CHAPTER 39
THE VILLAIN
T
omas's smile widens. “I can't fucking believe that you're really here.” He stares at the scars on my face. “You look like shit, but I'm glad you're back home.”
“Good to be back.” We embrace with genuine affection. Memories of our close upbringing flood my head. Tomas is more than my brother, he's my best friend.
“This is a cause for celebration.”
We head downstairs for a few drinks. The moment we step into the office, I notice the bank of monitorsâall dedicated to Cataleyna's room. My hackles rise and I cut a look to my brother as he heads straight to the bar.
“Your usual?” he asks.
“Yeah. Sure.” I eyeball him and then the bank of monitors again. “Did she give you much trouble?”
“Who?” Tomas glances to the monitor again. “Oh. You mean
her?
No. Though I did have to do a little dirty work and get rid of her love child.”
“What?”
Tomas pours our drinks. “Don't worry. I had Maria and her niece Ruthie take care of the problem. Seems as though our little angel was soiled goods.”
“
Our?”
My eyes narrow as suspicion creeps up my spine.
“Slip of the tongue.” Tomas walks over and hands me my drink. “Cheers.” He taps my glass in a lackluster toastâall the while avoiding my gaze.
“Where's the kid?”
“Dead.” Tomas smiles. “The last thing the world needs is another bastard, right?”
I twirl the liquor inside of my glass while studying Tomas. “And what about you and Cataleyna?”
Tomas slips on a blank mask. “What do you mean?”
I'm not fooled and I'm sure that it shows on my face. “I've been gone a long time. You thought I was dead. You said so yourself.”
“Yeah. So?”
Suspicion turns to anger. “Soâshe's a beautiful woman and you're a man. Anything happen between the two of you while I was . . . missing?”
“No.” Tomas laughs, but it sounds fake as hell.
“No?” My blood boils. “Are you sure that's what you want to go with?”
Tomas's awkward laugh downgrades to awkward, puttering chuckles. His mask cracks. “C'mon,” he says, going for the con. “You know that I wouldn't lie to you.”
The room falls silent.
At the moment I can't think of a single time when my brother has lied to me or stabbed me in the back, but there's a first time for everything. “So what was the plan?”
“Plan?” Tomas shrugs and shakes his head. “No plan. For a long time I was holding out hope that you'd be found and . . . here you are!” Another awkward laugh.
I take the first sip of my drink, my temper rising.
Tomas returns to the bar for another drink.
I steal another look at the monitors and see Cataleyna pressed up against the door. By the way her shoulders are trembling, I know that she's crying. My heart goes out to her. I wish she would allow me to comfort her and soothe her fears. I'm not such a bad guy. I can make her happyâmake her love me.
When my attention returns to Tomas, I'm stunned to see the gun in his hand pointed at me. Now I have my answer. He has fallen in love with her, too.
“Why did you come back?” Tomas asks, shaking his head.
“So I take it that you're no longer happy to see me.”
“I amâ
was,
but . . .” He cuts a look to the monitors and then back. “I can't give her upânot even for you. I'm sorry, but I'm in love with her.”
Enraged, I lunge for the gun.
Tomas is caught off guard and we tumble to the floor. The gun fires a wild shot as it's knocked out of my brother's hand.
Physically matched, we wrestle and exchange punches until we're bloody and slick with sweat.
Finally, Tomas gets the upper hand and dives for the gun. A hot pain pierces my shoulder. I push that shit aside and seize the hand with the gun.
He fires another shot, but it goes wild.
“You should have never come back,” Tomas growls.
“And you should have remained loyal,” I say, crushing his wrist and cutting the gun in his direction.
A fourth shot rings out.
Tomas' body jumps and his eyes go wide before settling on me.
Regret crashes into me as I watch the light fade in his eyes. At long last he collapses, dead. I shove him off and climb to my feet. At the door there's a crowd of our soldiers standing and watching wide-eyedâno doubt they didn't know which brother to jump in and try to help.
I look at them with my brother's blood all over my shirt. But before I can utter a word, the sound of gunfire fills the air.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat
What the fuck?
An alarm goes off. We're under attack.
CHAPTER 40
THE PRINCESS
G
unfire rips through the night.
What in the hell is that?
I jump to my feet and race to my locked window.
Rat-ta-tat-tat-tat
Rat-ta-tat-tat-tat
The compound is under attack. Hope returns and surges through my veins, but then I quickly tamp it back. It could be anyone laying siege. I could easily exchange this cage for another oneâor they'll kill me along with everyone else in this place. But death no longer scares me.
