Blade (RBMC: Dallas, TX #4)

Chapter Two

“IWouldDieForYou”—InThisMoment

Twelve Years Old….

I blame myself for Luis ever finding out about Sage.

I’d gotten hit on my bike, so I was late dropping off the money for him. Luis didn’t play about his money, but my bike was trash, and my leg was skinned up and bruised really bad. Knowing I was going to be late, I cringed, but I needed to put something on it, or I was gonna draw attention to myself.

Standing in my underwear in my kitchen, I was trying to get the bleeding to stop from the gash on my knee and then planned to hurry over to Luis’s. I knew a few shortcuts that I could take, but I needed to be able to run without looking super suspicious.

Instead, he came to me.

“Fuck!” I muttered when I saw the black SUV that was way too nice for my trailer park pull up in front of my house. I didn’t even make it to the door before there was a banging on the other side.

“Hey, you little shit. You better have my money. So help me, if you took off with my money or my product, you’re dead, kid.” Luis wasn’t loud and threatening. Oh no, not Luis. He said everything in what some might consider an almost playful tone.

I swung the door wide. “I was on my way, I promise. I got hit on my bike and I was bleeding bad,” I blurted out.

His dark gaze dropped to my mangled leg, and though he didn’t apologize, he did lift his chin in acknowledgment.

I hobbled over to my backpack and withdrew the Ziplock full of cash and the remaining weed wrapped in small pieces of plastic wrap. I handed them to Luis—my friend’s dad.

Slowly, he counted it, then recounted it. When he seemed satisfied, he peeled off several of the bills and was holding them out to me. Before I could catch them in my fingers, there was a knock on the door.

A quick glance at the clock on the stove had me cursing inside my head.

The door flew open, and Sage blew in with her infectious exuberance and a huge grin.

“Finley!” she called out, but her smile fell when she saw Luis and the two men he traveled with in the small living room.

I didn’t like the gleam in his eyes as he looked at her.

“Well, who do we have here?” he asked with melted sugar practically dripping off his tongue.

“She’s just the neighbor kid,” I replied, trying to act like I didn’t have a care in the world. In reality, sweat coated my palms.

Luis studied her closer. “I think I know your mama .”

I swallowed the lump in my throat at the same time I saw Sage do it. She was eleven to my twelve, but she was so small, she looked like she was no more than eight.

When Luis reached out and ran a section of Sage’s honey-brown hair through his fingers, I wanted to roar and swat it away. His presence alone tainted her. I’d become extremely protective of Sage over the last year, and I didn’t like the way he looked at her.

I’d also heard the rumors. I knew the things he did with girls way too young for him.

Maybe that made me an idiot for working for him, but I saw it as a means to an end. He was my ticket out of this shithole. Once I saved up enough money, I would take my mom away from here. She’d never again have to work two jobs just to keep a roof over our heads.

I didn’t know what I’d do about Sage, though. The thought of leaving her behind made me sick to my stomach. Yet she wasn’t my little sister, no matter how much she felt like the sister I never had. Seeing Luis circling her like a vulture made me furious.

Don’t fucking touch her! I screamed in my head.

Luis stared at me in shock before his brows drew down and fury turned his dark tan skin a mottled red. “What the fuck did you just say to me?” he asked with his usual deadly calm despite his appearance.

“I-I-I-I d-d-didn’t say anything,” I stuttered. Because I knew I hadn’t uttered a word.

The two men glanced at Luis, then me with barely concealed confusion.

“Are you calling me a liar?” He glanced at his men. “Are you going to just stand there while this little brat insults me?”

“Uh, boss, no one said anything but you,” the first guy quietly replied as he cast the other man a questioning glance.

Luis blinked as he stared at me, then at the other guy. “Are you trying to tell me you didn’t hear him shout at me?”

“I’m sorry, but he didn’t say anything,” the other guy confirmed with a shrug of one shoulder.

My heart was racing, and I trembled head to toe. I had no idea what had just happened. Never in a million years would I dare to yell at Luis Trujillo.

Manny had told me to never trust his father and to never anger him. I wasn’t a fucking idiot.

Thankfully, he blew off what had just happened as a figment of his imagination. At least, I hoped he had.

“Sage, go wait in my room and we’ll do your homework when I’m done,” I quietly instructed. For once, she didn’t argue with me and I was grateful.

She cast a nervous side-eye at Luis as she skirted around him, giving him a wide berth. Smart girl . She disappeared down the back hall toward my room.

“Her madre works for me too,” Luis told me as his goons inventoried the weed I still had left. “But she’s getting worn out.”

I wasn’t sure exactly what he was getting at.

“Might be time for a replacement soon,” he murmured as he stared down the hallway.

As I ground my teeth, I was afraid I might crack a tooth. But I remained silent.

Once they were done calculating that I hadn’t stolen jack shit from Luis, he took his money, thumbed off a few bills and tossed them on the chipped coffee table. “I’m taking off ten percent because I had to come for my money.” The rest, he stuffed inside his inner jacket pocket. Then the first guy opened the door. Luis paused and looked over his shoulder at me.

“Your mama is real pretty… boy.” Darkly, he grinned. “Next time, don’t make me come for my money. If I have to, I’ll be taking more than ten percent. You understand me?” His black eyes burned through me.

One day, I hoped I slid a knife through his heart.