There’s no way I’m letting him manhandle her, and I shove him off. “Take your fucking hands off her.”
“You,” he spits. “A man like you isn’t fit to breathe the same air as my cousin.” He shoves me back, and I come up swinging.
I get a right hook in and a solid hit to his breadbasket before the other man he’s with jumps in. I shove him off, too.
A man comes out of the house and fires a gun in the air.
“What’s going on here?” he yells, and I can only assume it must be Carmen’s father.
Ruiz and I break apart, and he staggers back, swiping his cuff across his bloody mouth. Then he points at Luisa.
“You’re coming with me, or I’ll tell your father what you’ve been up to.”
“Go ahead,” I taunt, pushing her behind me.
Ruiz glares at Luisa. “I’m good friends with Mateo. Perhaps it’s him I need to speak with.”
“I’ll go with you. Just please don’t fight.” Tears stream down my girl’s face, and it guts me, because I’m partially to blame for it.
“Come on,” Ruiz snaps.
“She’s not going anywhere with you, motherfucker,” I bite out.
She steps in front of me, palms on my chest, and her touch immediately calms the beast in me.
“I’ll go with him. I need to go home, anyway. I’ll be fine. He’s a good man, Blue. He’s just worried about me.”
“He has nothing to worry about, Luisa.”
“He doesn’t know that. Please let me go. I’ll call you later.”
My jaw tightens because what she’s asking is a lot, and I know I’m going to give her what she wants if it kills me. I nod but make a demand of my own. “Don’t let them fill your head with bullshit, Luisa.”
“I won’t.”
I cup her cheek. “We leave for Sturgis in two days. I’ll be gone for a week. Maybe two.”
“Then I’ll see you when you get back.”
I dip my head and kiss her, then watch her walk to her car and pull out with Ruiz and his buddy following her.
A tingle moves up my spine. My biggest fear is a man I’ve never met. Mateo is the wild card in this game, and I’m afraid of what he’s capable of because I don’t know what he feels for Luisa.
I make a vow to myself.
When the club gets back from Sturgis, I aim to find out just who the fuck this guy is.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Luisa—
It’s been two days, and when I come down the stairs, my mother meets me in the hallway.
“Where are you going?”
“Just out.”
“No. Tonight we're having family for dinner. Go back upstairs and put on something pretty.”
