He tries to ask another question, then breaks out in weak laughter. I stare at him in alarm.
“Pain meds are finally kicking in,” the paramedic says, then Maddox fades into la-la land again.
40
Maddox
I fade in and out for the rest of the trip, incoherent and confused about the whole ordeal, but conscious enough to be aware of Leo’s presence the entire way. So many things don’t add up. How the feds found out, for one thing, not to mention why they didn’t take Leo in. While I’m asleep, I have crazy, sex-filled dreams that are nothing more than reenactments of the night before. When I finally wake up, I’m in a quiet, dark room with the familiar, distant beeps and chatter of a hospital around me.
A figure rises from a chair in the shadows, and the most disturbing sense of déjà vu hits at the sight of the deep-set eyes, heavy brows, salt-and-pepper hair, and silver goatee. Arturo Flores. I stiffen and cringe when he settles on the edge of the bed, giving me an intense stare not unlike the one he gave me when I was seventeen and in a similar situation. Gustavo’s beating all those years ago put me in the hospital, and I woke to Arturo at my bedside warning me to stay far, far away from Celeste if I cared about living.
The look he gives me now is not that look. It’s resigned, I think. Maybe even a little understanding. He reaches out and squeezes my shoulder. “Don’t strain yourself, mijo. I’m not here to hurt you. I’m here to thank you.”
My mouth is parched and I try to swallow, then cough. He picks up a cup from the rolling table and puts a straw to my lips. I’m too baffled by this action to do anything but accept his offer, so I drink. Icy water calms the tickle and I drain the cup.
“Thank me for what?”
“For drawing out my enemy.”
I start to respond that I don’t know what the fuck he’s talking about, but he holds up a hand and I know better than to talk over him.
“I know you and your brother didn’t intentionally help, but if not for J.J.’s hubris and your unwitting involvement, Amador would never have made such a grave mistake. Gustavo cannot be trusted. That was his biggest mistake. If he was disloyal to me, he would be disloyal to any master. But thanks to you, Leo, and your brother, we have caught him. We’re one step closer to bringing Amador down.”
“Gustavo deserves to die,” I spit. “You’re taking care of him, right?”
He gives me a patient smile. “He won’t outlive his usefulness, trust me. His need to atone to Amador for his failure at the gun deal brought him back to fix his mistake. But we have him now.”
“The feds?”
“They want Amador gone as much as I do, so we have a mutually beneficial arrangement. I do what I can to help control crime in Southern California my way, I leverage my connections to Amador for their use, and they look the other way when I do my other business. As long as we don’t step on each other’s toes, we get along.” He offers a slight shrug as if he’s just talking about a pair of schoolyard rivals, not a major crime organization and the fucking government.
“The guns . . . That’s why you’re so heavy-handed about them, isn’t it? Don’t you care about the money?”
“I make my money in other ways, Maddox. What I care about is protecting my family. Celeste and her mother were my world. When I lost Lola, my daughter became the most important thing in my life. You have proved yourself a safe harbor for her twice in her life now. That loyalty won’t go unrewarded.”
I grit my teeth. I want to tell him his daughter isn’t just a thing. She’s not his property. “I wasn’t being loyal to you,” I finally say. “I love her in spite of you.”
He smiles as if what I just said pleases him. Jesus, I can’t fucking win with this bastard. “Then you will love her in spite of what you must do for me. You will owe me a favor very soon, and when I come to collect, you will do as I ask. You see, I hold the keys to your family’s well-being. I can take everything away. But you’ll obey me because in doing so, you get to keep Leo and Celeste. Share their bed, be their partner in everything. Have the life you always dreamed about and keep your family together.”
A chill runs down my spine because despite how great that all sounds, there’s bound to be a hefty price if he’s framing it the way he is. That he’s aware of how close we are is telling. “Tell me now.”
“Now isn’t the time. If everything goes as planned, you’ll understand soon enough.” He gives me one last, long stare as if he’s memorizing the glare I’m giving him and filing it away. I hold his gaze in challenge, and neither of us looks away. His eyes are a crazy light hazel with golden starbursts at the center, just like Celeste’s. And fuck me if they don’t remind me of my little sister’s too.
He pats me on the hand once more. “Leo and Celeste will be back soon to keep you company. They refused to leave, but both of them know better than to defy me.” Then he walks out, leaving in his wake the rich old man scent of aftershave, cigar smoke, and scotch. I’m left stewing over everything he said, but I fixate on the last detail.
He more or less gave his permission for me to continue a relationship with both Leo and Celeste. As if the idea wasn’t
