She looked at him. “This is true?”
Javier ran a hand through his hair and turned to look out the window. “Someone took him. I’m assuming it was Travis since my own fucking men turned on me just seconds before.”
“So is that why you’re here?” she asked, cocking her head to the side. “To warn me about this Travis?”
He kept staring out the window, at the rows and rows of houses, the layer of muddy smog that blocked us from blue sky. “There is no ‘this’ Travis, Violetta. He’s not a made up character. He’s real. And he will be coming for you.”
Her smile faltered for a second before she noticed I was observing her then it was full of false bravado. “I know all about Travis. I’ve been watching the news.”
“This made the news?” Camden asked, stepping forward. His arm brushed against mine and I tried to ward my mind against the warmth of our contact. “I thought he owned half of Veracruz.”
“Of course it did,” she said, smiling her bright teeth at him. “I’m sure in Veracruz you wouldn’t hear anything, but this is a different state. People here don’t look too kindly on the Zetas and their new leader. It’s been playing all morning, how an unknown cartel attempted to assassinate him at his own party. Most people have been celebrating.”
“Did they mention how one of his helicopters was shot down?” Camden asked eagerly.
“Most people?” I asked at the same time.
She gave us both a placating smile. “I never heard anything about a helicopter. But yes, Ellie, most people. This is a big city, right here, bingo, in the middle of the country. There are ties to all the cartels here. The Zetas definitely have a presence, it’s just not the most … popular one. I have a few friends in the Zetas right now.”
Javier moved so fast that all I could see was a blur of menace and stealth. He grabbed Violetta by the mouth and forced her backward until she was pressed against the door. Camden immediately went for him but I grabbed Camden quickly and pulled him back. This wasn’t his place to interfere.
Javier started swearing at her in Spanish. I picked up a few words but anyone could have figured out what he was so riled up about: the fact that she was fraternizing with members of the same cartel that had her parents and sister killed. For the first time I saw fear in Violetta’s eyes, shame and anguish. I reached forward and touched Javier lightly on the shoulder.
“Hey,” I said gently, heart-racing knowing he might turn on me at any moment. “You’re here for her.”
He squeezed her face harder and Violetta’s eyes looked to me. In this moment of fear, she finally looked her age.
“Javier,” I warned.
He loosened his grip and lowered his head so his hair hung around his face. He grunted, trying to control himself. Finally he let go of her completely and stormed straight to the bathroom where he slammed the door shut.
Violetta rubbed at her jaw, her chest heaving, eyes on the bathroom door. “What is wrong with him?”
How well do you actually know your brother? I couldn’t help but think. I gave her a sympathetic smile. “He thinks you’re in a lot of danger. He’s worried.”
“Does he really think Travis would go after me?”
No way to say this delicately. “He went after your sister.”
She ran her tongue over her teeth. “Beatriz was wrapped up with the wrong people. I’m not.”
“You’re friends with the cartel that murdered her and your parents,” Camden said, playing Devil’s Advocate.
She cocked her penciled brow at him. “Oh, do tell me what else you know, you American boy.”
I placed my hand on her arm. “I think Javier has a right to be worried. We need you to leave the city.”
She gave me a dirty look and shrugged out of my grasp. “This is my home. I will do no such thing.”
Javier came out of the washroom, looking slightly more collected. I’d rarely seen him so short-tempered and never expected it with his own sister. But he’d always described Violetta as the youngest, the bratty one, and I could definitely see that youngest sibling/oldest sibling dynamic coming out. It was a bit weird, actually, to see someone as lethal as Javier interacting with someone younger than him, someone that had the power to bring him down and get under his skin. He cared about Violetta a great deal, that much I could tell.
“Ellie is right,” he said, his voice measured. “That’s why I came. You have to leave, today.”
She rolled her eyes, shook her head and did all the things a girl her age would do when asked to leave the life she’d built on her own. “I don’t think so. No.”
“Violetta,” Javier said slowly, coming up to her. His eyes were locked on hers. “Please. This isn’t an option. You have to go stay with Marguerite or Alana.”
She laughed, loud and dry. “Are you serious? Mio Dios! You have no idea, do you Javier? I haven’t spoken to those witches for the last eight months.”