“A little over three years.”
“Holy fuck. No wonder he shot me down when I tried to get in his pants.” I laugh, finding such humor in this. Back then I had a bit of a confidence issue afterward too.
“I never told him he couldn’t be with other people.” Rose defends herself.
“Come on, if he had fucked me you would’ve never given him a chance.”
“True,” she admits.
“He didn’t cross that line because he wanted to at least have the option to pursue you in the future.”
“Maybe.”
“There aren’t any maybes about it. Eduardo isn’t a dumb man.”
“I hear the same about Dante.”
“He’s very intelligent.” I boast. It’s one of the many qualities I admire about him.
“Do you love him?” Her question throws me off, though I’m forced to come up with something quickly. A reply that may even be an inclination on how this man makes me feel.
“I think I do. Yeah. It seems crazy. We haven’t known each other very long, Rose.”
“I know you probably won’t like this, but that’s how Mom and Dad were. They only knew each other for like two weeks before she confessed her feelings. It’s the way Mom told me the story at least.”
I nod, knowing it’s accurate. “She said the same thing to me.”
“If you want to stay here, then stay. Don’t let Damon guilt you into going back to Las Vegas. Alright?”
“You know I won’t. I’ve never been a pushover.” I grumble, rolling my eyes.
“Plus, I’m over here most of the time anyway. We might actually get to spend some time together.”
“Oh, over here seeing Ed?” I joke, getting punched in the arm by her as retaliation. The two of us break into laughter and I begin to feel like things will be just fine.
Chapter Twenty-Six
“My silence is not weakness but the beginning of my revenge.”
~ Unknown
Dante
Amara’s siblings came over today, so I gave her space to reconnect with them. They’ve all been in one of the formal living rooms while I’ve been stewing on information. My father made it a point to tell me about the murder of Tadeo Hernandez and promised Elias how’d we’d get to the bottom of this. Little does my father know who was behind Tadeo’s demise.
If he was an open-minded man, I’d tell him about Angel and be done with it. Unfortunately, I don’t believe my father’s spirit will ever be ready for this life. It was the way he was raised and add in the Latin American countries issues with being gay, bisexual, or lesbian and it’s the perfectly concocted pot of chaos. It’s legal here, however if you come out you’re often killed. Angel’s kept his secret, as have Javier, and I to keep him safe.
“I wasn’t able to get in contact with him.” Javi’s grumbled voice says from behind me. I turn around and can tell from his somber expression he has no idea where our brother is.
“Shit, this isn’t good.”
“Yeah. I get Angel running off the way he did, all things considered . . . but Tadeo could’ve said something to someone else.” Javi adds.
“Yep, you’re right.”
“Did you off the bastard?”
I give Javi a knowing look, “Obviously. I wasn’t going to let him fuck with our familia.”
“Good. I would’ve done it myself.”
“You would’ve gotten caught.” I comment, getting a laugh from him.
“How’s Amara holding up?” Javi asks.
I shrug, “She’s resilient. I’ve never met a woman quite like her. She reminds me of Mom, if that isn’t weird.”
Javi chuckles lowly, “It’s so weird, but I see your point. It’s the Latina in her. She doesn’t take any shit. No matter how often she does get knocked down, she gets right back up and is ready to try again.”
“Damn, she’s so fucking strong. Isn’t she?”
“Yeah. One day maybe I’ll find a good woman like her.” Javi comments.
“You do realize you have to stay out of prison for a relationship to work, right?”
“Oh, stop being a fuckin’ smartass. I can stay outta prison when I want. You ever consider I use it for a vacation to get away from you?”
I furrow my brows and stare at this idiot. “Wanna try that again?”
“Fuck off.”
“What’re you two bickering about?” Amara pipes up from the entryway.
“Dante is being an asshole, per usual.” Javi states while rising and walks over to Amara and gives her a kiss on the cheek before leaving the room.
“What did you do to your poor brother, hmm?” Amara teases.
“Javier is just being Javier.” I reply.
Amara makes her way over to me and plops her ass down on my lap. She wraps her arms around my neck and burrows her face against the crook of my neck. “You came to bed late last night.”
Fuck. I didn’t want to have to tell her about this. “I had a late-night errand to run.”
“An errand? Is that code for familia business?”
“Mmm.”
“Dante, you’re going to have to tell me these things eventually you know.”
“I don’t like telling you more than you need to know.”
“Who are you to say what I need to, and don’t need to know? You could think you’re protecting me when in reality you’d be damming me.”
“I hate it when you’re right.” I groan, tilting my head back, I stare up at the ceiling before I speak. “We had a threat against the familia. I dealt with them, but my father doesn’t know, and he can’t know. He’s trying to find the murderer of this man, when the reality is I did it. I had to, Amara. Angel would’ve suffered if not. Now I’ll be wondering if we’ll have a war with Bolivia on the horizon.”
“Okay, many questions. Bolivia?”
“The son of their Cartel leader was who I killed.”
“Okay . . . why?”
“He threatened Angel. I already told you that.” I grumble. I’m not a fan of repeating myself.
“His life, or?”
I lift my head up and look at my woman. I
