The Vargas Cartel Trilogy (Vargas Cartel #1-3)(91)
“Your doing, not mine,” I interrupted.
“Whatever.” Rever’s hands sliced through the air. “But do you know the most f*cked up part of what’s happening right now?”
I rocked back on my heels as I glanced at my phone. I didn’t have time to listen to Rever’s dramatics tonight. I needed to find Hattie. I didn’t want her living at Vera’s house. She wasn’t safe there until I wrapped up this mess with Senator Deveron. “No, but I have a feeling you’re about to tell me.”
“You’re f*cking up your life, and you’re going to take the Vargas Cartel and me down with you.”
My head snapped up. “What the hell are you talking about, and since when do you give a shit about the Vargas Cartel? You were ready to sell Ignacio down the river a month ago.”
“I’m talking about Hattie f*cking Covington.”
I recoiled and my lips curled up, baring my teeth. “She’s none of your business.”
“She’s my business now that Senator Deveron is crawling up your ass because you refuse to leave her alone. She must have one hell of a * because you keep going back.”
In less than two seconds, I launched myself across the room and fisted his shirt in my hand. “Don’t talk about her. Don’t say her name. Don’t even think her name.” The minute I decided to go to war with Senator Deveron, I chose Hattie over everyone and everything, including my family, but I couldn’t pretend I didn’t feel divided by the whole thing. I had ripped my heart out of my chest and discarded the half belonging to my family. It sucked. “Do you understand?” I barked as I shoved him onto the sofa.
“You’re making a mistake. A big f*cking mistake.”
My chest heaving, I glared at him as anger coursed through my nerve endings like a live wire. “It’s mine to make. I don’t have to answer to you.”
“You’re right, you don’t, but both of us know a woman like Hattie doesn’t belong in our f*cked up world. At least Anna knows what she’s getting with me. She’s a part of our world. Hattie doesn’t have a clue. You’ll break her.”
I curled my hands into fists and stuffed them in my pockets so I didn’t pummel him until he was bloody and bruised. He was right, and that thought made my hands tremble and my gut swirl with bile. Hattie had seen a glimpse of my world, but I’d sheltered her from darkest side of the Vargas Cartel while she was in Mexico. “I’m not part of your world.”
He snorted as he shook his head. “You’re lying to yourself if you believe you’ve washed your hands of the Vargas Cartel. It won’t happen. Ignacio will find a way to reel you in, and once you’re in, you’re in for life. Trust me. I’ve experienced his twisted manipulations first hand. He’ll f*ck you five ways to Sunday without blinking an eye.”
“He may screw up sometimes and be overbearing, but he loves you.”
He raised his hands in the air. “If he loved me, he’d let me make my own decisions. Live my own life.” He shook his head, his lips twisted into a distorted line. “Not even embezzling money or threatening to expose Ignacio’s deals with corrupt politicians severed his hold on me. He’s given you some breathing room, but it’s all an illusion. He’ll pull back the veil of compassion soon enough, and you’ll end up just as bitter and f*cked up as me.”
I inhaled a deep breath, fighting back the resentment hurling through my veins like acid at the thought of Ignacio sucking me into his world. “You don’t know anything,” I countered, even though I feared it might be the ugly truth. I fought fate for over a decade, and I had no intention of giving in any time soon.
“Fine, you keep living in your reality, and I’ll live in mine. You might as well do it as long as you can.” Rever turned up the volume on the television.
I stalked to the front door and snagged my personal phone off the entry table. “I’m going out. Clean up this shit and be in the guest room by the time I get back.”
“Métetelo por el culo,” Rever muttered under his breath, which roughly meant stick it up my ass.
I didn’t respond. I didn’t care. I didn’t ask to be a participant in his life or his f*cked up schemes. He asked me for a favor, not the other way around. Entitled bastard. I walked out the door without a second glance.
I hadn’t changed my shirt or showered, which was my whole purpose in going home before I looked for Hattie. But right now, I couldn’t stand another minute with Rever. He was right. We needed to make a plan to deal with Anna so he could get the f*ck out of my place and move on with his life, preferably far away from me. Otherwise, we were going to kill each other.
Chapter Sixteen
Hattie
The Potomac River mirrored the color of the sky—dark stormy gray—just like my mood. It started sprinkling fifteen minutes ago, but I couldn’t find the motivation to leave my park bench. Icy rain dribbled down my face and off my chin. My clothes were soaked, and shivers wracked my body, leaving me in a constant state of motion.
I’d roamed D.C. on foot for three hours after leaving Evan’s place, and I still didn’t understand. Nothing made sense. Not Evan. Not Ryker. Nothing. I felt like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz when they pulled back the curtain and revealed a bunch of nonsense.