Chapter 14

Javier waited for Gomez Ramirez,aka Mr. Rook, to finish his phone call. He spoke Portuguese to whoever he was talking to, probably assuming Javier didn’t know the language.

He’d given Ramirez the impression he didn’t understand Portuguese, but along with Spanish, Russian, Italian, and a passable Arabic, he did.

Javier examined his nails, as if he was bored and not mentally taking in what was being said. Of course, he only had one side of the conversation, but Ramirez was arrogant enough not to watch his words.

That arrogance would be his downfall—one day.

“The next shipment of girls will be arriving tomorrow,” Ramirez said. “They should be ready for auction by the end of the week. I need to review them and see if I don’t want to keep some myself.” He laughed, the sound grating down Javier’s back.

He did what he had to do for Ramirez, but he didn’t like the man. In fact, he despised him. Leaving wasn’t an option.

Not now, there was too much at stake.

No one left Ramirez’s cartel anyway. If they did, it was usually in pieces that were delivered back to family members.

It was widely known that Ramirez was a cruel bastard. Crueler than his brother had been. It’d taken Gomez years and a lot of bloodshed to be in the position of power he currently held.

“Javier, I need you to go down to the dock. The next shipment will be arriving tomorrow. I want you to make sure nothing happens to it. Make sure it gets delivered to where it’s supposed to be.”

Frustration welled inside of Javier, and he wanted nothing more than to pull his gun and put a bullet between Ramirez’s eyes. Then he’d be in charge, and things would change. Except he couldn’t. He had to bide his time and wait.

“Of course. What time will I need to be there? And you can trust me to make sure it gets where it’s supposed to.”

Of course, the shipment he’d be overseeing wasn’t the one Ramirez had just been talking about. The man kept his sex trafficking business very separate from the drug business. He always personally oversaw the delivery of the girls.

Normally, Ramirez only had two shipments a year, one in February and the other in October. It was June, and this was the first time there’d been a shipment in the middle of the year.

Was he adding another shipment or changing things up in terms of bringing his October shipment earlier this one time?

Whatever it was, Javier would observe and continue to do the shit work Ramirez wanted him to do because the end would justify the means.

At least that was what he kept telling himself.