“Apart from the obvious,” he said. “The biggest issue we have is the possibility that Lorenzo Sambini finds out we have a new enemy. That he’ll join forces with Esteban and burn us to the ground.”
I nodded, unable to deny.
“We’re already weak, brother. If Sambini came for us on his own right now, we’d fall.”
I disagreed, on the Sambini front at least. Those fuckers had been messily up Cam’s arse for years and they’d never gained more than a few inches at a time. And if they came for him seriously? Now he had Alexei permanently at his side?
Nope. Wouldn’t happen.
But if they got wind that another family wanted to take the club down?
Defeat washed over me and I hung my head, perhaps not realising how much I’d hoped this inevitable moment would never happen. “You have to protect your family.”
I felt Cam nod. Saw his leg muscles bunch as he prepared to rise. “I do, brother. But I don’t think you understand.”
A near hysterical laugh fell out of me, making me grateful for the closed bathroom door. If I was going to fall apart, I needed to put myself back together before Juana and Liliana came out.
Ineededto throw my life in a bag, buy a goddamn car, and hit the road.
Where the fuck are you going to go?
Years ago, I’d had grand dreams of escaping abroad to a Pacific island or some shit. But Liliana didn’t have a passport. Neither did Juana. Carlos had made sure of that.
Alexei has a bunch of fakes. He could help you.
Would he, though? If it meant we hung around for as long as it took to make it happen?
My gut said no. The longer we were here, the more complicit the club appeared to anyone who came looking. We needed to leavenow. Before that happened. Guilt was a wicked thing and I carried it in spades. If anything happened to my brothers, to Orla and River. ToEmbry.
Fuck. I rubbed at my chest and surged up from the bed.
Cam shoved me back down, his hands vice like on my shoulders. “You’re not listening to me.”
Had he been talking?
By his exasperated scowl, maybe. My head was so full, man. So fucking foggy. It was as though fear, joy, and adrenaline had conspired to destroy me, slowing my brain to the point where Cam was a million miles away, despite being right in front of me, shaking my body until I snapped to.
He crouched in front of me, his gaze daggered. “You’re not listening.”
The repetition hooked me, reeling me back to the present. Breath caught in my chest, I braced myself for his rejection. It was gonna hurt and I knew it, but that kind of pain, that kind of grief, it was an old friend by now. I could take it.
I had to. For Lili. For Ju.
So why did I feel like I was fucking dying?
Cos you’re never gonna see him again.
Embry.
My blood turned to cement.
“Mateo.”Cam shook me again, forcing me to look at him. “Goddamn, you’re a fucking mess. If we’re gonna do this, you’ve gotta get your head on straight.”
“Do what?”
My voice was disconnected from my body. The shower shut off in the bathroom and the sudden silence was deafening.
Cam rose, taking me with him. Eye to eye, he held my face and pressed his forehead to mine. “I still want to kill you for putting my family in danger, but this ain’t about blood. Never has been round here. You know why? Do you understand?”
