He slowly raised his head and asked me, “Have you ever heard of the legend of the Castilian Rose?”
I stared at him. “It is about a saint, si? Is that what the tattoo is that you have over your heart?” I saw his chest a few times when the nurses changed his bedding and the hospital gown he wore. I wouldn’t tell him that I had seen his ripped muscles and I wondered how he could be in such great shape while in a coma. But I had noted the yellow inked roses there. I knew it was unusual for a man who ran an ungodly cartel to have such a religious symbol as I recognized it and the cross next to it.
He laced his fingers together and told me, “I realize having this tat doesn’t reflect the job that I had or the things that I did. I also admit that I carried so much rage against my…against Santiago and a few others in the cartel that I turned into a fucking monster. Did I realize it before I hit that tree? No. I didn’t face myself or my sins. No. I did what I was told to do. Mostly because many lives were at stake if I did not follow his orders. But deep down, I wished for a different life, not the one I was born into. They say your fate is what you make it. But I never saw it that way. I seemed to have no choice in my own fate, simply because I had Castillo blood running through my veins. Then my sister showed me that someone could escape. She had done it. Although Alberto Mancini isn’t some law-abiding citizen, he did not kill innocents that I was aware of. Anyone he had disappeared usually deserved it. Not that I could get protection the way she had, but she did the impossible. Today, by telling me that Santiago is no more? You have freed me.”
“I have not set you free yet, Carlos.”
He smirked. “Si, you have not.”
I wondered at his smirk. What was he planning? “So what does all of that have to do with the Castillian rose?”
“It is more to do with me, than my quest.”
I kept shaking my head. “You have lost me entirely.”
Carlos remained silent as he stared down at his hands with his fingers still laced together.
Chapter Four:Warm and Fuzzy
Carlos
I wasn’t sure about revealing the things I remembered from the coma. I saw her staring at me as if I might not be sane. Hell, maybe I was crazy? Maybe someday I would tell her what I saw while I was under, but not today. But I knew what I had to do today. “Unlike most cartel or mafia men, I am fully aware that I have done deplorable things, Selena. I already explained to you that most of the time, I had no choice. But does that release me from being guilty of the crimes that I most certainly committed? No, it doesn’t. I could have run away. Though as you are aware, once you are in, you can only leave toes up. But what really stopped me from running, from quitting? Was those kids.”
Selena stared at me as no emotion flickered in her eyes or on her face.
“Si, it is your prerogative to not believe me. Considering who I am or used to be… I cannot blame you. However, I am asking for your help. You claim to want to know where those kids are. You are Alex’s sister and that makes you their tia. If this is true and you are their aunt, then I think we need to go and get them together.”
Selena studied me closely. “Are you serious?”
“As…” I laughed as I paused. “I almost said…a heart attack, but considering my health up until this point…Perhaps I shouldn’t use that phrase.”
“You would really do that?” she asked. “Take me with you?”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“We are from dueling cartels, Carlos. We are enemies.”
“I am not with a cartel. Therefore, I cannot be your enemy. In fact, you did me yet another favor.”
Selena looked very curious as she asked, “And that is?”
“You made me disappear. For all anyone knows, I am dead.” I grinned at her. “Does anyone know I am here?”
She slowly shook her head. “They do not know your location or that you have woken up.”
“Did your men have to kill the guards my father put on my hospital room?” I worried about a couple of my cousins who wouldn’t ever leave my side.
She stared at me. “There were no guards.”
I blinked at her. “No…” I shook my head as I couldn’t believe that.
“I wondered about that too.” She stared at me.
“You haven’t reported back to Quanto?” I referred to her boss.
“No, and I have my own reasons why. I wanted to question you first.”
“Then you were going to do what?”
