Page 12 of Dark Reunion

DEAN

Carlos’s office reeked of smoke and old leather.

Dean sat at the edge of the desk, pen in hand, pretending to study the ledgers his father shoved at him. Routes, numbers, names. It was the skeleton of the Ramírez empire spread across paper, but half of it was missing, all the important stuff. Carlos kept it locked away. he didn’t trust Dean not to use the information against him.

Not that Dean blamed him, because he would’ve, but still…he needed it.

Dean glanced up at his father who was leaning against the window, speaking on the phone. “The warehouses burn next week, no excuses. Alvarez will learn what happens when he tests me.”

Dean’s chest tightened. Not that he knew the Alvarez family personally, but he knew Maeve. The thought of more devastation happening to her parents because Carlos wanted to expand his territory…didn’t sit right. He’d already stolen their daughter.

Dean forced his hand not to clench around the pen as he continued to listen. It was odd that his father was speaking in English. He never conducted business like that.

Who the hell was he ordering to burn the warehouse down?

“I don’t care if this is not what you normally do, I want it burning in seven days or less, that is a direct order,” he commanded, and Dean stared at the side of his father’s face.

An order?

Not how his father normally spoke. And the way Carlos kept glancing over meant he was purposely tossing a piece of information into the room to be deciphered. Dean wracked his brain as he tried to figure out who was on the other end of the call, and how he could warn the Alvarez family.

He scanned the room without moving his head. Two guards by the door. Another in the hall. One phone on the desk, another in a guard’s pocket. Cameras in the corners. All angles logged. All weaknesses waiting.

Carlos hung up, turning with a satisfied smile. “You see, Mercurio? This is power. Men bend to my will. Rivals bleed on my command. Soon, all of this will be yours.”

Dean looked down at the ledger, forcing his expression flat. “You know that I don’t want it.”

Carlos’s laugh was soft, indulgent. “You will. Blood always returns home.”

Dean’s gaze lingered on the window and the blue sky, with only a wisp of clouds. Fuck, wouldn’t it be nice to learn to fly? To just jump out the window and carry his family away.

“Besides, I just ran into you wife in the hall.” Dean held his breath but kept his expression flat. “She seems to really be settling in. Maybe one day soon it will be the breathtaking Yasmine that requests to stay.” Dean almost laughed, but shook his head and looked down at the ledger. He flipped a page and began reading once more.

“You don’t think so?”

“What I think is that you’re trying to goad me. What I think is that you have me doing this errand of making sure your books balance, meanwhile you already know they are fine. You say you want me to take over but won’t actually give me anything of worth to do.”

“So, are you saying you want more responsibility? Even though you don’t want to take over.”

“What I’m saying is if you’re going to torture me with boring numbers, then at least make them ones that I really should be making sure are correct.” Dean tapped the ledger. “This is useless and a waste of my time.”

His father tapped his chin with the phone. “Fine, I will give you a chance to prove yourself, but Mercurio if you double cross me…I’ll make sure you regret it.”

“Of that I have no doubt,” he mumbled, as his father wandered away.

One day soon, Carlos Ramírez would choke on the name Mercurio. And Dean would be the one to make sure of it.