Sinner's Son (Savage Sons Motorcyle Club) (9 page)

"What we did not anticipate was the unexpected benefit of our little control measure." He turned to face us. "These babies grow up. The boys are recruited for work for the cartels, but the girls ... they are often as beautiful as their mothers, especially while they are young. Fresh, unspoiled, and very, very valuable."

"What the fuck?" In my horror, the words slipped from my mouth, though they were quiet enough that I hoped Don Roberto hadn't heard. Even in my rage, I knew that any battle fought with the Don on his turf would be a losing one.

Joker ignored me -- acted like he hadn't even heard me. He leaned forward in his chair. "You sell underage girls? Virgins?"

I looked at him, and it was like I was seeing him for the very first time. He looked excited. He sounded turned on.

Don Roberto smiled at him. "They bring in princely sums of money. Even after their virginity is gone, there are many men who will pay for the privilege of fucking a tight young girl. You can train them early, and they become excellent whores." The Don focused all of his attention on Joker. "I could even be persuaded to give you gentlemen a sample of the product, if you would like to try one of our girls out for yourselves. Not a virgin, mind you. That would cost even our most valued guests."

"What do you say?" Joker turned to look at me and Zeno, excitement and lust in his face. "I'm game for some underage snatch."

I looked at Zeno, and, as usual, I couldn't tell what he was thinking.

I leaned over to Joker and spoke quietly enough that I hoped Don Roberto wouldn't be able to hear me. "Are you out of your fucking mind? Under no circumstances are we going to take little girls and turn them into whores. And under no circumstances am I gonna stand by and let you rape a little girl."

"Whoa, whoa, there, son." Joker leaned back, as if he was trying to distance himself from my fury. "Nobody said anything about rape. These girls are gonna grow up to be whores just like their mothers. The Don is just giving them a head start."

Zeno didn't say a word.

I stood up. I couldn't stand it any longer. I had to get out of that room, or I was gonna go after the Don with my bare hands. "I'm out. We don't want your child whores. I'm leaving."

I walked to the door, opened it and headed for the front door. Mirrored sunglass man was staring just inside the front door and opened it for me.

"Can I call you a car?"

"Just get the fuck out of my way and open the fucking gate."

I couldn't see anything behind his glasses, but the man did what he was told without saying another word. I walked past the Excursion and headed down the street. I didn't care where I went, but I had to go somewhere.

I
spent far too much of the morning daydreaming. All of my thoughts swirled around the tall, young man who'd spent the night on my couch and had completely enchanted my daughter. We'd gone to church and to the market to get ingredients for dinner, and Nadia had kept returning to the topic of Moses. I stood no chance of getting him out of my head.

"I wonder if Moses likes flan," Nadia mused as she shredded monterey jack cheese for the filling of the chiles rellenos I was going to make for dinner.

"I don't think I'll have time to make flan, little one."

"I can do it. I helped Gabriela the last time she made it, and I think I can do it on my own."

I shook my head, smiling at her enthusiasm. "As long as you clean up your mess, that's fine. And don't forget, Nadia, we don't even know if Moses will be here for dinner. He said he'd stop by this evening, but he didn't say when."

"I know, I know," Nadia said, rolling her eyes. "But I like flan, anyway, and it would be perfect for dessert."

"Go ahead and make it, then," I told her, realizing that my daughter had a little bit of a crush on Moses. The trouble was that I was afraid that I did as well.

I knew that the smartest thing I could do was keep Moses at a distance. I'd never had a man actually care about my best interests, and odds were good that Moses didn't really, either. Men used women and threw them away. That was how the stories of women like me ended. Hope was far too dangerous, and Moses had made me hope that things could be different.

I roasted the poblano peppers over the gas burner, letting the skins blister and blacken, before setting them aside to cool. I mixed some cooked chorizo with the cheese that Nadia had grated, and set the filling aside. When the peppers had cooled, I scooped out the seeds, stuffed them with the cheese and chorizo mixture, and put the filled peppers in the refrigerator.

"Little one, I think I'll go take a shower before dinner."

"Are you going to get dressed up for Moses?" Nadia asked, a naughty little smile on her face.

"I just might," I said as I left the kitchen. "And don't make a mess," I said heading for the bedroom.

A knock at the front door stopped me in my tracks. I paused, feeling panicked that I was probably a mess. I stopped in front of the mirror next to my little shrine with pictures of all of the young men and women I knew who had died -- far too many, far too young. I checked my reflection, tucked a stray curl behind my ear, and went to answer the door, my heart racing with anticipation.

I opened the door, expecting to see Moses, but I was very disappointed. I was also afraid.

"Luis," I said evenly, trying to conceal my anxiety.

"Encantada," he said slowly, drawing out the syllables as if each one carried some particular importance.

"Is there something you want?"

"Well, now, that's an interesting question, Encantada. As a matter of fact, there is."

"Mama?"

I heard Nadia call me from the kitchen. I said a quick prayer that she wouldn't mention Moses in front of Luis. If he knew that Moses had been in my home, he'd suspect me of trying to get money from Moses directly, money that should have gone to Luis.

"Yes?" I answered, strain evident in my voice.

"I have a question about the recipe." Nadia walked out of the kitchen toward the front door. "Oh," she said. "Didn't know there was anyone here."

"What a lovely young woman your daughter is growing to be," Luis said, eyeing Nadia in a way that made me sick to my stomach."

"Nadia," I said, more sharply than I'd intended. "Run over to Gabriela's and ask her if we can borrow a couple of eggs."

"But we got eggs at the market today, Mama."

I stared at her, willing her to obey. "Go now, please, Nadia. And take your time. I need to talk to Luis for a moment."

Nadia looked at me like I was crazy, but she shrugged her shoulders and did as I'd told her to. When she'd left the little courtyard for the street, I turned back to Luis.

