Page 63 of High

“I’ll get the cook.”

I walked over to the counter and took the spare seat beside Manny, obviously left empty for me, while typing on my phone, calling in the cook. It would do us good to spend an afternoon concentrated on something other than death and business.

Noa smiled wickedly in my direction and I sighed, ready for whatever she was about to throw out. “Manny, do you remember when Tía Rosa found Thiago butt naked outside the window of his room because we dared him to streak through the backyard?”

I groaned, and Manny laughed so hard he nearly tipped his chair over.

We spentthe entire evening reminiscing on the days where we’d all done stupid shit for fun, most of the time resulting in severe consequences, like when I touched a stash of coke that Papá kept hidden away for guests and tried it for the first time. I didn’t like it, and Papá had caught me, and he’d punished me for it, too. For six months, I was made to clean the manure in the barns from the horses Mamá kept for riding. The cousins, Arlo, and Manny had thought it was hilarious, though, and I decided I had deserved it. Papá was adamant that it was for my own safety.

“Never get addicted to your own product, Thiago, because it will be the worst thing you ever do,” he’d said, and I’d believed him. I’d seen men—bosses—burn their businesses to the ground because of their addiction.

“Estás bien?” Manny touched my shoulder and I blinked, brought back to reality. It was nearly eleven at night and we were planning on heading to bed. We’d shared a shower, and now I stood in front of the mirror in my room, staring at my reflection. Manny wrapped his hands around my waist and rested his cheek against the middle of my shoulders.

“I’m fine,” I said, smiling as I brought one of his hands to my lips and then kissing it. “I was just thinking about Papá.”

“You never told me how he died.” He stepped around so he was in front of me. “Was it….”

I knew what he was asking. Shaking my head, I kissed his forehead and sighed. “No, hermoso, he wasn’t murdered. He died from lung cancer. Mamá always told him the smoking would kill him. He’d been doing it since he was twelve.”

“She did.” He pushed himself to his tiptoes, and I kissed him, relishing the softness of his lips, about the only thing soft about him. With all the working out he’d been doing, he had already won back his firm build and strong shoulders. “I’m sorry for your loss. I’m glad we’re here. The house we grew up in wouldn’t be the same without him. I think about him too.”

I cupped his cheek and dropped another quick kiss on his lips. “Gracias, hermoso, but you do not need to be sorry. He kept me from you. I will not stop loving Papá, but I will not forgive him for keeping me away. I should have disobeyed him.”

“For what?” Manny traced his lips with his tongue and I followed the action, tempted to lean forward and capture his mouth against mine again. “I was so angry at you, Thio. You left me there. I realized something, though. Anger doesn’t help us change the past. It wasn’t you who locked me in that room and hid me from the world. Since I got here, you’ve been nothing but loving and caring. You haven’t locked me away. You’re teaching me.”

“I am.” I leaned my forehead against his and sighed. “Which reminds me, your birthday present.”

His eyes widened and he grinned. “Is it—”

“No,” I interrupted with a booming laugh. “It is not a tiger.”

He pouted and I laughed harder.

“Stay here, hermoso.” I gave him another kiss before I walked back out the door to my room, closing it firmly behind me so Manny couldn’t follow. I stalked down the hallway and stairs, then headed outside toward an area of the backyard where three men were waiting for me around a large cage. Manny hadn’t come out here all day, and I’d given Mamá strict instructions to make sure he didn’t, so he wouldn’t have seen it.

The men were leaning on the cage, chatting and smoking, but the moment they saw me they stood to attention, dropping their cigarettes to the ground and stomping them out as they did.

I rolled my eyes and stopped in front of the cage, crouching to look at the animal inside. Adorable was definitely the right word for it, and while it was no tiger, it wasn’t exactly a domestic cat, either.

Opening the cage, I pulled the small ball of fluff out and smiled at it. “Manny will love you.”

The men kept silent, not even watching me as I talked stupid nonsense to the wild animal. I stood, holding Manny’s new pet to my chest, and glanced at one of the soldiers. “Did Maddock say anything when you picked him up?”

A handsome older man with a shaved head and deep brown eyes—I couldn’t remember his name—nodded. “Sí, Jefe. He said that the animal was taken from poachers in Mexico. It was a runt of the litter and won’t grow too big, most of them down in Mexico are small anyway. He said the poacher had plans on skinning the animal and selling the body parts.”

Anger swept through me like a raging fire. I never did care for humans, but animals were a different ball game. Even the wild ones were innocent in this world humans were destroying. “Did he kill the poacher?”

The man nodded. “Yes, Maddock said the poacher had been dealt with, Jefe. You know how he works.”

“Good. Call him and tell him I’ll send the payment through tomorrow morning, as well as a contribution to his wildlife conservation efforts. The more poachers he takes out, the more money he’ll receive. I want updates every two weeks.”

“Sí, Jefe.”

I gave him a nod before I walked back to the house, the little animal clutched against my chest. I ran into Mamá on the way back to the stairs, and she gasped, petting the fluff in my arms.

“Oh, mijo, he’s so beautiful.” She bent over to coo at it and it yawned and stretched, the claws digging into the skin of my arms. I winced because while it was still a baby, its claws were sharp.

“Do you think Manny will like him?”