I listen as the battle rages for almost an hour. I pace back and forth, anxious to know what's going on. Finally, a boot kicks in my door.
I burrow myself into a corner until a miracle wheels through the door.
“Papa!”
I leap up and race into his arms. “You found me! You finally found me!”
“Cataleyna,” he chokes with emotion. “Is it you? Is it really you?”
“Yes, Papa! Yes. It's really me.” I squeeze his neck even tighter. When I lean back, I note the change in his face. “What happened to you? Why are you in a wheelchair?”
“We can talk about that later. Let's get you out of here.
Nicco!
”
“Butâ” then I remember.
“Julian!”
I jump out of papa's lap. “We have to save Julian!”
“What? Wait. I don'tâ”
“Please, papa. He's in the dungeon. They've been torturing him this whole time.” I temple my hands and beg. “I love him, papa.”
He wars with his emotions. He clearly wants to tell me no.
“Nicco,” my father shouts.
“Yes, boss?”
“Help me down to this dungeon.”
A few minutes later, I lead my father and team of his men to the dungeon. But when we find Julian, my heart stops.
“Julian!”
I race to him, afraid for the worst, but then I find a faint pulse. “
He's alive!
We have to get him out of here! Papa,
please!
”
My father stares at Julian, who has been reduced to a sack of bones “All right, Cataleyna. Anything for you.”
My father's men quickly take hold of Julian and rush us through the compound's battlefield to the waiting black vans.
“Did you find them?” My father shouts to another soldier.
“One of them, sir. We found Tomas dead in an office. We're still searching for Carlos.”
Tomas is dead?
I can hardly believe it. But if Carlos gets away I will never be safe.
The van door is slammed closed and I huddle next to Julian, whispering encouraging words the whole time. “We're getting you out of here. You're going to make it.
We're
going to make it. You'll see.”
Slowly, Julian lolls his head toward me, but his eyes are so swollen, I don't know if he can even see me.
“Cat?” he whispers. “Is it really you?”
I gather his head into my lap. “I'm here, Julian. I'm always here for you.”
His busted and bloody lips curl into a faint smile. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” I bow my head and then pray the whole way toward the hospital.
EPILOGUE
THE VILLAIN
Three years later . . .
Â
T
here's not a day, hour, or minute that I don't think about Cataleyna Rosales-Arias
.
All the hell I went through to kidnap her, only to lose her and my memory, and then the very day I get her back, I lose her all over again.
She's with
him
now: The
real
Julian. Somehow that sack of shit survived. It's my fault for not snapping his damn neck when I had the chance.
“Daddy! Daddy!
Look!
”
I glance up at my little Cataleyna twirling in her new princess costume. “
Ahhh
. You look beautiful, baby girl.” I smile and stretch out my arms. “Come give Daddy a kiss.”
My little girl beams a smile up and races into my arms.
I smother her with kisses and she breaks out in giggles. She looks exactly like her mother: black hair, soulful brown eyes, and her angelic heart-shaped face.
“Guess who is the most beautiful girl in the whole wide world?”
Little Cat giggles. “
I
am.”
“That's right. And Daddy loves you very much.” I place another kiss against her forehead and tell her, “Now go and play with your friends. They are here for your birthday.”
“Okay.” She pokes out her bottom lip, but then quickly joins the other children at the party.
Turns out, Maria and Ruthie didn't kill Cataleyna's baby like Tomas had ordered. Instead, they hid her in town. When I found out, I had them bring her to me. This way, I have a little of Cataleyna for myself. I'll raise her aloneâfor now. One day, we will both be reunited with her mother.
Cataleyna thinks she's safe in her new marriage to Julian Arias. Recently, they had their second child, but I'm watching. I'll always be watching.
DON'T MISS
Â
Boss Divas
by De'nesha Diamond
Â
The most lethal ride-or-die women in Memphis now run their gangs and the streets. But the aftermath of an all-out war means merciless new enemies, time-bomb secrets . . . and one chance to take it all . . .
Â
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Available now wherever books and ebooks are sold.
CHAPTER 1
TA'SHARA
“S
TOP THE FUCKING CAR!”
Profit slams on the brakes while I bolt out of the passenger car door and race into the night toward my foster parents' burning house.
“TRACEE! REGGIE!”
They're not in there. Please, God. Don't let them be in there.
“TRACEE! REGGIE!”
“Ta'Shara, wait up,” Profit yells. His long strides eat up the distance between us even as I shove my way through the city's emergency responders. I've never seen flames stretch so high or felt such intense heat. Still, none of that shit stops me. In my delusional mind, there is still time to get them out of there.
“Hey, lady. You can't go in there,” someone shouts and makes a grab for me.
