The following day, Alana and I arrived back at the house, and I was relieved to see it was still standing and our young runaway was sitting cross legged on the sofa in the den, eating a bowl of cereal.
‘Hey guys. Did you have a good night?’ Lucia asked as we walked into the room.
‘Yes, it was lovely,’ Alana replied as she sat down beside her on the sofa.
‘Hmm, and we ran into an old friend of Alana’s too,’ I added.
Lucia looked between us both with a grin and I saw Alana roll her eyes. She obviously thought that having Lucia around meant that she could get away with acting like a spoiled brat.
She was wrong.
I leaned over the sofa and planted a kiss on her head before pressing my lips against her ear. ‘Roll those eyes at me again, princess and I will take my belt to your ass,’ I whispered.
She tilted her head to look at me, a flush creeping over her cheeks and a smile on her lips.
‘How was your evening, Lucia?’ I asked as I straightened up.
‘It was okay. Your friend, Jax stopped by to see you. He thought you weren’t leaving until seven. He’s nice. He ordered me a pizza.’
‘Oh?’ I frowned. I hadn’t been expecting him, but then I hadn’t been seeing as much of him lately. Since Alana had come back from New York a week earlier, I had spent almost every moment with her.
‘Yeah. He came back this morning too. He’s waiting in your office.’
‘Thanks. I’d better go see what he needs. I’ll join you both for lunch later,’ I said as I squeezed Alana’s shoulder.
‘Okay. And then I was going to pop to the shelter for a few hours. I need to catch up with Kristen. Lucia can come with me,’ Alana replied.
‘Great,’ Lucia said with a smile. ‘It will be good to see everyone again.’
Leaning back in my chair, I studied Jax as he sat opposite my desk.
‘So, you think the Ortegas are making a move?’ I asked him.
He nodded. ‘They’ve done nothing yet. But it looks to me like they’re getting their ducks in a row, amigo.’
‘Fuck! I told you Joey was a snake. I knew it was only a matter of time before he started trying to muscle in on our territory.’
‘Seems you were right about him. But, we’ve got men watching him. If he makes a move, we’ll know about it.’
‘I fucking hope so, amigo. I want extra men here at the house until the problem is dealt with.’
‘Of course. On that note, the Ramos girl?’
I shook my head and sighed loudly. ‘I know, amigo. But what could I do? She turned up here the night before last. She’s on her own. She’s pregnant.’
‘But she’s Miguel Ramos’s kid. You’d better hope the apple fell far from that tree, Alejandro.’
‘I know. Did you ever hear about him and his kids. Any rumors about the way he … I don’t know, the way he treated them?’
Jax narrowed his eyes at me. ‘He was a cruel bastard. He used to make his son’s fight each other until only one of them was left standing. But, beyond that, I’ve not heard anything. Why do you ask?’
I shrugged. ‘Just wondering. I don’t think Lucia had a particularly good relationship with him.’
‘Wouldn’t surprise me. But, still, you are harboring the last surviving members of the Ramos family – two generations of them. I hope you know what you’re doing, is all. Don’t get me wrong, she seems like a real nice kid. But, she’s a Ramos.’
‘It’s a short term arrangement. Believe me. As soon as I can figure out a way to get her out of here while keeping her safe, she’ll be gone.’
Jax nodded.
‘In the meantime, I want you to speak to her. See if there’s anything she can tell us that we might find useful.’
‘You want me to interrogate a pregnant sixteen year old girl?’ he frowned.
‘No,’ I laughed. ‘Just talk to her. You have a unique way of getting information from people that they don’t even know is important.’
We were interrupted by a knock at the door. ‘Come in,’ I said.
The door opened and Lucia popped her head inside. ‘Magda wants to know if Jax is joining us for dinner.’
‘I’d love to,’ Jax answered. ‘I haven’t had any of Magda’s cooking since you got married, amigo,’ he winked at me.
‘Great. I’ll let her know,’ Lucia said with a smile.
‘Actually, Lucia, we were just talking about you. Come on in.’
She stepped inside my office and closed the door behind her before taking a seat next to Jax. ‘If you’re okay with it, I’d like you to talk to Jax about what happened the night your father and brothers were murdered.’
‘Okay?’ she frowned at me.
‘Jax has a talent when it comes to interpreting information. I want to make sure there is nothing you, or I, have missed. The more information we have, the better we’ll be able to keep you safe. That’s why I want you to speak to him, but, I won’t lie, any information about our competitors, or our enemies, is always useful to us.’
She looked at me for a few seconds and then she nodded. ‘Okay, but I’m not sure what else I can tell him that I haven’t told you.’
‘Thank you, Lucia. And I need you to know that you can trust him. If ever you need anything and me or Alana aren’t around, then you contact Jax okay?’
She nodded. ‘Okay.’
I pulled open my desk drawer and took out a new smartphone. ‘I suppose you’ll be needing one of these?’
‘Yes,’ her eyes lit up. ‘Thanks. Not that I have anyone to call. But I like to play games, and search the net and stuff. And they have this app, that tells you all about how your baby is growing.’
‘And you can order pizza on them too,’ Jax added.
Lucia started to laugh, the sound filling my office and I couldn’t help but smile.
