Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 127201 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 636(@200wpm)___ 509(@250wpm)___ 424(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127201 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 636(@200wpm)___ 509(@250wpm)___ 424(@300wpm)
Nero pulled on the trigger of the assault rifle, and the fucker crumbled in the shower of bullets sent into him from up close.
He spun back toward Ramiro, only to see the barrel of a small handgun staring back at him.
Slender and with soft features, Ramiro might’ve looked unassuming at first glance, but his eyes—dark and cold like Miguel’s used to be—betrayed rock-solid will. “It looks like we’re at a standstill, Mr. Moreno,” Ramiro said, standing ever closer to Miguel. “But your friend only has so much time. You know what I want.”
Nero’s heart pounded like mad when Miguel twitched, making the tiniest grunt.
He really was alive!
With a lively fizz in his veins, Nero rose to his knees with the machine gun in a tight grip. “What are you saying?”
Ramiro put his slim fingers on Miguel’s shoulder, and they traveled across it like a giant spider’s legs. “I’m saying he’s bleeding and needs to be treated at a hospital if he is to live. I had that set up just in case, but we’re standing here while time is ticking away. Just to be clear, if I die here today, so does his sister.”
Miguel huffed through his nose and shook his head, even though he kept his eyes shut and appeared only half-lucid.
“Mig—” Nero stopped himself from approaching and exhaled in an attempt to keep his cool. “You want the secrets, or my life?” he asked, moving his gaze to Ramiro’s face despite wanting to focus on Miguel and take him someplace where he could get the care he needed.
Ramiro stood still, and even his outstretched gun arm didn’t tremble under the weight of the pistol. “I want those numbers, Nero. Cano wanted you dead. But I’m not him. I’m willing to negotiate.”
Nero’s throat dried, and he overcame the insistent need to hide from the burn of Ramiro’s gaze. “Fine. If I give you the passcodes, you will leave me and Miguel be. And free his sister.”
On the surface, those weren’t ridiculous demands, but being his father’s son, Nero would always have some sort of claim over the organization and know secrets no cartel boss wanted revealed, which was likely why Cano had wanted him gone. Would Ramiro really be fine with letting them go?
“You don’t want to be one of the leaders?” Ramiro cocked his head, but it was hard to focus on him when the blood from Miguel’s arm kept going drip drip drip and splashing to the dirty tiles covering the floor.
The dark eyes that had eaten Nero up last night finally opened, but they lacked focus, and the tension in his features distracted Nero from the man he ought to worry about. He just wanted this to be over.
“No. I’m fucking done with it. I wanna take Miguel and ride off toward the sunset so we can live out our gay lives in peace. Is that really such a hard concept to grasp?” Nero snapped.
Ramiro squeezed Miguel’s shoulder. “Yes, it is. Am I really to believe you won’t come back for revenge after your boyfriend made it obvious that he can’t let the past go? And you are still aiming at me. We’re all on thin ice, but if the two of you can let go of a grudge, then I can too. We can all get what we want.”
The sly cunt had all the reasons to worry, because there was nothing Nero wanted more than filling his head with bullets.
The offer was too good to be real.
But Nero wanted to believe, because if Ramiro let them be and called off the vicious Caiman hounds, they really would have a chance to start over. “Give me your word, and I’ll give you mine.”
Miguel’s features twisted in agony, and he made an unintelligible grunt, looking up at Nero. Fuck knew what he wanted to communicate, but he seemed so desperate to connect it ripped Nero’s heart in two. That fucking gag had to go.
Ramiro nodded. “I give you my word. If I get those codes, you will be dead to me. And once I confirm they work, I will release his sister.”
“By ‘dead to me’, you mean we will both be actually alive, and you will just act as if we’re no more?” Nero asked, because he sure as hell was not falling for some goddamn Rumpelstiltskin word trap.
Ramiro smirked. He fucking smirked while Miguel suffered. Had he been trying to fool Nero by using vague wording? “Yes. As long as you stay off the radar, you may live out your lives at an alpaca farm by the sea for all I care. I will inform everyone you’re dead.”
It was a generous offer, yet Nero’s index finger twitched against the trigger as his fury burned ever hotter. The bastard deserved to choke on his own blood for what he’d done to Miguel. Couldn’t they find Miguel’s sister themselves? He was pretty sure Ramiro was bluffing about the risk to her life, but then again, maybe it was Nero who was fooling himself into thinking that he could have it all?