buy me anything, dad,” I say quietly. “I want to discover something. I want to find my passion.”
He smiles, chuckling quietly as he shakes his head and brings the fresh glass of tequila to his lips.
“You are so me it hurts, Catalina,” he grins.
My dad turns and eyes me curiously.
“You know why I’ve never asked you about taking over, right?”
“Because you don’t think I could do it?”
He frowns. “No, no not at all,” he scowls. “No, Catalina, I think you could run this empire better than anyone else I could ever hope to know. But I’ve never asked you to, or wanted you to, because you’re too good. You’re too much your mother in that regard, and that’s a very good thing.” He smiles warmly. “You’re enough me with the good parts, and not with the bad parts. That’s a blessing,” he murmurs.
Out in the ring, the announcer barks, and we turn to look out. My stomach churns as the crowd cheers. Most of the fighters are motionless or barely moving on the ground, two are left, from the same team it appears.
“You know why I have the fights, right?”
“Because you love ancient Rome?”
He chuckles. “Yes, but more than that.”
“Justice?”
He frowns and shakes his head as he sips his drink. “No, justice is blind—this is a sport. This is because justice in this country is a joke. I’m proof of it. Every cop and federalé for a hundred miles in any direction would dance if I snapped my fingers. That’s not justice, that’s a perversion. These men…” he growls, nodding out at the ring. “Some would have escaped punishment. Some would have bribed their way out or escaped. This brings it back to the animal in all of us. Kill or be killed. Those two men? The winners?”
He nods at the two remaining men, who look triumphant and bloodied.
“One killed his neighbor to take his wife, and when she resisted, he shot her too.”
My face pales, but my father’s darkens.
“The other is a contract killer for a rival of mine.”
I swallow sickly. “And, if they win…” I blanch. “Do they win their freedom?”
My father smiles thinly and takes a sip.
“No, mi hija. They’ll take a lap of the ring, my guests will collect or pay on their bets, and then those two will be led back to the fort.”
“And then what?”
“The murderer will be taken out back and shot,” my father says simply. “The hitman I’m gifting to the Americans to curry favor and screw over my rival.”
He smiles. “Justice is blind, mi hija. Business is not.”
He finishes his drink and gives me a hug.
“Are you hungry?”
“Not really,” I mutter with a soured stomach.
“Well, come sit with me anyways, please.”
I smile as he brushes a lock of dark hair behind my ear. “Okay, papa.”
He smiles. “I love you so much, princessa.” He grins. “So much like me, and so much like her.”
He turns, and one of his men across the VIP viewing room opens the door for him. Outside, I recognize the leering, cruel face of Manuel, one of my father’s top lieutenants, and also a complete creep.
“Ah, Manuel,” my father says. He strides over and claps the cruel looking man on the shoulder.
“My daughter was saddened that the beast wasn’t here tonight. Could you ease her mind that he’ll be fighting again?” He chuckles. “She’s a fan, you see.” He smiles at me, and I try so hard to swallow the horrible blush on my face and to quell the forbidden thoughts in my head.
“See you at the house, corazón.”
My father leaves, followed by his bodyguards, and I shiver as Manuel leers at me. He’s never too obvious—he’s not stupid, but I know the look, and I shiver at the sickly way his eyes slide over me.
“The beast?” He growls. “Hush hush?” He shrugs. “Sometimes a dog needs to be reminded who the master is.”
I bite my tongue, bile rising inside.
“He’s in his cell?”
Manuel chuckles. “He wishes. He’s in the hole.”
I shiver. “The what?”
“The hole,” he laughs. “It’s… a vacation,” he sneers.
“It doesn’t sound like one.”
He laughs. “Oh, it’s not. It’s down in the old basement of the fort. Hush Hush needed to be reminded he’s a guest, not the master.” His eyes slide over me again, making me nauseous. “Sometimes we all need to know who the master is,” he purrs, making me shiver.
Manuel chuckles. “If you want an autograph…” he moves closer. “You want to see him?”
I swallow. “What?”
“Hush Hush.” He grins sickeningly. “Sometimes girls…” he grins.