The Wife Breaker by Isabella Starling

Chapter 8

HEATH

“We need to go. Now.”

I groan, getting up from the warm comfort of my bed. Rain is luckily in her room, so Liberato’s whining has only disturbed my slumber.

“Can you hurry? We need to strike now.”

“Relax,” I hiss. “Everything will be fine.”

I get dressed as quickly as I can, picking a crisp shirt and a suit from my wardrobe. Italian leather shoes follow, and I complete the look with gold cufflinks. Following Liberato down the hallway, I pause before Rain’s door, hesitating and making my friend groan.

“There’s no time for that now,” Liberato reminds me. “We have to go, we’re already late.”

I nod with a resolute smile and walk past the door with my heart pounding. I can only hope nothing bad happens today, or Rain will...

What the fuck does it matter? I’m not getting attached to the little traitor that married my uncle instead of me.

But as I walk toward the Cadillac parked in front of our Palacio, I’m still stressing about Rain’s safety. If something were to happen to me, Rain would be on her own again.

I only realize I’ve said the words out loud when Liberato replies, “Then you’ll have to make damn sure you don’t die tonight.”

“Planning on it.”

I smirk, tossing back a bag of white, finely milled powder. I can feel my friend’s judging gaze on me, but he says nothing. He knows better than that by now. The drugs have proved valuable during moments like this one. My increased physical strength can only help us. If I hold myself back and not murder everybody in there.

The car pulls into the docks after a half-hour ride we spent in silence. Liberato and I share a knowing look. This is our redemption, after all.

We’ve been planning an attack on this place since before we got free, but now the moment has finally arrived, and I’m not sure either of us is ready. Liberato looks pale as fuck and my knuckles have turned white from how hard I’m clenching my fists. Some of the worst moments of my life happened because of the men who work in these warehouses. Tonight, they’ll pay for it. But we’re killing two birds with one stone because they’re Dragon cartel men - the ones who wouldn’t meet with us.

Of course, they won’t know we were the ones who killed their own.

We leave no witnesses behind.

Liberato barks orders at our men while I pour another baggy of powder on my tongue, relishing the bitter taste. Luckily, my friend doesn’t notice what I’m doing, because I’m not down for another lecture from the high and mighty Liberato. I toss the bag aside and wait for the signal, clutching the gun in my hands.

Once the door breaks down, all hell breaks loose. We’re not alone anymore. Now we’re surrounded by Dragon cartel men who are scrambling to hide their precious cargo. We were told it would be women - girls they kidnapped for the cartel, to traffic them. Our cartel does not deal with captives, we deal with drugs. Our intention was to set the women free and help them, but as I come face to face with the warehouse workers, I quickly realize they aren’t dealing with pretty submissive toys.

My eyes widen as I try the men desperately trying to scramble to hide their precious cargo from us. But it’s too late, their operation has been exposed.

Shots and screaming ring out in the warehouse and the floor turns red from the blood my men are spilling. It’s a fucking bloodbath, but what for? For the little plastic bags filled with poison, I’m addicted to myself?

I go on autopilot, shooting innocent men and taking lives I shouldn’t. When I next come to my senses, my palms are covered in blood and my head is fucking spinning. I don’t know how many people I’ve killed, but judging by the massacre in the room, it’s really fucking bad.

But what’s worse is that our information wasn’t correct. The Dragon cartel isn’t moving victims, they’re working with drugs. Which is our fucking field.

My mouth forms a thin line as I send a bullet through a man’s head. Brains and blood splatter the wall behind him and he falls, dead in an instant, which is probably fucking lucky.

“Heath,” Liberato calls out from the other end of the room. “They’re saying the leader of the cartel is trying to run. He was here when we came.”

I smirk. This is what I fucking live for. The chase that will end up with a dead man - and it sure as fuck won’t be me.