"What is it that you want?"

"Aren't you going to invite me in?" he asked.

"The place is a mess. Nadia and I were cooking dinner. Let's sit outside," I suggested, hoping he'd agree. I didn't want to be behind a closed door with Luis if I could help it.

"As you wish," he said, sitting down in exactly the spot that Moses had occupied that morning.

I just looked at him. I'd already asked him once what he wanted, and I knew he'd tell me when he was ready. Otherwise, I didn't have much to say to the man who controlled so much of my life.

"So, Encantada," he said, drawing my name out the same way he had before. "Can you explain to me how it came to be that one of my whores was supposed to be upstairs entertaining a very important man, but when I went to check on her -- see if she or the guest needed anything -- she was nowhere to be found? Can you explain to me where my whore was last night?"

The deceptively gentle tone of his voice terrified me. I'd been trying to think of how I'd explain my absence if Luis asked, but I hadn't come up with much. "The man said he was finished with me, so I left. I looked for you, but Manuel said you were busy."

Luis looked at me as if he was carefully considering my words. "So why, then, did Manuel not tell me that he'd seen you when I asked him last night?"

Holy Mother, I prayed silently. Help me. "I don't know. Maybe I talked to him after you'd asked?"

"Encantada, do not take me for a fool. Your life, your body, your daughter ... they all belong to me. I decide how you use your body. I decide who you fuck. It is only because I took pity on you all those years ago that you have a roof over your head, and the money to send your little whore of a daughter to a private school. Do not forget what you owe me."

Years of frustration threatened to spill from my lips, but I knew that the only chance I had depended on my ability to be civil, even if Luis didn't deserve it. "Luis, I know how much Nadia and I owe you. I took care of the man, and I left when he sent me away. Nothing else happened. I have no reason to lie to you."

"Something tells me that you're hiding something, Encantada. I will trust you for now, but know this: I am watching you. I will have my men watching you. If you are lying to me, you -- and your precious daughter -- will both regret it. I promise you that."

"I understand," I said, willing him to get up and leave, hoping that he wouldn't run into Moses as he did.

Luis stood up and looked down at me. "You've been a good whore, Encantada. I expect that your daughter will be an even better one."

I couldn't stand it. I knew I should keep my mouth shut, but I simply couldn't let it go. "Nadia will not be a whore."

Luis laughed. "Oh, is that so?" He took two steps toward me and took my face in one of his hands, squeezing my cheeks until my eyes watered with the pain. "Well, Don Roberto and I think different. We think she'll make a wonderful whore, and an expensive one, at that. We think that men will stand in line to have her suck their cocks, and we plan to make a lot of money from her cunt. We own her, just as we own you, and we will sell her cunt to whomever we please."

"I would rather see her dead than working as your whore," I said, knowing that I didn't really mean it, but so furious that I had to say something.

"Be careful what you wish for, Encantada. I would stay and put your cunt to use, but I'm afraid that Don Roberto needs me this evening. Tell your daughter that I'm looking forward to seeing her again." He squeezed my face again and left.

As the gate swung shut, I dissolved into angry tears. He had never before said anything about planning for Nadia to follow in my footsteps. If he had, I'd have found some way to get free of Don Roberto's evil cartel. I felt so helpless and frustrated, and I realized that Moses was my only hope. I'd spent the entire day trying to talk myself out of trusting him, out of hoping that he really meant what he'd said about getting me and Nadia out of Juarez. Now, I realized that I had no choice but to trust him. I had to believe that he was a man of his word, but I knew that it was a risk. I didn't have any other options.

There was nothing else I could do, so I said a quick prayer and hoped that someone up there was listening. If anyone needed help, it was me. I went back inside and decided to go ahead and take the shower I'd been heading for when Luis interrupted me. Nadia had read me correctly. I did want to look nice when Moses arrived, whenever that would be.

As soon as I turned the water off after I'd finished rinsing my hair, I could hear voices outside the bedroom. Terrified that Luis had returned, I wrapped myself in a towel and rushed out of the bedroom.

"Mama, tell Moses that he has to wait for the flan. He wants to turn them over now, but they're not cool yet."

I stood there, wet hair dripping all over the floor, and I couldn't think of a single thing to say. Moses and Nadia were shoulder to shoulder at the counter, both grinning like fools, while Nadia defended her flan ramekins from the tall, tattooed biker. I couldn't help but laugh.

"Moses, you'd be smart to listen to the flan queen. She takes her dessert very seriously, and I suspect that you'd be very displeased with the results if you don't follow her instructions."

Moses pretended to sulk, crossing his muscled arms over his chest. "I don't want any flan, after all. I bet it's not even very good."

He and my daughter dissolved into giggles, and the sight of Moses giggling with Nadia warmed my heart like nothing I'd seen in quite a while.

He left the kitchen and walked over to me. "You're making a mess, Maria," he said, pointing down at the water pooling on the floor, before he leaned in and kissed me on the cheek. "But it's good to see you, anyway."

I blushed and stammered, feeling flustered by his closeness. "Well, I guess I better get dried off and dressed. Can you two keep from killing one another in the meantime?"

Both Moses and Nadia nodded solemnly, and I shook my head as I went into the bedroom and closed the door. Who was this man? I was certain I'd never met anyone like him before, and I certainly had known enough men in my lifetime. I stood in front of my tiny closet and decided to go with something comfortable, but pretty. I pulled a long, white skirt out that fell in tiers, nearly to the floor. I pulled on a black peasant top and slipped it on without a bra, pulling it partway off my shoulders. I looked pretty, but not trashy ... different from how I'd looked at work the night before. I left my hair down, hoping that it would dry relatively quickly, and I headed back out to the kitchen.