Dante is a man who drinks, although he isn’t one who drinks this fast. “Is everything alright?” I question, wanting to know if there’s something I should be worried about.
“Eh, depends who you ask.” Dante murmurs, staring out through the window.
“Who was that who sped off?”
“Angel.” Dante is quick to respond, though I can feel the sadness in his voice.
“What happened, Dante?”
Dante sinks down onto the couch in our living area and looks up at me. “I betrayed my brother, for us.”
“What? That doesn’t make any sense.” How on Earth did he betray Angel for us? Dante may have some small spats with both his brothers, though he loves them more than anything. That’s honestly a Latino thing. We fight hard, yet we love even harder.
“It’s complicated, mi reyna.” He’s trying to dismiss me, to shut me up so I don’t ask any questions.
“Life is complicated, Dante. Now are you going to sit here and irritate me, or tell me what the fuck happened with your brother?”
He shakes his head, “Angel’s secrets aren’t mine to share. Surely you understand that.”
“No, but familia is one place we can all confide in, and you say I am your familia, no?” He glares at me with all his might, knowing he really has no choice but to tell me now. If he doesn’t, he’s essentially stating that I don’t mean as much to him as he likes to tell everyone else.
“Amara,” His tone is threatening, though his eyes are pleading. “Please don’t ask this of me. Please.” In this moment I realize Dante is trying to protect Angel from something.
“Dante . . . I will never force anything out of you. But you know I’m not the enemy here, so whatever it is you’re afraid of, don’t be. Start from the beginning. I’m sure I can read between the lines.”
Dante tilts his neck to the left until it pops, and then does the same to his right. “I’ll need another drink for this.” He gets up and goes over to the cart with the liquor, pours himself another drink, and already starts on the tequila before he returns to his seat.
“Angel has been different his entire life. Even from a young age, I could tell. As we grew up, I noticed how his interests were in different areas. For example, he’d prefer to stay with our sister, Gia, versus going with Javier and I. Around the age of fifteen I realized what my brother was, and it didn’t bother me in the slightest bit. Although, what bothers me to this day is our father’s stance on it. He may be an accepting man, mi reyna, but my father will never accept Angel. He will no longer be his son if he ever finds out. What you don’t know is that I was supposed to marry another Cartel leader’s daughter, to unify us. Though, I never expected you to come barreling into my life. When you did . . . everything changed. I knew my duty up until that point, but I didn’t know the way I’d feel about you. I didn’t care about the marriage anymore, or my duty. The only important thing to me was you, and how we could be together. The moment I realized you were related to Rafael I knew I could have you. You see, there aren’t many ways I could get out of a marriage, mi reyna. Though in the Latino culture with Cartels, we respect other Cartel bloodlines and familia. The blood that you must hate, it’s the one thing that saved us.” I listen to his story and so many things are flooding through my mind.
“At Angel’s expense . . .” I whisper under my breath, looking to the man I care about more than anything. God. What happened? What did Dante do?
He nods, “Yes. Angel will be marrying the woman I was supposed to. However, I was able to grant him four years of freedom before he must fulfill the contract.”
“Angel is gay. Isn’t he?” I ask the question I’m certain I already have the answer to.
“Yes.”
“What aren’t you telling me, Dante?” I can tell he’s hiding something.
He gulps down the rest of the tequila and slams the glass against the table between the couch and the armchairs. “I promised him I wouldn’t let this happen. Because of you. Is that what you want to hear, Amara? I put our needs above my younger brother’s. You’re more important to me than him, and I can’t deny it. I condemned my brother because of the love I have for you.” His voice tightens, showing me he’s both angry with himself and passionate as hell.
I inhale sharply at what he just admitted, not sure if he even realized what he said. “Dante . . .” I whisper, stepping backward, not sure what to think right now.
There’s no way he could’ve meant what he said. Right? We’ve known each other for . . . a little over a month and a half, maybe spending two and a half weeks together.
“Don’t get scared with me, mi reyna. My mama told me as a young boy when I met the woman of my dreams, I would know it, and I did. I met you, mi amor. I met you and my priorities shifted. So, you may think this is crazy, and it might be, but I won’t deny it. You are so important to me that I’d kill thousands. ¿Que no entiendes lo que siento por ti? I’m not sorry for it, either. I will do what I must in order to protect us. Angel will be fine. I will find a way to get him out of this.”
“I . . . I need some air,” I spit out, rushing out the door and walk into the back garden. Holy fuck. Did that just happen, or am I losing my fucking mind?
Chapter Twenty-One
Your