As I draw closer to the front porch, Profit is able to wrap one of his powerful arms around my waist and lift me off my feet. “Baby, stop. You can't go in there.”
“Let me go!” My legs pedal in the air as I stretch uselessly for the door. “TRACEE! REGGIE!” My screams rake my throat raw.
Profit drags me away from the growing flames.
Men in uniform rush over to us. I don't know who they are and I don't care. I just need to know one thing. “Where are my parents? Did they make it out?”
“Ma'am, calm down. Please tell me your name.”
“WHERE ARE THEY?”
“Ma'amâ”
“ANSWER ME, DAMMIT!”
“C'mon, man,” Profit says. “Give my girl something.”
The fireman draws a deep breath and then drops a bomb that changes my life forever.
“The neighbors reported the fire. Right now, I'm not aware of anyone making it out of the house. I'm sorry.”
“NOOOOOOO!” I collapse in Profit's arms. He hauls me up against his six-three frame and I lay my head on his broad chest. Before, I found comfort in his strong embrace, but not tonight. I sob uncontrollably as pain overwhelms me, but then I make out a familiar car down the street.
“Oh. My. God.”
Profit tenses. “What?”
My eyes aren't deceiving me. Sitting behind the wheel of her burgundy Crown Victoria is LeShelle with a slow smile creeping across her face. She forms a gun with her hand and pretends to fire at us.
We're next.
LeShelle tosses back her head and, despite the siren's wail, the roaring fire, and the chaos around me, that bitch's maniacal laugh rings in my ears.
How much more of this shit am I going to take? When will this fuckin' bullshit end?
BOOM!
The crowd gasps when windows explode from the top floor of the house, but my gaze never waivers from LeShelle. My tears dry up as anger grips me.
She did this shit. I don't need a jury to tell me that the bitch is guilty as hell. How long has she been threatening the Douglases' lives? Why in the hell didn't I believe that she would follow through?
LeShelle has proven her ruthlessness time after time. This fucking “Gangster Disciples versus the Vice Lords” shit ain't a game to her. It's a way of life. And she doesn't give a fuck who she hurts.
My blood boils and all at once everything burst out of me. I wrench away from Profit's protective arms and take off toward LeShelle in a rage.
“I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!”
“Ta'Shara, no!” Profit shouts.
I ignore him as I race toward LeShelle's car. My hot tears burn tracks down my face.
LeShelle laughs in my face and then pulls off from the curb, but not before I'm able to pound my fist against the trunk.
Profit's arms wrap back around my waist, but I kick out and connect with LeShelle's taillight and shatter that muther-fucka. The small wave of satisfaction I get is quickly erased when her piece-of-shit car burps out a black cloud of exhaust in my face.
“NO! Don't let her get away. No!”
“Ta'Shara, please. Not now. Let it go!”
Let it go?
I round on Profit. “How the fuck can you say that shit?”
BOOM!
More windows explode, drawing my attention back to the only place that I've ever called home. My heart claws its way out of my chest as orange flames and black smoke lick the sky.
My legs give out and my knees kiss the concrete, and all the while Profit's arms remain locked around me. I can't hear what he's saying because my sobs drown him out.
“This is all my fault,” tumbles over my tongue. I conjure up an image of Tracee and Reggieâthe last time I saw them. It's a horrible memory. Everyone was angry and everyone said things that . . . can never be taken back.
Grief consumes me. I squeeze my eyes tight and cling to the ghosts inside of my head. “I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.”
Profit's arms tighten. I melt in his arms even though I want to lash out.
Isn't it his fault my foster parents roasted in that house, too?
When the question crosses my mind, I crumble from the weight of my shame.
I'm to blame. No one else.
A heap in the center of the street, I lay my head against Profit's chest again and take in the horrific sight through a steady sheen of tears. The Douglases were good people. All they wanted was the best for me and for me to believe in myself. They would've done the same for LeShelle if she gave them the chance.
LeShelle fell in love with the streets and the make-believe power of being the head bitch of the Queen Gs. I didn't want anything to do with any of that bullshit, but it didn't matter. I'm viewed as GD property by blood, and the shit hit the fan when I fell in love with Profitâa Vice Lord by blood. Back then Profit wasn't a soldier yet. But our being together was taken as a sign of disrespect. LeShelle couldn't let it slide.
However, the harder I fight the streets' politics, the deeper I'm dragged into her bullshit world of gangs and violence.
“I should have killed her when I had the chance.” If I had, Tracee and Reggie would still be alive. “She won't get away with this,” I vow. “I'm going to kill her if it's the last thing I do.”