Utah (Knights Corruption MC: Laredo #4)

Chapter 25

25

The crunch of the gravel beneath the tires was amplified in the otherwise silence of the night. As we pulled off the road, armed men dressed in all black stood at the entrance of the driveway as well as outside the warehouse. We counted fifteen in total. We were outnumbered three to one, and once they took our weapons, which they were sure to do, we didn’t have a chance in hell of getting out of here alive if Rafael Carrillo didn’t approve it.

Reservations swirled in my gut, but I was in it now. I couldn’t change my mind. I couldn’t ask Prez to let me out and have them continue without me. I didn’t want any of our guys to walk into that warehouse, but I had to man up and see this through, as we all did.

I swallowed a pill, making eye contact with Brick as I did so.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“Your stomach?”

“My nerves.”

“I’d love to tell you we’ll be fine, but I’m not so sure.”

“You could’ve just said nothing at all, Brick. That’s worse.”

His soft chuckle was riddled with uncertainty. “Sorry, brother.”

“All right,” Marek said, turning to face us. “Let’s do this.”

Prez pulled next to the building and killed the engine. Without a word, all of us took a collective breath before opening our doors.

Eight men approached, speaking Spanish as they surrounded us. One of them, who was short, bald, and stocky, repeated the word pistola . It wasn’t hard to understand what he wanted, which was our guns. We reached into our waistbands and withdrew our weapons, holding them upside down so as not to appear aggressive.

Once we were unarmed, we were led inside the warehouse. The size was comparable to the one we owned—the same one offered for the cartel’s use in the side deal between Javier Carrillo, Dax, and Miles. Assault rifles, handguns, Gatling guns, and countless boxes of ammo lined the walls. In the center of the space were multiple tables, all filled with bricks of what appeared to be cocaine.

“Move,” one of the members behind me shouted, shoving at my back. I turned to confront him, and he pointed his gun at my face. “Move,” he said, elongating the one-syllable word, his accent thick.

“Calm down,” Stone whispered next to me. “Not worth it. We’re here to put an end to all this shit, not start up something else.”

Dragging air in and out of my overworked lungs didn’t do anything to calm me. But Stone was right. I didn’t want to escalate anything because that fucker dared to touch me.

We were ushered into an office toward the back of the building. Inside was the head of the Los Zappas cartel, sitting behind a desk. There were four other members standing around the room, their guns drawn and pointed straight at us .

“Relax,” Rafael said, gesturing to his men. They lowered their weapons but kept them visible. “Marek, nice to see you.”

“Is it?” he asked.

“Not really, but I wanted to get the pleasantries out of the way.” Carrillo’s accent was thick, but I could understand him easily enough.

“How thoughtful.” Marek didn’t hide his sarcasm, even though this guy could end our lives whenever he decided.

Rafael wasn’t what I anticipated. Then again, I’d never met the head of a cartel before, so I had no idea what to expect. He was impeccably dressed in a dark blue suit, and every strand of his gray hair was in perfect place. He reached for a cane that had been resting on the lip of the desk, and when he stood, he took his time getting his footing. Marek had mentioned months ago, when he first tried to set up this meeting, that he was informed Carrillo had been going through some health issues, which made sense as to why he appeared slightly feeble. One of his men stepped closer, but Rafael shook his head before focusing back on us.

“So, what can I do for you?”

“I want you to put an end to this feud between us.”

“What feud?”

Marek’s nostrils flared, but he kept his composure, albeit barely. “The one with your nephew. He killed a family member of one of our guys, had people followed, and even ran a few of my guys off the road.” Marek stepped closer. “He just had one of our guys killed.”

“Hmmmm… and you know he was behind all this? You have proof?”

“I have proof he killed one of us because I was there,” I blurted, my heated blood slithering in my veins. If he didn’t get that bored look off his face, I’d remove it for him.

Carrillo’s gaze collided with mine. “So, you saw him do this?” My hesitation at his question had him grinning. “He wasn’t there, was he?” I didn’t need to answer. He looked back at Marek. “We have a problem. You can’t prove my nephew was involved at all.”

“He did kill a family member of my VP,” Prez said. “To that, we have a witness.” Morgan, Tag’s woman, was the witness he referred to. She was front and center when Javier shot her boss, Nick, who was also Dax’s cousin.

“Ahhhh… yes. But that was a guy who owed us money.” Carrillo waved his hand in the air as if he swatted away a gnat. “Justified.”

I had no set presumptions of how this meeting was going to go, but I hoped this guy would’ve at least pretended not to condone what Javier did. I now realized how na?ve I’d been walking in here. Not only did I not see the cartel backing off, but there was a good chance we’d never walk out of this warehouse.

“And the killing of my man?” Prez asked, stepping in front of Marek, clenching his hands at his sides. Marek gripped his arm to stop him when he tried to move closer.

