Confessed (Vargas Cartel #3)(32)

Emanuel scoffed. “Your cryptic bullshit doesn’t make sense. I know you have a long résumé back in the States, but you don’t know anything about the way things work in Mexico.”

“And you just proved my point.” I pinned Ignacio with my eyes. “He’s trying to undermine me just like he undermined Rever.”

Emanuel chuckled. “You don’t need me to do it. You’re doing a good job all by yourself.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Juan Alvarez is alive. You killed his son. You helped kidnap his daughter. If you intended to escalate the war between the two cartels, you succeeded. This whole mess is going to get a hell of a lot bloodier before it’s put to rest.”

Ignacio’s mouth tugged down in a disapproving frown, and he scrubbed his hand down his face. “I don’t have time to mediate this pissing contest right now. What’s done is done. As for Juan, we’ll figure out how to deal with him later. He’s a sick fuck, but he can’t do anything from his hospital bed. We still have time to come up with a plan.”

I clenched my hands. “But you had time to spill all my secrets to Hattie,” I said bitterly.

Ignacio rolled his eyes and blew out an exaggerated breath. “So what? I ripped the bandage off. It had to be done. You were dragging your feet. You and I both know she doesn’t belong here. The quicker you sever your connection with her, the quicker you’ll learn what you need to know to help me.”

I took a deep breath, struggling to maintain control. “I didn’t need your help with Hattie. I had everything under control until you opened your mouth.”

Ignacio raised one brow. “Really?”

“I planned to talk to her tonight,” I said through gritted teeth. Less than a week with the Vargas Cartel, and I was already losing my sanity. It was like living in a den of poisonous snakes. I couldn’t trust anyone. Not even my own father.

Ignacio stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Then, take care of it. I heard she’s awake now. The last time I checked, your friend Noah was in there with her.”

“He’s not my friend. I hardly know him.”

“Well, Hattie seems to like him. Maybe he’d be willing to take her off your hands.”

Ignacio intended to piss me off. I knew it. He knew it. Unfortunately, the knowledge that he wanted to provoke me didn’t stop the anger from swirling in my gut like the flames of hell.

“Yeah, well, unlike you, I don’t make other people do my dirty work.”

Ignacio’s eyes narrowed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’re smart enough to put the pieces together. Figure it out,” I said as I stalked down the hallway.

I had agreed to Ignacio’s terms, but I couldn’t go through it. It was like all the pieces finally slid into place. I wasn’t going to bend to Ignacio’s will. I made a bargain with him. I gave him my word, but he owed Hattie. He owed me. I considered my debt to him paid in full. Right then, I promised myself, I’d find a way out of the Vargas Cartel’s web or die trying. Life was too short to let Hattie slip through my fingers. If I lost her, then I didn’t have any reason to live. I understood that now.

I needed to fix the mess I’d made. Plain and simple. I promised I’d take care of Hattie, and for some reason, I’d convinced myself that meant pushing her out of my life forever. That might’ve been true on some level, but deep down I knew I wanted and needed her more than anything or anyone. As a kid, I learned if I wanted something I had to fight for it and never give up. In the midst of this whole debacle with Ignacio, I’d forgotten that, but that would change starting right now.





Chapter Fifteen





Hattie



“What the hell are you doing in here?” Ryker roared the minute he walked into the room. The door thudded against the doorstop.

I slowly lifted my gaze from the creamy sheets covering my legs. I’d been drawing circles on the individual threads for the last twenty minutes as I explained bits and pieces of my situation to Noah. I didn’t understand why I decided to unload on him. He’d helped me last night without comment or judgment, and something about his compelling caramel colored eyes convinced me to confide in him.

Noah leaned back against the headboard and propped his hands behind his head. His leg brushed against my thigh. Ryker’s gaze laser focused on the brief contact, and his jaw clenched.

“You’re full of sunshine today,” Noah said.

“I asked you a question.”

Noah patted me on my leg, and I turned to look at him. Really look at him. He was cute. No, cute was an understatement. He was downright sexy. He had dark hair, exotic hooded eyes framed by heavy lashes, and lips perpetually curved up at the corners. If my heart hadn’t chained itself irrevocably to Ryker months ago, my stomach might have flipped every time his gaze landed on me. As luck would have it, I felt nothing except a detached appreciation like I was admiring a designer handbag or a beautiful sculpture.