Page 123 of In the Dark

“The two guys you thought were tying me up?” Callahan scoffed and walked forward, like he wasn’t at all concerned that Monte had a gun aimed at him. “They’re dead, Monte.”

“What are you doing here?” I practically spat at my uncle now, my adrenaline pumping as I listened to him say he’d had men go for the love of my life.

“Mija, your aunt said you might have fallen in love. And I’m sorry if you did. I have this boat surrounded now. Men everywhere. You’ll find another man.”

“Find another?” I glanced around. I didn’t have any weapons on me, didn’t know if Callahan did either.

I was caught completely by surprise. I didn’t know where Fitzpatrick was or how many men were out there, but I knew we were in trouble. I’d been so stupid to tell Callahan I didn’t want his men on this boat.

We might freaking die, and it was going to be my fault.

“Tío, I don’t know what your plan was here, but we cannot kill a Diamond.” I tried to de-escalate the situation.

His gaze ping-ponged between Callahan and me. “It’s the only way for us, now, Jasmina.” Monte shook his head.

Callahan put an arm around me. “Is it, though, Monte?”

Monte’s eyes narrowed at him, and he shook his gun. “I considered this partnership, but the second you two went after the trafficking side of our business, Fitz had a better offer.”

“For what?” My heart pounded, blood whooshing in my ears as I heard him admit he wanted a part of that business.

“For our territory to stay the way it is. To expand it. To be what my father once was.”

“He was so deep into drugs, and—” I tried to reason with him.

“He was on top of the world, and we will be too.”

“You’re not seeing things clearly, Monte. Fitzpatrick has never been who we wanted to partner with—”

“It’s the only way now!” he practically screamed, and I glanced at Callahan, who gave me a look like he wanted me to stay calm. “I tried to guarantee you wouldn’t get pregnant so once you were back to us after two years, we’d rebuild—”

“Tried?” I asked him quietly. “Tried what?”

“Oh, you know …” He chuckled like we were at his mercy and he had all the time in the world. I let him. I was searching for a weapon.

The thing about a man who’d been kicked so many times, whose ego had been destroyed, was he’d ruin himself just to build it back up to anyone who would listen. “I hired them.” He shrugged. “I left the door unlocked, too, so they could gut you. You were a bit injured, but at least I got you to keep your hands to yourself for a while. Although those bastards didn’t do their job well.”

“You tried to make me … That was you? Not Fitzpatrick?” I breathed out, all the air leaving my lungs in a whoosh. My objective to keep him occupied while I looked for a weapon left my mind.

My heart was actively breaking. My family picture, marred and destroyed. Monte was supposed to be the good one, the uncle who cared about me, the man who stepped in when my father died.

I almost crumbled, but Callahan’s arm held me close, lifting me up.

He didn’t interrupt. He let me have this moment.

“Oh, don’t throw stones, Jasmina. Haven’t you been sleeping with the enemy?”

My heart pumped blood hard and fast through my veins, and they started to fill with rage. Was he serious? “You handed me to the enemy!”

“Bah, I tried to make it Maribel. She’s already barren.” The revelation walloped me with sadness and fury for her.

“What?” I whispered. The father she was supposed to trust had been using a weakness of hers, one I didn’t even know about. Weaknesses were the one thing the family told us to protect and hide, and yet Monte had turned on his own family to capitalize on it. “She would have been perfect! You and Annarose were supposed to bring us to that trust when you were ready. I told your ridiculous aunt I’d wait for it. I’d be the kind father figure she always wanted me to be.” He said it like it disgusted him, like it was a weakness rather than a strength. “That was my only misstep because you don’t listen.”

“Listen? I’ve listened to you all my life. I did everything for this family.”

“You do him for the family too?” Monte waved his gun at Callahan. I glanced at my husband, and I realized my weakness was that I’d been blinded all these years by my need to love Monte, by my need to want a replacement family when my parents were taken from me. My weakness was I focused on that and not on the truth.

Monte had used my weakness too.