My plane landed in L.A an hour ago. There was a car waiting for me at the airport, and now I’m sitting in the air-conditioned office of Alejandro Montoya. He is the King of L.A, and an old friend of mine.
I look at the photographs on his desk. One of a young dark haired woman and a little boy, who I know to be his adopted daughter, and her son. I pick up the one next to it. This one is a picture of a woman with brown curly hair holding two chubby babies – his wife, Alana and their twin boys. They all smile for the camera, and I wonder if Alejandro took the photograph.
“Hey, amigo,” a voice behind me says and I put the frame back on the desk and stand up, pulling my buddy, Jackson Decker into a hug.
“Hey, Jax. Thanks for the car.”
“Only the best for you, Shane. You know that,” he smiles. “Alejandro will be here shortly. He’s just dealing with someone real quick.”
“Oh?” I arch an eyebrow at him.
“Nothing like that. At least not today,” Jax grins at me.
“So, what did you find out about my house guest?”
Jax takes a seat on the edge of the desk. “Well, you were right about her. She’s not who she claims to be. But it blew my mind when I figured out who she really is. No wonder it took me four weeks to get to the bottom of it. I have never seen anyone cover their tracks this well, Shane. You can tell her from me that I’m impressed.”
I nod at him while the blood thunders through my veins. I knew Jessie was lying to me. “So, who the hell is she, Jax?”
An hour later, Jax puts his hand on my shoulder. “It’s been great catching up, Shane, but I have work to do. I hope we can do this again soon.”
I put my hand over his. “Yeah, you too. And I appreciate you looking into the hacker for me. Thanks, buddy.”
“Any time. Although I think I’ve left you with more questions than answers,” he says with a smile before he turns to his boss, who sits across from us behind his desk. “I’ll catch you later, amigo.”
“Don’t forget. Dinner starts at eight,” Alejandro calls out to Jax’s retreating back.
I turn in my chair and face Alejandro. He’s offered me a suite in his hotel for the night, but after listening to what Jax just told me, I am eager to get back to New York as soon as possible. However, I suppose I can spare twenty minutes to have a quick whiskey with the man who gave me my shot when I came to the States.
“So, how is family life?” I ask him.
Alejandro runs a hand through his hair. “Exhausting! The twins are just starting to crawl, and they are literally everywhere! I only come to work for a break,” he says with a shake of his head.
“And how is Alana doing?”
At the mention of his wife’s name, his face breaks into a huge smile. “She’s amazing. She’s great with the boys. She’s an amazing mom to Lucia. She works full time, but she handles those kids like she’s been doing it her whole life. But she’s always there when I need her. She blows me away every single day.”
I can’t help smiling at the change in this man since I last saw him over two years earlier.
“What?”
“I never thought I’d see you of all people like this over a woman, Alejandro.”
“Well, my wife is not just any woman, Shane,” he arches an eyebrow at me.
“So how does it work, then? Having a family and doing this?” I look around his office. He is the head of the Montoya Corporation, and like me, he has oversight of as many legitimate businesses as he does illegal ones.
He takes a sip of his whiskey and then he shrugs. “We make it work. I used to believe that having a family made me vulnerable, and maybe it does, but they make my life worth living in a way that all of this never could. Why are you asking? Someone special in your life?”
“No,” I reply, perhaps a little too firmly and quickly.
“The hacker?” Alejandro asks with a flash of his eyebrows.
I sigh and take a swig of my drink. “There’s something about her, that’s for sure. But… I can’t go there.”
“One of your brothers got there first?”
“Try all of them!”
“Oh! Damn!” Alejandro sits back in his chair and runs a hand over his jaw.
Suddenly, I have an inexplicable urge to defend her that almost blindsides me. “It’s not like that.” I say, shaking my head. “It’s kind of complicated. My brothers adore her. And she seems to care for them too.”
“And you?” he narrows his eyes at me.
“I don’t know. I think about fucking her all the damn time. Maybe I should just screw her and get her out of my system?”
Alejandro laughs out loud. “In my experience, it doesn’t quite work like that, amigo. In fact, I don’t think that strategy has ever worked in the history of fucking. If you can’t get a woman out of your head, banging her will only make it one hundred times worse.”
“So, what do I do? Share her with my brothers? I’m not sure I can handle that. Not even with them? What the fuck would people think?”
“Screw what anyone else thinks. If it works, it works,” he shrugs as he downs the last of his drink.
“Well, you’ve certainly fucking mellowed these past few years. Not so long ago, you’d have told me to fuck her out of my system and then send her packing.”
“What can I say? I’m a changed man!” he laughs.” The love of a good woman will do that to you.”
“Yeah well. I’m not sure I want to change.”
“Whatever works for you, amigo. You’ll get no judgment from me. After all, I bought my wife from a man who I would happily see dead.”
I’d almost forgotten about that. Alejandro and Alana are the perfect couple. I have never seen him so happy. But they started out very differently. Alana’s father is a corrupt politician, and he sold off his only daughter to a ruthless criminal. Because as much as I respect him, that’s what Alejandro is. It’s what we both are. “Need any help with that? I’d be happy to end Foster Carmichael for you.”
“As much as I’d love to take you up on that offer, he’s still my father-in-law. And as much as Alana hates him, I still don’t think she’d be thrilled about me bumping him off.”
“And you’re worried about that?” I challenge him.
“Am I worried about breaking my wife’s heart? Erm, yeah!”
“You really have changed,” I laugh as I swig back the rest of my drink and place my glass on his desk.
“Yeah, well, no-one is more shocked by my transformation than me,” he laughs too.
I stand up and hold out my hand. “It’s been good to see you, old friend.”
“You too,” he shakes my hand, and then he holds onto it and looks me in the eye. “If you really feel something for this woman, fuck what everyone else thinks, Shane. Life is too short, amigo. Especially for men like us. You need to grab onto any happiness when you can, and while you can.”
I nod at him. “Maybe.”
