“You’ll see.”
Like the rest of the house, Arturo’s office is decorated in warm colors with heavy, handcrafted wooden furniture and a fireplace beneath an enormous portrait of a woman in a red evening gown with a striking resemblance to Celeste. He’s at his wet bar, pouring drinks, and hands me a glass before sitting behind his desk. That he’s handing out scotch this early in the morning doesn’t settle my nerves. This feels more like a business meeting, and I’m suddenly conflicted. If he wants me to start laundering money through my shop, am I allowed to turn him down? He has the two things I want and I wouldn’t put it past him to leverage Leo and Celeste to make me do his bidding. I’m not a bad person but I’m not above the kind of compromise I’d need to make to keep them, and I still owe him for some as-yet-unknown favor.
“Maddox Santos,” he begins, as if testing my name. “Mad Dog. What would you do to protect what’s yours?”
I’m sure it’s a trick question but there’s really only one answer: “Anything, sir.”
He nods as if my answer is acceptable to him. “Did you know how deep your brother was with the cartels? His little gunrunning business caught a lot of attention. Thinking he could keep it going after betraying Amador was a foolish move. He signed his own death warrant that day, and added more nails to his coffin when he turned around and sold the same guns to the Zavala cartel. It was only a matter of time before Zavala learned of his original deal and accused him of still working for Amador. He did take Amador’s money, after all.”
Boy, he just dives right in, doesn’t he? I grit my teeth, then take a swallow of the amber liquor to try to buy time so I can choose my words. “What’s the point of this, sir? Other than rubbing salt in the wound. He’s been dead for two weeks. The cartels can go fuck themselves.”
“I’m glad you feel that way. Because if you were considering picking up where he left off, we would have a problem.”
All my Christmas joy disappears. This isn’t a gift. This is an interrogation. “Listen, the guns were his idea. I hated the entire plan, but he promised half the money would go to our sister’s college fund. You remember Elle, don’t you?” I emphasize her name and pause, giving him a challenging stare.
He raises his eyebrows and offers a genuine smile. “I do, and you can stop worrying about her education. I am also a man who will do anything for family. There are several gifts for her and the rest of your family underneath our tree this morning.”
“No offense, sir, but what the fuck am I here for? You gave me some cryptic threat or promise or some shit in the hospital, and I really just wish you’d quit fucking around and tell me what it is you want. I’m not going anywhere. I love Celeste and Leo. I’d die for them, so can we just get this over with? What do you want from me?”
Celeste rests a hand on my arm and squeezes. Leo leans on the back of my chair and says, “I’m pretty damn curious too. The pair of you are being really cagey about something, and I’m not usually out of the loop like this. What gives?”
Arturo lifts a finger, then pulls out his phone and dials. “Is he ready?” he asks whoever answers on the other end, then nods and picks up a remote control resting on the corner of his desk. He swivels in his chair and aims it at a flat screen that hangs on the wall of his office.
The TV comes to life, showing the cold blue eyes and blond hair of Arturo’s fixer, Amon, larger than life. Behind him is a bank of windows looking out onto an oceanscape.
“You can hear me and see me well enough, yes?” Amon says in his Slavic-accented, slightly broken English.
“Yes,” Arturo says. “We’re all here. Put him on.” Then he turns and looks at me. “Maddox, I’d like to introduce you to Mason Black, the newest employee of my organization.”
Amon’s face disappears as he flips the perspective of his camera and I’m looking at a figure in a hospital bed. I blink, convinced I’m seeing things, but the sharp gray eyes and shit-eating grin are apparent even through the mottled mess of half-healed bruises.
“Merry Christmas, brother! I heard my funeral was off the hook. Wish I could’ve been there. Actually, scratch that. I’m happy I wasn’t because, you know, I’d actually be dead.”
The camera flips around again and J.J. protests as Amon’s face reappears. “Good enough?”
“Thank you, Amon. You’ll hear from me soon.” Arturo switches off the TV without giving me a chance to recover my senses. Leo’s hands are on my shoulders now, squeezing.
“He’s alive?” Leo asks.
I’m still too stunned to speak and just stare at the blank screen for several more seconds before turning my baffled look to Arturo. “How . . . Why?”
“I protect what’s mine, Maddox, and Celeste has made it clear that you and Leo are now family.” He shoots a tender but long-suffering look at his daughter, then smiles. “Thanks to your relationship with my daughter and . . . other factors, your siblings fall within the sphere of family as well. But make no mistake, J.J. Santos is dead. The man you just saw on screen is someone else. And both of you are going to help me continue my efforts to destroy Amador.”
“This is what you wanted?” I ask, still confused because sign me the fuck up. I still don’t trust him though, so I feel compelled to ask, “What do I have to actually do?”
“For now, nothing more than be the strong, positive influence you always were on your family. Help me keep them safe. And when the time comes, I may ask more of you.”
I’m not crazy