“Cómo se dice… collateral damage.”

His flippant response was like a punch in the gut. My vision began to tunnel with rage, but before I lunged at this fucker, Stone stepped in front of me, physically blocking me.

“Calm the fuck down,” he said so only I could hear.

I peered around him and caught Carrillo staring at me, his expression a mix of arrogance and annoyance.

“Did you know about the deal your nephew made with our club? About storing your drugs in one of our buildings?” Marek asked.

“I did.”

“So, you knew when we put an end to it?”

Marek had been the one who put a gun in Javier’s face, telling him we were no longer doing business with them.

“Yes. My nephew tells me you threatened him. ”

“I did.” Now it was Marek’s turn to respond matter-of-factly.

The two men stared at each other for the longest moment of my life. As we awaited the next move, my mind drifted to Ria. I didn’t want to think about her right now as I needed to stay focused, but I couldn’t stop her image from popping into my head. I swore if I got out of here, I’d step up and do whatever was necessary to show her that I wanted her to be mine. No more pussyfooting around. No more kissing her and playing it off as a ploy to get her to do what I wanted, which didn’t work anyway. I pictured her belly swelling with our child, and for a moment, my heart ached with pride and adoration for her and what she was willing to do for me. I was going to be a father, and while that thought scared the fuck out of me, I couldn’t be happier.

“What did you think would happen after you threatened him? Did you think he’d just walk away with his tail between his legs? You had to have known he’d do something.”

Instead of answering any of Rafael’s questions, Marek asked one of his own. “Did you give him the order to kill my guys?”

Carrillo walked around to the front of his desk and leaned against the edge, his cane assisting in keeping him upright.

“Sometimes my nephew does things his own way. I can’t control him.” His blasé tone ramped up my simmering anger all over again. “He’s got a mind of his own, you know?” He made a clicking noise with his mouth like that of a parent explaining away their kid’s temper tantrum. “You can talk to Javier if you want. He should be here any moment.”

No sooner had he uttered those words than his nephew strolled into the office, looking even more smug than his uncle.

He ignored all of us and moved toward Rafael, whispering something in his ear before finally turning his attention to us. He glanced at me first, then looked straight at Marek. The two men stood ten feet apart, and if I had to guess, I’d wager Marek wanted to rip his goddamn heart out. I knew I did .

“Have you come to grovel?” he asked, his accent softer than his uncle’s.

He, like the rest of the men except for his uncle, was dressed in all black. The jagged scar near his right temple contorted with every subtle change in his expression as he took a step closer to Marek, standing several inches shorter than the president of our California charter.

“No. I’ve come to meet with your uncle. The one in charge.”

Javier scowled at the reminder he wasn’t the head of the cartel. “My uncle trusts me to run things.”

If his statement was true, Rafael was aware of what his nephew had been doing and didn’t care. Which essentially was the same thing as him signing off on our deaths. Crash was the first. Who would be next?

Rafael put his hand on Javier’s shoulder and squeezed. He said something to him in their native tongue, and whatever it was had a calming effect on Javier.

“You still haven’t told me what proof you have that my nephew was behind any of the stuff that happened, other than the junkie that got killed.”

Stuff? He classified Crash’s murder as stuff?

Stone witnessed the quick change in my posture, because he bumped his shoulder with mine. When our eyes collided, he frowned and shook his head.

I ignored his silent warning and pointed at Javier. “Your lackey, the bald fucker with the tattoo above his eye, and another guy were the ones who kidnapped me and another member. He said you wanted to take out our club all at once, but it was him who convinced you to do it piece by piece. They started with our brother and would’ve killed me too if not for our club showing up.”

“How do you know Ricardo didn’t go rogue?” Rafael asked. This was the first time I’d heard the bald guy’s name. “Perhaps he ignored Javier’s orders.” He refused to lay any blame at his nephew’s feet.

“You know he didn’t,” Prez answered.

Rafael shrugged, seemingly bored with our conversation. “Okay, he didn’t. But he’s dead. Killed by your men, I hear. So, what now?”

“Now we end this. Enough bloodshed.” Marek didn’t disguise the anger in his voice.

“How do I know you won’t retaliate for the one of you who died?”

“If you agree to end this now, put your nephew back on a leash,” Marek said, “then I give you my word we won’t make a move against you or any of your men.”

Rafael appeared as if he considered Marek’s deal, and for a moment, I thought perhaps we’d walk out of here alive.

But then everything changed when the leader of the Los Zappas raised his gun and pointed it at Marek.

“That won’t work for me.”

His words were the cue for his men to raise their weapons at the rest of us.

“Fuck,” Stone mumbled.

Marek and Prez retreated a step.

Brick’s gaze smashed into mine, the defeated look on his face exacerbating the thrumming of my heart.

Ria’s face popped into my head as I released all hope I’d ever see her again.