2. Rita

2

RITA

Three Days Earlier

I stared at the name plaque on the door.

Margarita Aguilar- Co-Founder

Black Point School for Girls

An elite school helping those less fortunate on the outside. On the inside? A place to teach girls how to handle themselves and how to make a career out of it.

Twisting the knob, I pushed it open and stepped inside. The hallway was empty. Why the hell wouldn't it be at 10:30 in the morning? All the girls were in classes and learning how to kickass.

Me? I needed my beauty sleep. I couldn't properly kick ass unless I had a solid eight hours. It just wasn't happening. Then I needed an extra hour to get myself ready for the public.

I wasn't high maintenance though. I knew some bitches who needed three.

And I still looked better. It was these good genes I got from my dear old Papá .

The light coming from the floor to ceiling windows nearly blinded me as I dumped my designer bag on the table. Every inch of the office was sleek, but sexy. I'd paid massive bucks for a woman to decorate it to my tastes.

It was nothing like I'd ever been part of before.

Growing up a Dirty Dog, I was used to dingy warehouses, seedy clubs, and oil-stained auto shops. When my girl, Amorette, and I first built this place, I'd been out of sorts.

I didn't belong. And I sure as hell didn't wear pencil skirts and button-downs like she did. From the very first second the doors opened and we made our offices here, she was right at home, floating around with her five-two self, glaring at people down the end of her nose like she knew she was smarter than them and didn't give a fuck.

She didn't look at me that way. We had a special bond, one I forced because girl besties were hard to come by in gang life. The only girls in the Dirty Dogs were the girls who serviced the clubs and hangouts, or old ladies and daughters who weren’t allowed at the compound.

I plopped my round ass in the chair as a knock came at the door. Then it cracked and Amorette poked her head in.

"Morning," she said with a sly smile on her face. No matter how hard she tried to get me to come in at eight, it wasn't going to happen.

"What's up, bestie." I grinned, and she returned it. As much as I needed a girlfriend, she had needed one more. And that Blanca bitch wasn't the ride or die kind. She was the stab you in the back if it suited her kind, and Amorette couldn't convince me otherwise.

"We've had another issue with Molly. She's starting fights in the dorms." Amorette smoothed some of her black hair off of her face as she sat down in the seat across from me. Even after giving birth only a few months earlier, she barely took up half of it.

It was like a high metabolism was her super power. I was only mildly jealous. I loved my curves and I loved good food and an even better cocktail.

"So?" I asked as I curled my nails over the ends of the chair-arms. Carefully. I'd had them done the night before and they were filed so sharp, they might puncture the expensive leather Andre picked out.

Now that was something I never saw coming. Being connected to the brothers of the man I–

Fuck that. Fuck that so hard with a jolly red dildo.

I would not think about that lying coward. If I did, I'd cry, and I was too much of a badass to cry.

"You don't see the issue?" Amorette quirked a brow.

"We're training assassins. Spies. Bodyguards. We're teaching these girls how to kill with their pinkies and be unapologetic about it. Starting fights is a byproduct of that goal." I leaned forward, resting my elbows on the desk.

I was proud of these little chicas too. They were cute as shit, just like Amorette, until you turned your back on them.

"Rita," she sighed. "We want them to have control. If they go around fighting everyone, it will get them killed. That's not what I'm working toward. Maybe she needs to be sent back home."

My throat closed up. We would not be sending Molly home. The very worst feeling in the world was to be cast away from something that was important to you. If we did that, who knew what Molly would do or grow up to be.

The one thing I was certain of, Molly would make decisions she'd regret. They'd probably come back to bite her in the ass .

"Why are you smiling?" Amorette asked slowly, her brows furrowing in confusion.

"Shit, I am smiling." I touched the corner of my mouth with my index finger, careful not to smudge the red gloss. It was transfer proof, but the temperatures outside were enough to melt asphalt. I wasn't taking any chances.

"Yes, in a sad sort of way. I'm asking why."

"Don't be such a smartass." I wish I had something to toss at her, but all I had was a crystal paperweight and a stapler on my desk. Items I never used but the interior decorator said every desk needed. "Look. Let's give Molly a chance. The last thing we want is to be the beginning of her villain origin story."

We had too many real examples for that. Amorette more so than me.

Outside of typical gang drama and the shit with the Institution before Vicente and Valentina met their end, I had a great life growing up. Loving parents until my mamá passed. A club that would die for me, and the training to take care of myself.

