Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 84181 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84181 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
“Maybe he was busy,” I offer to hopefully make her feel better.
“We’re all busy,” she grumbles. She sits up in her chair, exhaling. “There was something about him returning this time, though. He wanted to meet in private a lot more. Even during the day, when he knew the other guards were watching. A few times we did things, yes, but he talked a lot more about how he wanted to get away. He talked about how he was going to complete one last shipment for Draco and then he was going to drop out and do his own thing—run his own empire. Not with drugs but, believe it or not, he wanted to open a T-shirt printing company.”
“Oh,” I breathe, smiling a little. “Wow.”
“Yeah. It’s sounds cheesy and stupid, but he was good at it. He’d made a few shirts for fundraisers in the city. For kids who were homeless. He and Jefe always gave more than they received…” She exhales. “The night before his shipment, he told me, ‘Patanza, I want you to come to America with me. We’ll live in a house on the beach in Miami. We’ll make love and fuck like we always do. We’ll get away from all of this.’” She laughs a little. “I told him he was an idiot. Jefe wasn’t just going to let me go that easily. I’m his best guard. He trusts me the most. He wouldn’t just let me run away with Thiago, plus I’d made an agreement to Draco that I would work for him and give my life for his, no matter what.”
“You deserve to be happy too, Patanza,” I say. “You work the hardest. You’re always there for Jefe. I’m sure he would have understood.”
“I obviously don’t deserve happiness.” She glares at me. “Thiago is dead now. Whatever freedom I thought I was going to get is gone. I…I wanted to run with him. I wanted to get away from all of this—killing people. Always on the run, like now. Having to watch my back because everyone knows I work for The Jefe.” Her breathing is ragged. “I just wanted a normal life for once, so I told him I would go if he told Jefe that he was taking me with him. Jefe would have been upset, but he would have let me go in the end. He’s protective, but also more lenient with me. He knows what I’ve been through in my childhood and teen years. But working for Jefe is pretty much all I’ve ever known. Truthfully, I was afraid of normal. But Thiago promised me it would be okay. He promised we would go and be happy, drink margaritas and wake up to silky sunrises.” She releases a ragged sigh.
“I’m so, so sorry, Patanza,” I whisper. “Thiago didn’t deserve it, and I feel awful about it. I know you blame me for stealing your freedom, and I’m so, so sorry, but I promise you can still get out. If you really want to get away, just tell Jefe. Tell him you want to go. He trusts you. He knows you would never give him away or rat him out.”
“No.” She sits up, shaking her head hard as she looks me deep in the eyes. “After what happened, I’m not going anywhere. I have to be here for Jefe.”
“Draco can take care of himself.”
“I have nowhere else to fucking go,” she snarls at me, picking her head up. “Plus, I have to watch his back for sneaky bitches like you.”
I sit back again, plucking lint off my dress. “I feel bad about it, Patanza. That girl was just so…cold. And then Henry.” I squeeze my eyes shut tight. “I just thought he was telling the truth—I thought he was an honest person. I never got the impression that he was lying, and I didn’t think he was in that deep with Yessica.”
“Yessica,” she spits. “Yessica is just a stupid fucking bitch who’s pissed at Draco because he told her he would never love her. She most likely got pissed when she heard there was a woman in Draco’s life that was being called Patrona, and she came for you. She doesn’t give a damn about No Arms. She would have left him in that cell to rot forever, but without him escaping, she never would have gotten to you. Too bad we just didn’t fucking know it.”
“I know that now. But Draco was willing to let him go too…he believed me until she—”
“Dios mío! He fucking loves you, Gia!” she barks at me, looking me hard in the eyes, and my heart pounds down in my chest. “He’s so fucking in love with you—I’ve never seen it before. But after that happened, I don’t know how he can. I mean…Thiago.” She says his name like it hurts. “Thiago was his closest relative besides his mother, and he watched him die, just like that.” She snaps her fingers. “Within the blink of an eye he was gone, and it’s all because of a mistake you made.”