I follow Liberato down the hallway, stepping over dead bodies as we walk into the back alley behind the warehouse. That’s when we see him, a figure in the distance. I instantly raise my gun and fire off a shot, and the man roars. I got him.

But apparently not good enough. He grips his bleeding shoulder and disappears into a car that’s waiting for him. Liberato and I both fire our guns at it, but it’s too late. The car speeds away.

“Fuck!”

I run my hands through my hair, facing Liberato, who seems just as pissed off as I am.

“He got away.”

“No shit,” he mutters. “This is really fucking bad, Heath. What if he saw us?”

“He didn’t,” I mutter, even though I’m not too sure of my words.

“You don’t know that. And if he was the leader... well, then we’re utterly fucked. There’s no way he’ll do business with us now.”

“He didn’t see us.”

“Fuck, Heath.”

Liberato curses again and again, rubbing his temples while I put my gun back in the holster at my hip. I take the chance to inhale another bag of powder, no longer giving a damn what L will say about my dirty little habit.

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

I turn to face Liberato, wiping the residual powder from my nostrils.

“What?”

“You’re all hopped up on that shit, again?”

“I told you before, L, don’t talk like that to me,” I hiss, but I don’t get to finish my sentence because this time, Liberato slams me against the brick wall in the alley. “Let go of me, you jackass!”

“You’re my brother,” he mutters while we struggle for control. “I won’t stand by and watch you destroy yourself.”

“What I do to my body is my business.”

“What about Rain, Heath?”

My body freezes up at the mention of her. I tense, narrowing my eyes at Liberato, just as I gain control in our fight. I slam him back, turning our positions.

“What about her, L?”

“She’ll want you to get better. You think she wants her man to be a junkie?”

“She’s married,” I growl.

“Not like that’s ever stopped you before.”

“You can’t talk to me like that.”

“Fucking watch me, Hermano.”

I tense my jaw and we glare at one another until I finally let go. I groan, kicking at the gravel.

“Fuck. This couldn’t have gone worse. How many casualties did we take?”

“Four.”

“Jesus.”

An unwelcome sensation slides down my spine, slithering like a snake. We’ve lost men and accomplished nothing. Now there’s only one thing left to do to save this situation.

“Alright,” I finally mutter. “Find out who the boss is from the ones that are still alive. The one they answer to at the docks.”

“Why?”

“We need to find the highest ranking official here and make an example out of him,” I bark in response. “That’s the only way to ensure we didn’t do this for nothing.”

“You want to torture a man, Hermano?”

“I have to.”

I feel the powder finally kicking in, making my head spin with what I’m about to do. The boy I used to be would have cringed at the thought of killing, torturing an innocent man. But now, I don’t give a shit. I’m desensitized to violence by now. It comes naturally.

Liberato and I instruct the other men what to do, and minutes later, Cannon reappears with a man in his forties. He spits at us and curses in Spanish. His hair is dark and peppered with gray. He looks like a family man. I wonder whether he’s a father. I hope he isn’t.

Because if he is, tonight, his children will lose their dad.

“What’s your name?” I ask while Liberato’s lips thin into an even tighter line.

“Diego,” the man says, his eyes filled with hatred as they meet mine. “I will not tell you who I work for.”

“Really?” I smirk. “We’ll see about that.”

I motion at the guards, who tie him up on a wooden chair. Our men gather the survivors in the docks while Liberato lights a fire in a metal garbage bin.

The men’s eyes are full of fear. But that’s what I want. I want them to fear me. Without making my subordinates afraid of me, I’ll never be a successful cartel leader.

I shake my head, realizing my uncle’s words from when I was a boy are ringing in my head. Fuck. Xavier is getting to me, even though he’s not even here.

“Are you ready to talk now?” I ask the man as he struggles in his seat.

The guards have tied down his arms, but not his feet, and he tries to kick at me as I get closer.

“Never,” Diego hisses, spitting again.

