“If it means you’ll be more open with me, no.”
Neither of us discussed why being open mattered after we’d known each other the sum total of a day.
But before she could take another breath to spit at me or I could justify my past actions, from out of nowhere, a bunch of car alarms fired up just as dogs started howling.
It was a cacophonous warning—a precursor to the main event.
In the near distance, so close the ground trembled beneath us, a blast lit up the night sky.
The sonic boom in the aftermath had her staggering into me as the raucous dissonance of a thousand sirens raged into being.
Frozen on the balcony as we studied the chaotic scene that belonged in a movie, a voice from beneath us drawled, “Was that mentioned on the State Department website, Kitty?”
TWENTY-THREE
KITTY
The doors to my sisters’ rooms pummeled the mansion’s exterior wall as they darted outside.
“What the fuck was that?” Neev shouted into the maelstrom.
Raisin cried, “Oh, my god, what’s happening?”
I had no answers.
I didn’t think Stan did either.
He was busy peering over the balcony railings at Martinez, who was mostly visible thanks to the glowing tip of a fat cigar.
As cool as apepino, he reasoned, “That little scene is why you needed to be in this house tonight,misinvitados.”
Did he overhear my confession? Holy fuck!
Stan tensed. “Los Nuevos?”
“Loswho?” Neev muttered. “Who’s new?”
“That little display was on my dime.” Martinez stepped deeper onto the terrace as he studied the cityscape ahead that now had raging fires in several places.
It never occurred to me to move away from Stan’s side.
In this mayhem, he was the one connection to home that we possessed.
He was a Valentini. Jennifer was too. He represented safety and home and our ticket out of here. My conscience could return when I’d fled an active war zone.
“Why would you bomb Cancún?” Stan demanded, his tone like gravel.
“Sometimes, when the trash visits your hometown, it’s your duty to take it out and burn it.” He finally glanced away from the disaster zone that had been the gorgeous city we’d visited tonight. “You should sleep.”
I sputtered, “You can’t expect us?—”
“There is no point in staying awake. Upheaval will rain over the city, triggering a frenzy. Looting will begin soon. The army will move in to control the situation and a curfew will be implemented.” His tone softened. “I understand that you are scared, but you are safe here.Friends.”
The gleam from the glowing tip of his cigar gave him a faintly demonic cast.
“You bombed your own people?!” Stan growled.
“It’s a controlled explosion.”
