I hurt far too many people and I’ll continue to be a black cloud on others’ lives for the rest of my life— no matter if I have three hours or three years.
No matter what happens, I need to make peace with it.
I’m Amara Raines, and I’m no angel.
Chapter One
Choke them on the ashes of the dreams they burned
~ Unknown
Dante
Present Day . . .
“Hard to believe it’s Independence Day, no?” Gia slurrs, stalking towards me. She’s on her third or fourth drink. To be honest, I’ve lost count.
“No, I simply pay attention to the calendar. Unlike you.” I retort.
“Oh stop being a party pooper, hermano.” Gia whines, switching from our second language to our native tongue.
“I’m not, simply being accurate.” I attempt to poke the bear, making my way toward the balcony of the new home I’ve purchased here in Chihuahua. Our father had acquired a home here a couple years ago, then underwent the legal ways to make it his and sold it for an incredible profit. Though, he resides in Mexico City and wants a liaison here. I offered to stay behind and so I’ve purchased this lovely abode.
My younger sister Gia lives in Las Vegas most of the time because she’s the owner of a multi-million dollar company called Crave, LLC. She owns it with a few of her close friends. That being said, she isn’t one to discuss familia business.
“Why do you always have to be a dick whenever I come to visit you, hmm?”
I turn to face her head on and cock a brow. “You don’t come here to visit me. You only want the free drinks down in the city!” I hiss.
My dear sister and I were so close growing up, but over the last ten years or so we’ve both lost touch. It was my fault. Ten years ago I decided to support my father in his cause to get Rafael Ramírez out of the Capo seat. He was the corrupt individual in charge of leading the entire industry. Thankfully, he’s been removed from his duties for a couple years now. We had some help with a few allies and were successful. Now my father has gone above and beyond to right the wrongs of his predecessor.
Now don’t get me wrong. We’re not angels. We’re very much involved in drugs, murder, and much more . . . however, we don’t cross lines unless we have to. Rafael would slaughter children in front of their parents for fun. He didn’t give a flying fuck what he did, and faced no repercussions for it.
There’s only one reason a man like that is successful in keeping their power— he strikes so much fear into everyone under his reign that they never doubt him. They never have the courage to rise up against him.
My familia does things differently. While my father isn’t a man to fuck with, he will instill fear and respect into his subjects. My father is the leader of the Mexican Cartel, however, everyone believes our cousin Eduardo Lopez is running things while my father runs for governor of Mexico City. His goal is to become the President of Mexico and after his term is up, put someone within the Cartel in higher positions of the government. It’s a good plan considering it’ll take many of our problems away.
My cousins, Eduardo, Juan and Daniel as well as myself are my father’s highest level Capos. We have other Capos in charge of other territories of Mexico, however we don’t hold the same amount of trust in them. We make up the inner circle so to speak. My father and Eduardo have been doing a great job at their charade, but all good things must come to an end eventually.
“Alright, but I do come to see you too. I may live in Las Vegas but it doesn’t mean I can frolic around and do whatever I want. I work, and I work hard.” Gia explains. She must know how proud I am of her for paving her own way in life. She didn’t take a hand out from our father, when most mafia princesas would.
“I know you do, Gia. I know.” I confess, wrapping my arms around the bull-headed brat. I hold her close, showing her some sort of affection. As children we hardly got a hug or a kiss. I can’t even count the times our parents expressed their love to us, because there weren’t any.
“I don’t complain about the amount I work very often, but I’m growing so tired of the way I’ve lived my life. I’m twenty-eight and . . . I’m nowhere near anyone else my age.” She explains, speaking into my chest.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I ask as I break our embrace and take a seat on one of the lounge chairs. Gia takes a seat in the one beside me.
“Most women my age are finding their prince charming, having babies, doing all of that domestic shit.”
I crane my neck, knowing I’ve had this conversation with her at least once before. “Gia,” I pause for a moment, needing to think of the right way to say this. Otherwise I’ll come off as a dick. “You aren’t a normal woman, and you don’t live an ordinary life. You’re a mafia princesa. You’re the daughter of Francisco Lopez, ruler of the Mexican Cartel. Hell, you own a company that literally sells sex.”
“We don’t sell sex.” Again, she shuts me down. She can keep saying she doesn’t, but we all know the truth.
I pick up the glass of tequila I set on the table between the chairs a while ago. The heat from this day has melted the ice and I’m positive my drink is now a watered down version of the strong liquor I prefer. After looking at it for a moment, I decide to down the rest of the drink. I’m not a man who has many
