have been different if my parents had the kind of marriage I’m building with Elena. I might have come out less bitter and jaded, more willing to pursue all the things I set aside for the sake of La Familia.
What does that realization change for me? I’m still working that out. The thought of something happening to her is still terrifying. That feeling is twice as scary when I try to imagine a kid or two as part of the equation. My mind tears me in two directions at once, the image of Elena beautiful and swollen with a baby battles with my nightmares—a baby Marcella lying dead in a pool of blood, her brains obliterated by a bullet. It’s the outcome I saved her from, paying for it at the cost of twenty-two lives. But what if my mother hadn’t gotten wind of the coup? What if we had been too late, and my father’s betrayers got their hands on my little sister?
What if I throw away my firm rule against having children, only to one day be too late when they need me most?
“She’s not going anywhere, boss.”
I glance up to find Jovan beside me, his own rifle at the ready and twin pistols at his hips. He’s wearing a shit-eating grin, like he always does before he starts ragging on me over Elena.
“No, but I wish I was. Instead, I’m here with you.”
Jovan heaves a dramatic sigh. “It’s true, she is better-looking than me and she has all the right parts. But damn, jefe, I thought you loved me too.”
I roll my eyes. “Not enough to choose you over her when given half the chance.”
“I’m happy for you,” Jovan says, the humor leaving his voice. “Seriously … I know you never wanted to get married, but she seems good for you.”
“She is,” I admit. “I didn’t think it would be like this.”
“I did,” he replies with a laugh. “You were a goner the second you laid eyes on her.”
I laugh, about to agree with him, when the sound of a single gunshot draws both our gazes to the other side of the dock. A second later my earpiece explodes with sound, Jaime’s voice coming over the line. He’s watching the camera feeds from the house.
“Shots fired!” he bellows into my ear. “Armenians just pulled up near the end of the dock! We’ve got a man down!”
Jovan and I take off at the same time, rifles raised. The pounding footsteps of other men surround us as my other soldiers fall in line, weapons drawn. The silence is shattered by a mingle of Spanish, Armenian, and Russian—men shouting at each other between bursts of gunfire. My mind goes blank, my body moving from a muscle memory I’ve been building since I was a kid. My ability to stay calm in a firefight and shoot with deadly accuracy is the one thing I can admit being grateful to my parents for. It has meant the difference between life and death.
We round a line of shipping containers to find pure chaos. The Armenians are shooting at us from behind stacks of crates and shipping containers, the bursts of their rifles lighting up the night. My guys are mixed in with the Yezhov men, returning fire and trying to take cover from the barrage of bullets.
“Those motherfuckers!” Jovan roars, firing off a flurry of rounds before ducking behind a stack of crates.
I take position behind a huge container that offers the perfect place for me to rest my rifle. Kneeling, I put my eye to the scope and start hunting. I pick off three Armenians within minutes, catching them as they peek their heads out of their hiding places. The cries and gurgles of dying and injured men comes back at me, and the sound of bodies hitting the dock echo like stones.
More of the Armenians come pouring in from every direction—more than I’ve ever seen in one place. Their numbers have swelled in recent months, meaning two families have likely joined forces to take us out. We’re slightly outnumbered, and their blitz attack has us on the defensive.
“Fuck this shit,” I mutter, clutching my rife and rushing through the gap between my hiding place and Jovan’s.
A bullet shatters a crate near me, missing by just a few inches. I don’t breathe until I’m hunkered down next to Jovan, my breath racing and my ears ringing.
“Come on,” I say, grabbing hold of his sleeve. “We’ll go around and take them from behind.”