Other than the fact that the only reason you have us running around kissing your ass is because el jefe likes to fuck you? Nothing.” He spat on the ground near my feet.

“Do you know who my father is?”

“No.”

I put my hand in my pocket. Well, Thio had given me a knife. I stepped forward and smiled up into his face. “It’s Antonio Méndez.”

His eyebrows shot skyward.

“If you don’t know who I am already, you’re not worth my time, but I’m sick of this shit. I’m not anyone to be fucked with, and Thio knows that.” I didn’t feel as brave as I sounded, but I pulled the knife free of my pocket, pushed the button on the side that released the blade, and jammed it into his gut. It didn’t seem very big as it stuck, and the man stood there gaping down at it. He made no noise.

My stomach heaved, but I forced myself to walk away from him, every hair on my body standing on end. There was shouting behind me, and gunshots ripped through the air, making me flinch and duck. When I turned back, the man was sprawled on the ground with his gun in his hand. Several of Thio’s men stood around him with their guns pointed at him.

My heart bumped hard in the back of my throat and rushed in my ears. He was going to shoot me in the back. I’d hoped the other men would stop him if he tried to do something like that but hadn’t actually considered how this could have played out. Fuck.

The man was riddled with gaping, bloody holes, and even though I was nauseous, I forced myself to turn back toward the front door, as if the horror was nothing, and kept going until I was in the house. In the great tradition of Tía Rosa, I had no intention of explaining myself to anyone. I was sure people would figure out just fine that I wasn’t someone to be fucked with.

I only hoped Thio would understand.