Adria’s mouth fell open. “You didn’t raise me at all.”
“That is your father’s fault, not mine,” her mother said, voice raising. “Those three are not good for you. The sooner you cut ties, the better.”
Adria threw her hands up. She wasn’t doing this right now.
She wasn’t doing this ever.
Her heels clicked on the floor as she opened the service door and selected a ring of keys.
“What do you think you are doing?” her mother asked.
“What does it look like?” Adria said. “I’m one of the Nine. I’m taking what I need and I’m not asking.”
Adria’s knuckles gripped the steering wheel as she drove down the gravel road at over 60 kilometers per hour. Her mother had stopped her just before she got in the car and gave her a coin with a panther on it.
It was a way to show the Sombras da Selva,Shadows of the Junglegang that Adria was with Xander. Her mother assured her no one would harm her if she had that coin.
When Adria had asked if she had given Bryson a similar token, she admitted she hadn’t.
Her motherclaimedthat she had forgotten.
Except Adria saw it. If they died on this little mission, it would be one less thing for her mother to worry about.
Adria couldn’t blame her; Sophia didn’t understand what the brothers meant to her. Like Xander had pointed out, her mother had lived in this world her entire life. A world where people didn’t love one another and families were built on mutually beneficial arrangements. It was a world that Adria had only recently allowed herself to step out of.
In her mother’s world, you didn’t love anyone; you only utilized them.
The diner was her first stop.
Adria didn’t even pause to check in the windows. Instead, she waltzed into the establishment like they were expecting her.
The fact that every single person in there had a gun trained on Bryson, Kaydon, or Seth didn’t falter a single one of her steps.
Adria glided into the space and took center stage. The hostility was thick in the air, and Adria knew everyone’s attention was now divided.
Hand above her head, Adria presented the coin with a red panther, his mouth open in a large yawn.
“I’ve been sent here as an envoy from Xander Tavares,” she said, in Portuguese. “Who’s in charge?”
No one spoke.
No one breathed.
It was the space where the ember smoked. Just a small breath of anything and it would burst into flames. Adria knew these were not the type of people to be trifled with.
The man holding a gun to Bryson’s head spoke; his accent was terrible and his Portuguese was even worse. “Sweetie, you are in way over your head.”
Adria recognized him instantly. He was at her auction several months ago. This must be Rolland.
Adria raised an eyebrow at the group. “Am I meant to believe this gringo is in charge?”
A few of the men shifted, and another voice was heard from the back. “I’m Gabriel and I’m at Xander’s service.”
Adria held the coin in his direction. “This coin grants whomever holds it a favor from Xander. And you can have it, once that man is tied to a chair and everyone in this establishment, save those three idiots, are out of this diner.”
She threw the coin in Gabriel’s direction, and the ember of tension exploded.
Guns pivoted from Bryson to Rolland, and Bryson shrank into his chair while Kaydon swung the butt of his gun at Rolland.