I smirk in response, signaling for one of my men to pour a bucket over his head. Diego roars as the gasoline soaks him.

“A little preview of what’s coming if you don’t obey,” I tell him. “Ready to talk yet?”

“Keep asking, you’ll get the same answer every time, pendejo,” the man roars. “I’ll never talk.”

“Oh, come on, I just want to know who you work for.”

I light a match and watch his crestfallen face as I hold it closer to his body.

“It’s the Dragon cartel, right?”

He remains mute, glaring at me, almost daring me to drop the match.

I blow it out and smile at him before burying a long knife into his stomach.

Diego gurgles and sputters, his eyes losing focus.

“Who is the leader of the Dragon cartel?” I ask, taking a step back and admiring my work from afar.

The captives we’ve taken are deathly silent, save for a few who are praying. My gaze slips past Liberato, and I can tell he doesn’t approve of what’s happening. But I don’t give a shit. We may be partners in crime, but I’ll always make the last decision for our business, the Serpent cartel.

“Don’t want to talk?” I ask Diego, grinning when he shakes his head. “I don’t mind. Actually, I’m kind of fucking enjoying this.”

I smash my fist into his face. He sputters again, coughing up teeth. I take a step back, dabbing myself with a handkerchief when his blood sprays me.

“Ready to talk?” I ask kindly. “Who is the leader of the Dragon cartel?”

The man cries then, sobbing quietly as he mutters a set of names to himself.

Inez. Adelina. Inez. Adelina. Over and over again.

“Whose names are those?” I demand, but he ignores me.

I walk closer and lift his broken jaw, disgust filling me at the clicking sound it makes loose in my hands.

“Whose names are those, Diego?”

“My daughters,” he whispers brokenly.

“Your daughters,” I smile softly. “Maybe we could pay them a little visit, too.”

Something tightens in my stomach. I think it’s my disbelief at what I’ve just said. I’ve let myself down by becoming just like the person I despise most in the world - my uncle.

Xavier Gunn is ruthless, stopping at nothing to get what he wants. And by torturing this man, I’ve become just like him. The mention of his daughters’ names should make me feel like what I’m doing is wrong, but I’m numb, cold and indifferent.

“Don’t you touch them,” the older man cries. “Don’t go near them.”

I make a mental note to remember their names and light another match.

“This could be over right now,” I tell the man. “You could give me the name, and I’ll kill you with a shot to the forehead. Or you can continue to be stubborn, and we’ll watch you burn before doing the same thing to your daughters.”

The man closes his eyes, sweat flowing down his forehead. He finally nods, a barely perceptible shake of his head that makes the rest of his men mutter to one another.

“Silence!” I roar before leaning in so Diego can whisper in my ear.

My lips tighten as I listen to him and my jaw tics as he goes on.

I pick myself up once he’s done, nodding at the guard.

A single shot rings out in the docks, one straight to Diego’s forehead.

The men groan, some cry, some beg or scream. But I’m already walking away from him.

Liberato follows me, grabbing my shoulder to stop me, but I snarl and push him off.

“Relax,” he mutters. “What did he say? Who’s the leader?”

I glare at him.

“Aren’t you horrified by what just happened? What we just did?”

“You did it,” Liberato mutters. “Not me.”

“You stood by, didn’t you?”

“We’ve killed people before.”

“Not like this,” I shake my head. “We both know I’m right. This was fucked up and neither of us stopped it.”

“Did you get the name or not?”

I raise my eyes to Liberato’s and scoff.

“What?” he demands defensively. “We need to know. And what do we do with the others?”

“Kill them all. Except the two youngest,” I mutter. “Let them carry the news back and lead their people to this massacre.”

Liberato swallows thickly before nodding and heading back to the murder scene.

The moment he’s gone, I fall to my knees in the dirt and gravel of the alleyway.

My conscience is a burning reminder of what I’ve just done. I killed a man, an innocent man. I have his blood on me right now, and I’m the man who ordered him shot after torturing him.

