“Rabid pitbulls should never be leashed.” He shot his wife a look that had her grunting and leaning against a bookshelf.
Unconcerned, I slipped into the visitor’s chair opposite him. Tearing the wrapper with my teeth, I studied the cupcake. “You come in peace, then?”
“With my allies, yes. And to answer your question, it’s a recent takeover and our issues arenotwithLos Nuevos.”
Contemplating that admission, I took my first bite in years of a treat I’d actively denied myself—self-flagellation of the carb kind? Perhaps.
“Fuck, that’s good.” I savored the sugar hit, only just realizing I hadn’t eaten a damn thing since the meal on the plane, not havingeven grazed on Martinez’s banquet. “Appreciate the junk food dealing.”
“We try to accommodate our guests.”
“More than guests. You saved those girls’ lives tonight.”
“But one favor deserves another.”
“What kind of favor?”
“Such distrust.”
“Not distrust, exactly. Wariness. Would you approach a lion without wanting to know if it’ll maul you?”
“Lions are pussies. It’s the lionesses that will fuck you up. Martinez is no lion.”
I heard Eva’s sadistic glee and sighed. “You know what I mean.”
“One predator is naturally wary of another predator,” Martinez concurred, sparing a fond glance at his wife. “And you mistake me—we oweyouthe favor. Damian Headley.”
“That’s the second time I’ve heard that name tonight.”
He leaned forward. “What happened to him?”
“We disposed of him.”
“As I thought.” He rolled his cigar between his fingers. “Why?”
“Because he was a rapist fuck. It turned out later that we could add blackmailer and head of a kidnapping ring to his resumé. I wish I’d known that beforehand. I’d have prolonged his suffering.”
“What worse fate is there than murder?”
“You know the answer to that as well as I do. Why are you asking about him?” My brain whirred as I parsed through the little I’d learned tonight. “Does it have anything to do with Beatriz?”
I still thought that toast at dinner was fucking strange.
Martinez stared at his cigar. “Very shrewd of you.”
“Kitty’s friend was related to you?”
“My niece.”
Jesus. Talk about a coincidence.
“Her death was… innocent?”
“Not entirely. She’d received a blackmail demand from Headley.Her ties to me had not gone unnoticed. She was ill-prepared for such a request. We try to keep our women out of it, unlike you Sicilians.”
I took a large bite of my cupcake. “Eva really looks like she’s out of it.”
“She’s different.”
