But I'm smiling. Actually smiling.
This is bad.
This is very, very bad.
CHAPTER NINE
Dante
My phone buzzes in my hand.
Lorenzo.
"Talk to me," I answer.
"Webb's alive." Lorenzo's voice is tight. Controlled in that way that means he's furious. "And we have a problem."
I push myself up against the headboard, ignoring the pull of stitches in my side. "How big?"
"Cartel-backed."
The word lands like a second bullet. I close my eyes. "Which one?"
"Mendoza. Webb's been laundering money for them for the past eighteen months. The debt he owes us? That's pocket change compared to what he's moving for them." Lorenzo pauses. "You didn't just collect on a tech entrepreneur, Dante. You walked into cartel territory and killed one of their men."
Fuck.
The bathroom door opens. Marina steps out in sweatpants and an oversized shirt, her wet hair leaving dark spots on the fabric. She freezes when she sees my face.
"The cleanup crew," I say into the phone. "That wasn't Webb covering his tracks."
"No. That was Mendoza making sure nothing traces back to them." Lorenzo's voice drops. "They're going to want blood for this. Webb was their golden goose. Even if he's alive, you disrupted their operation. Killed their people on their turf."
Marina moves closer. She doesn't sit. Just stands at the foot of the bed, watching me.
"What's the play?" I ask.
"You stay exactly where you are. Don't move. Don't leave that apartment." Lorenzo's tone leaves no room for argument. "Nico and I are coming to Denver. We're bringing twenty men."
Twenty men. For a debt collection gone wrong.
This isn't damage control. This is war preparation.
"Lorenzo—"
"You're in no condition to handle this alone, and I'm not losing you because you're too stubborn to wait for backup." He exhales. "We'll be there in six hours. Private jet. Keep your head down until then."
"Copy."
He hangs up.
I stare at the phone in my hand. The screen goes dark.
Marina hasn't moved. She stands at the foot of the bed like a statue, arms crossed over her chest.
"How bad?" she asks.
I could lie. Tell her it's nothing. That Lorenzo's just being cautious. That she'll be fine, that this will blow over, that the men outside her building are more than enough protection.