No information he could have given me is worth this.

I pick myself up and dust off my chinos before heading back to the warehouse.

Our men have cleaned up already, and the two survivors of the massacre are tied up and blindfolded so we can let them go somewhere along the way.

We file into our cars, with Liberato and me alone in the back of one. The moment we get in, L closes the partition separating us from the driver.

We need to talk; I know we do. And yet neither of us says a thing.

We just sit there in uncomfortable silence. I’m thinking about our friendship and everything we’ve been through. I once thought beating the men who did this to me would give me the redemption I craved. But now I know I’ve become just like them. There’s probably somebody out there who hates me as much as I hate Xavier.

Adelina, Inez.

That man’s daughters.

I took their father away from them. Perhaps one day they’ll try to make me pay. I will deserve it, too. Today was just wrong.

I grit my teeth so hard my jaw hurts.

“I don’t know about you, but I could use a cigarette.”

I look at L, who has pulled a box of cigarettes. One of them is now dangling from his lips and he rolls down his window before lighting up.

After a few inhales, he hands me the cigarette and I smoke, too.

It reminds me of all the moments we spent in our jail cell, smoking cigarettes the guards gave us to bribe us to do shit. There wasn’t much else that brought us peace those days. The drugs sure as fuck didn’t. But they do now.

I’m itching for another dose, but I know I can’t let Liberato know.

He’s already catching on to how addicted I am. If he knew how bad it really is, he’d be even more determined to help.

“So how’s it going with Rain?”

I snap my eyes to my brother’s.

“It’s going. Why?”

“Some guys were wondering, me included,” he says, his eyes glittering darkly. “When are you going to let the rest of us fuck her?”

“Never.”

My answer comes out in a snarl, surprising us both. Fuck. When did I get so possessive about Rain? She’s not even mine. Xavier stole that too, just like he did everything else.

“That’s not how we do this shit, Heath. You know the toys are supposed to-“

“She’s not like the others.”

“I know,” he says calmly. “But she is still a project, isn’t she? Start training her properly so she can return to her husband soon.”

“She’s not going back.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m keeping this one.”

“What about her husband?”

“Fuck Xavier,” I snarl. “I was always going to have my revenge on the prick. Guess I’ll just have to steal his wife instead of beating him at his own game.”

“You can’t be fucking serious, Heath.”

Liberato groans and rubs his eyes.

“You want to make an enemy out of the leader of the biggest cartel out here?”

“I don’t,” I hiss. “But I’m not letting him have her back. If that means we start a war, we start a war. What’s the big deal? We were always going to do it anyway, L.”

“Not like this. Not for a woman.”

“She’s not any woman,” I growl. “She’s the only woman. Now are you going to go back on our friendship just because you’re a stickler for planning out every little detail of our attack, or are you going to go out on a limb for once?”

“I’ll do what you decide,” L nods, smirking. “I just really wanted to fuck her.”

“Shut it,” I glare at him. “And tell the others if I catch them looking, I’ll chop off their dicks.”

“Relax. She’s all yours. We’re spoiled for choice, anyway. Aren’t you going to miss other women? Rain will be pissed if you fuck someone else.”

“I’m not fucking anybody else.”

“Oh, so it’s like that.”

“It is.”

“Ooh.”

“Shut up, L.”

I shove his shoulder.

“Are you thinking about bringing her to the hangout?”

“I don’t know,” I mutter. “Don’t know if I want the guys around her.”

“They won’t touch her.”

“I know. I’m more worried about her.”

“Really?”

His brows shoot up in surprise.

“She’s still in the stage where she thinks she’s getting away,” I grin. “I don’t know what she’d do to try to get away.”

“Fuck, you’re right.” L slaps my back. “But I kind of want to find out what happens if she tries... and inevitably fails.”

“Me too,” I wink at him. “For fucking sure.”