The Viper (Untamed Hearts #1)(50)
“Why?”
“’Cause I’m a mean, angry thug who throws things when I get mad.”
“We could go to the mall in Mercy and get it fixed.”
“No, I’d rather stay here with you,” he said as he finished his message and sent it. “There are malls in Miami. I’ll fix it when I get back.”
“What are you saying to all of them?” Katie asked.
“I’m telling them I’m laying low.”
“That’s a lot of words to say you’re laying low.” Katie yawned. The first pink of morning was starting to shine in through the bedroom curtains, but still she watched his phone as his friends started responding. “How can so many of them already be awake?”
“They’re not waking up. They’re going to bed.”
“Oh my God.” Katie yawned again. “That’s crazy. What do they do all night? They can’t all be thieves. There’s not enough stuff in Miami.”
Marcos laughed. “Most of ’em have real jobs now. They just stay up because they picked up bad habits when they were younger.”
“I see Chuito’s name in there.” She pointed to Luis’s comment in the thread. “What does that say?”
“It says, ‘Why not tell Chuito? He’s the original OG.’”
“What does that mean?”
“It means he’s the original original gangster.” Marcos laughed and typed back. “Luis, dumbass, you should’ve stayed in school.”
“Are most of them dropouts?”
“Yup.”
“I think that’s sad.” Katie yawned again. “Must be hard to get a job.”
“Yeah, well, that’s not the only reason why it’s hard for most of ’em to keep a job.”
“What’s the other reason?”
“Most of us have records. If it wasn’t for the original OG, they’d probably still be chopping cars. He makes up for the cheap-ass minimum wage most of them make so they can feed their kids.”
“You mean Chuito?”
“Yeah.”
“He gives them money?”
“Yup.”
“Does he give you money?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“’Cause I won’t let him.” He tossed his phone aside and rolled into her. He kissed the top of her head and said, “Enough questions.”
“Have you really stolen a car before?” Katie asked rather than listen. “Like broken into it and taken it from someone else.”
“I have really stolen many cars before.”
“Could you steal my car?”
“Your midrange car with no theft prevention devices that you keep unlocked in the garage that is also unlocked?” Marcos snorted in disbelief. “Yes, I could steal it.”
Katie seemed to ponder that for a while. “Huh?”
“Yeah, more real when you start thinking about it, huh, chica?”
“Has Chuito stolen a car?”
“No, he got to be the original OG by being a nice guy.” Marcos kissed the top of her head again. “I said go to sleep.”
Katie got quiet, and Marcos thought she had started to drift off to sleep, but then she whispered into the darkness, “I still don’t want you to go. Do you think that makes me guilty by association?”
“No.” He sighed. “I think that makes you too sweet to keep. I’m leaving in a week. You promised.”
“And what does a promise mean to you? A thief.”
“To an OG, a promise means everything. You don’t break a promise once you make it. Got it?”
She sighed and tightened her arms around him. “Yeah, I got it.”
Chapter Thirteen
The thing about a week, when you’re living in the moment, was that it ended up lasting forever and going way too fast at the same time. Katie felt like she’d lived a lifetime with Marcos in her little house, holed up with enough food to keep them alive, and enough privacy to make love in every corner.
Her father and brother showed up the day after the break-in. They were grateful to Marcos for protecting Katie, and then dragged her outside and told her she was batshit crazy for letting him stay in her house.
So she largely ignored her phone, and Marcos largely ignored his because he was having issues too. They talked to the sheriff once when he showed up, because he found out Ashley’s car had once been blue just like Marcos claimed.
The sheriff went to question Ashley.
Katie didn’t care.
She didn’t care about Grayson’s legal issues either.
All she really cared about was that it was Saturday, and tomorrow was the last day of spring break. She knew she’d promised to let him go, and she knew that promise was something that actually held real value to Marcos when so little in this world did, but that didn’t stop her from being desperate for something, anything, that would keep him here.
So she sat on the floor by the couch, folding laundry and thinking of ways to talk Marcos into staying, but no argument seemed fair. Why should he stay in a town he obviously hated? And with good cause. Everyone he dealt with here, even his own cousin, was rude to him at the very least, and tried to arrest him at worst.