Smoke (The Carelli Family Saga #1) - Eden Butler Page 0,58

“Mateo…”

“Oh, mi alma,” Alejandro said, the laugh back in his voice. “Our baby is right here. He’s fine. And he’s waiting for you, just like me.”

From the other end of the phone, I could make out the sound of feet against a wood floor, the creak of movement against it and then the bustle of fabric. The noise shifted then and I picked up the low, soft snores I recognized instantly. That was my mijo. It was the same low cooing sound Mateo made when he drifted off. I’d know that sound anywhere.

“Mateo…” Dimitri didn’t fight me when I took the phone from him, holding it in both hands. “Alejandro…please don’t hurt him. I’m begging you. Please.”

“Now, why would I hurt my own son? The boy you tried to keep from me?” He moved again, taking those sweet, soft noises from me, and my chest clenched. Then, Alejandro opened and closed a door and there was a squawk from overhead, clearly a bird of some kind and the harsh rush of a blistering wind. “He looks just like me. Same nose. Same mouth. Your eyes though. But I didn’t get to see any of that up close until tonight. I had to watch him through cameras. See my boy sleeping in that small bed somebody else built. See my son being held by that gringo fuck. My. Son.” He made a noise, something that sounded like a grunt, and Dimitri reached for the phone, but I shook my head, hoping the look I gave him was enough to keep him quiet. Alejandro exhaled, the breath loud against the speaker before he finished. “But it doesn’t matter. I have him. Soon, I’ll have you and…I think, you and that gringo will come. I want him to come with you. I want that cabrón to see me take you and my boy away. I want to watch his face when I take back what’s mine.”

“Alejandro…please don’t…”

“And come alone,” he said, the sound of the birds and wind behind him gone, his voice getting louder. “Just you and that gringo. If you don’t, I’ll know. I see everything.”

“You’ll do nothing,” Dimitri said, his voice loud.

“You wanna test me, mother fucker? You wanna see how much pull we…I have?” Alejandro’s voice matched Dimitri’s, his temper seeming to flare and then, there was the pound of something hard crashing.

My stomach twisted, my knees buckling, when Mateo’s cries filled up the room.

“I got enough on you to put you away for decades. Shipments, dock records…you think your girl Kat is the only hacker around?”

Dimitri didn’t react, but I noticed Dino’s flinch as he moved behind his boss. That name meant something to both of them and my ex seemed to know it.

“You think I find out my wife is with some fucking gangster with my son and I don’t find out every fucking thing I can? You come and you bring your…Carelli, Maggie…” Another pound and Mateo’s screams got louder.

I crashed to the floor, fighting the urge to vomit. He wouldn’t hit the baby. I couldn’t believe that, but Alejandro’s temper was terrifying, always had been. If it scared me, God only knew what it did to Mateo.

“Bring my wife,” he told Dimitri. “And come alone or your fucking business and your freedom is done.”

“Cameras, all over my town,” Dimitri said again, still pissed that Alejandro somehow got past all the safeguards he and his family had outfitted in their offices and businesses. He sat next to me, his fingers curled around the steering wheel, his gaze staring out of the front windshield. “All this time, we’ve been so isolated, so protected and just like that,” Dimitri snapped his fingers, the sound reminding me of the click of a gun, “some asshole with an inside man comes in and fucks us.”

“Alejandro designed security systems for fun in college. I’m not surprised he’d spy on me once he found out where I was.”

Dimitri stared at me, his eyebrows hidden underneath his sweeping bangs. “For fucking fun?” When I shrugged, finding it unnecessary to elaborate, he shook his head. “Jesus…this guy…”

“I told you, when he’s sober, no one is more focused.” I leaned back against the seat, my fingers still shaking when I rubbed them over my shoulders.

“You almost sound like you…admire him—”

“You can’t be serious!” I laughed, unable to do anything else, and Dimitri seemed to know his mistake automatically. “He once tried to convince me to give myself to Reynolds for drugs. Me. His wife. Alejandro