I saw the call coming through as I drove along the interstate. I frowned as I pressed the button to answer.
‘Hey, amigo. Where are you?’ Jax asked, his voice coming through the speakers of my car.
‘Just dealing with something. I’ll be back later.’
‘Something I should know about?’
‘It’s personal.’ I snapped.
I heard his soft chuckle. ‘Just don’t kill him, amigo! We’ve got enough to deal with without me having to hide another body.’
‘If you know where I am, why did you ask me?’ I snapped.
‘I suspected. But I wasn’t sure. I could have dealt with this for you.’
‘Not a chance!’ I growled.
‘Well, like I said, don’t kill him.’
‘I’m just going to talk to him.’
‘Okay. I’ll see you later,’ Jax laughed again.
‘Later, amigo.’
I pulled up outside the hotel and turned off the engine of my car. The valet was waiting for me when I stepped out.
‘Good afternoon, Mr Montoya,’ he said with a slight bow of his head.
‘Buenas tardes. Did you get me what I asked you for?’ I asked him as I handed him my keys.
‘Of course,’ he replied as he slipped the key card into my hand. ‘Room five one two.’
‘Gracias,’ I nodded as placed the key in my pocket. ‘Give my regards to your mama.’
‘I will, Mr Montoya. And thank you.’
‘Look after that car, Henry. I only just bought it.’
‘You betcha,’ he nodded eagerly as he opened the car door.
Henry was a good kid who had ended up getting into a lot of trouble with some very nasty people a few months earlier. He was a talented thief, but he was also stupid enough to steal something he shouldn’t have. Fortunately for him, his mama and mine came from the same neighbourhood. So, I helped him out, and recommended him for a job in this hotel. It was the second best hotel in L.A, and now that Bobby Conroy was no longer welcome in any of mine, he had no choice but to stay here.
I walked along the hallway until I came to Bobby’s room. Taking the keycard from my pocket, I swiped it into the lock and smiled when I heard the satisfying click. A few seconds later, I was stepping into the room closing the door behind me.
Bobby strolled out of the bathroom and his eyes almost popped out of his head when he saw me standing there.
‘What the fuck! How the hell did you get in here?’ he snapped.
‘I think you’ll find there is nowhere in this city where I can’t go, Bobby.’
‘This is my fucking hotel room. I’m calling security,’ he snorted as he looked at the phone on the nightstand, the one he would have to walk through me to get to.
‘Be my guest,’ I said as I held my arms open in invitation. I would like nothing better than for him to put his hands on me, because then I would be entirely justified in breaking every one of his fingers.
He stared at the phone and then back at me. ‘What the hell are you doing here in my hotel?’ He straightened up, puffing his chest out, as though that would somehow intimidate me.
‘I came to tell you politely to stay the hell away from my wife.’
He started laughing and I frowned at him. Did this guy have a death wish?
‘Are you really so insecure that you can’t handle a little competition?’ he challenged me.
I ran a hand across my jaw, remembering the promise I had made to Alana the night before, and just a few minutes earlier to Jax.
‘Or are you worried that once she starts working with me, spending time with me again, she’ll realize it’s me she really wants after all?’ he grinned at me, one eyebrow arched and his arms crossed over his chest.
Cocky Cabrón!
The vein in my neck throbbed with the effort of not strangling him or throwing him off the hotel balcony.
‘Just stay away from her!’ I warned him.
‘Hmm. Maybe you should be telling her to stay away from me,’ he laughed.
I felt the anger that was bubbling beneath my skin bursting to get out. ‘What?’ I snarled at him.
‘You heard me. What are you going to do? Kill me? There must be a dozen witnesses that saw you walk in here to threaten me today. There is CCTV all over this hotel. My father is a district judge. I’m not some lowlife scum you can just make disappear!’
I flexed my neck and the sound of my muscles cracking reverberated around the room. I stepped towards him and was pleased to see him flinch, but he stood his ground.
Maybe Bobby had some balls after all?
I stood in front of him, so close that I could hear his breathing coming fast and shallow now. Fight or flight mode.
‘I know all about your father, Bobby, the district judge with a particular taste for high class hookers. I also know about your married lady friend from the Upper East side. And about that little misdemeanor you think you got away with in college,’ I said quietly.
I watched in satisfaction as his face turned a strange shade of grey.
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ he stammered.
I smiled at him. ‘Oh yes you do, Bobby. You see, I know you think I’m a thug. A stone cold killer, is that what you called me? But, I am also a very resourceful man. There are very few skeletons that stay buried when I am looking for them. I generally find there are much cleaner and easier ways to control my enemies than to simply kill them.’
His nostrils flared as he stared at me, trying to control his anger and his fear that I might expose him. I guessed that Bobby liked to think he was a top dog and people generally spoke to him with nothing but reverence.
‘That being said,’ I snarled as I pressed my face closer to his. ‘If you ever go anywhere near my wife again without my express permission, you will learn the depths of my viciousness like no-one ever has before. You think that witnesses and security cameras can keep you safe from me, Cabrón? For every rumor you have ever heard about me, I can guarantee the truth is far more terrifying. I have done things that you couldn’t even imagine in your wildest dreams. I know the many wonderful ways to inflict the maximum pain on a man’s body while still keeping him alive. I could take you from this room right now and make sure that no trace of you was ever found. And I would get away with it too.’
He blinked at me, his pupils dilated in fear and his breathing becoming even more labored.
‘And to answer your earlier questions, no I have no doubts about my wife. She is not a liar or a cheat. Am I a possessive demon when it comes to her? Yes, I fucking am, because she is mine and I would never be stupid enough to let her go. I have no worries at all that she will realize it’s you she wants. She didn’t want to fuck you when you dated, and she doesn’t want to fuck you now. You’re goddamn lucky she is such a good influence on me, because I should cut out your tongue for what you said to her. I will not be so merciful a second time! Do you understand me?’
‘Yes,’ his lip quivered as he spoke and I suppressed a smile.
I looked down at his suit pants, noting the large wet stain on his crotch and smiled.
‘Good! I’m glad we understand each other.’
