The Viper (Untamed Hearts #1)(43)

The scream that burst out of him would have embarrassed Marcos’s Aunt Sofia. Really, this guy screamed like a girl as he crumbled onto the carpet, clutching his nose.

Marcos had never heard a guy wail like that before, and he just knelt over him, breathing hard, staring down as the smaller man tried to scramble away from him. It was hard under the blood, but now that he saw his slim frame, Marcos recognized him.

It was Katie’s ex-husband.

Marcos rubbed a hand over his face and groaned. “Co?o.”

He couldn’t really hit him again. It felt like hitting a woman. What did she ever see in this guy?

“What—” Katie came running into the living room. She was still putting her arms into the sleeves of her robe but stopped and screamed when she saw her ex bleeding all over the living room. “Oh my God, Grayson!”

She ran to him, and that really irritated Marcos.

Grayson was still crying, like actually crying, as he held his phone to his ear with one hand and held his nose with the other. “I’m walling the wops!”

“You broke in!” Marcos shouted at him before he turned to Katie, who had run into the kitchen. “He broke in, Katie. I locked the door when I left and—”

Grayson stopped his conversation with the cops to yell. “He’s stawing here?”

“That’s right, motherf*cker.” He gave Grayson a hard look. “Now she knows how a real man’s supposed to do it.”

“Marcos, don’t.” Katie brought back a roll of paper towels and fell down on her knees next to Grayson. “Just be quiet while I deal with this.”

“He’s crying like a woman,” Marcos pointed out. “Come on.”

“He’s bleeding all over the place.” Katie’s voice quivered as if she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. “He’s not like you.”

“Are you sure he has cojones?”

Grayson narrowed his eyes up at him, though he still held the phone to his ear like a lifeline. “What does dat mean?”

“It means balls, chica.”

“Marcos!” Katie shouted. “Stop!”

“Fine.” Marcos threw up his hands and turned away. “Have fun with your girlfriend.”

He went into the bedroom and grabbed his things. He tossed half his clothes on the bed. Then he ripped off his jacket and pulled on a shirt since he was going to have to be dealing with the cops.

He might as well get it over with now, so he called his cousin because he didn’t dare go out there. He should’ve hit that Grayson motherf*cker a second time just to shut him up.

“What?” Chuito answered on the second ring, making it obvious he was still pissed.

“Don’t give me any attitude,” he yelled in Spanish. “I just got done dealing with Angel’s bullshit. He went out to your mother’s to threaten me, and now Katie’s ex-husband is bleeding in the living room. How can you take this town? He cries like a woman.”

“What?” Chuito barked back. “Angel went to my mother’s?”

“Send her to Puerto Rico.” Marcos rubbed his hand over his face. “Get her out of Miami. Tomorrow.”

“Okay.” Chuito was obviously still trying to get his bearings. “Did you say Katie’s ex-husband is bleeding?”

“He broke in!” Marcos shouted at him in Spanish. “What was I supposed to do? Now he’s calling the cops and—”

“Co?o, Marcos!” Chuito yelled over the sound of a door being slammed. “I’m coming over there.”

“No. Fuck you. I don’t need your help!” Marcos growled, but the phone went dead.

He could hear the sirens, and he broke out in a cold sweat against his will. He leaned back against the wall and took a deep breath, cursing himself again for coming back to this town.

He really hated the cops.

He was hoping to God they didn’t search his truck, because he didn’t have a permit for his gun, and that was the last thing he needed. With his record, he could serve real jail time for an arrest like that.

For just a moment, he thought of jumping in his truck and ditching this town, but he knew it’d just come back on his cousin.

And Katie.

He flinched when he heard the police come in.

Grayson shouted. “He’s win there!”

The door burst open, and he stiffened when the entire door frame was filled with the biggest, meanest redneck cop Marcos had ever had the misfortune of knowing. Sheriff Wyatt Conner was worse than his sister, and that was saying something, because Marcos really hated Jules Wellings.

“Let me see your hands!” the sheriff shouted, his gun leveled at Marcos’s chest.

Marcos held up his hands and said as calmly as possible, “He broke in.”

“On the ground. Now. I’m sure you know what to do.”

“Really?” Marcos asked in disbelief as he got to his knees with his hands behind his head. “Motherf*cker broke in.”

Instead of listening to him, the sheriff forced him onto his stomach and handcuffed him. He put his gun away and said, “Boy, you’ve been in my town two times, and two times I’ve had to show up.”

“Yup,” Marcos said rather than argue.

He was still sweating over the gun. He didn’t need this * searching his truck, or he’d have a real reason to arrest Marcos.