Then I was cast away. It fucked with my head and my perspective about everything.

"You remember when I tried to force Parker to fuck me?" Parker as in one of her many men. While she was with him. It hadn't been that serious. I'd backed down fast, but I'd been committed to the cause for about ten minutes.

Amorette barked out a laugh. "That’s a memory I tried to bury. Why are we friends?"

I grinned and shifted in my chair. "Because I'm awesome with killer style, and I'll cut a bitch for you." Then I remembered Molly. "I lost my head like that because I'd been kicked aside. That asshole we're not naming made me feel like scum. Like I was lower than a cockroach. Cornering you guys seemed like a good idea to get some of my power back. All I'm saying is, let's not be so quick to cast Molly aside."

"Rita." She raised her eyes, impressed. "That sounds eerily close to a moral compass."

I scoffed. "Please. I'm still the self-serving princess you know and love, but I can relate to Molly." I glanced at my watch. "Let's go check on her. I don't have any meetings this morning anyway. Maybe if we chat with her, she'll calm down."

"Okay," Amorette answered too quickly.

"Hmm." I didn't stand up.

"What?"

"Why do I feel like this is a trick?" I squinted at her, but she just smiled.

"No trick. I love when you take charge. It looks good on you."

I rolled my eyes. "You're just living your best life and projecting." We laughed and left my office.

The school was in the next building and the dorms behind that. With the associations both Amorette and I had, we thought it was best if the girls weren't constantly in the same building as us.

We had a pretty good handle on our shit, but one never knew when it would blow up in our faces.

"How's my precious little pearl?" I asked as I held the door open to the outside.

"Oh you know, slobbering all over the place." She slid sunglasses on her face that she'd grabbed on our way out. I put mine on too. The sun was vicious and we would not be wrinkling before our time.

"And the daddies?" I smirked. That was one fucked up arrangement, but it worked for her, so who was I to judge. Honestly, having four, raging-hot alphaholes fawn all over you and your child was a dream. Just not mine.

"Twirled around Cossette’s little finger. Especially Lafe and Parker. And Andre." She huffed out a laugh as we passed through the wrought iron gate to the school. I'd added this. It just completed the image I had in my head of those stuck up places I'd seen in the movies. "Actually Grey might be the worst."

"So nothing has changed and they're all deliriously happy."

High-pitched yells from the practice field floated around the corner of Little Love Hall.

It was ridiculous and cutesy for an all girls’ school. I rebelled at first, but caved. Who gave a shit what the buildings were named?

Amorette slowed and tipped her face my way. "They are happy. Especially since we received the call."

I pressed my lips together. "We're not talking about that."

"We have to talk about it sometime. You still never told me–"

"We're not talking about any of that." I sped up, opening my stride until her tiny legs couldn't keep up. So Matías was actually alive. And he'd spent his time away from us hunting down her sister.

Who fucking cared?

It was at best another nail in the coffin of reasons he wasn't right for me. I couldn't trap the breeze in my hand anymore than I could force Matías to love me.

He broke my heart and scattered the pieces across the street without any remorse.

Knowing that he cared for Amorette enough to find her sister, sliced into the tender muscles of my heart more than I wanted to admit. How did I come back from that ?

If Amorette wasn't so fucking likable in a prickly, driven way, I'd have hated her guts.

What was it about her that had men falling all over themselves when I couldn't hold on to the one man I wanted. Had only ever wanted?

Whispers of drunken memories tried to take over but I ignored them. I'd done so many things I'd regretted since Matías tossed me aside. The very best thing for me to do was pretend I hadn't done them.

Girls ranging from twelve up to sixteen trained in hand to hand combat on the field. Olga, a German battle ax with Russian family roots, yelled commands and prowled around the pairs, tossing out corrections and the rare praise.

I didn't see the little blonde head I was looking for, so I kept going.

A few of the girls noticed me and smiled. I tried to return it, but it seemed more like a grimace. They didn't see that , taking their attention quickly back to their opponent before they were knocked in the head.

Olga gave me a chin dip, and then looked behind me.

That little chihuahua was closing in. I needed to pick up the pace.

I entered the side door of Little Love Hall and headed straight for the administrative offices.

"She deserved it!"

Ah, there was Molly. I didn't know every single girl, but Molly had already been in trouble a number of times. First, stealing rolls from the cafeteria. But who cared about that? When I found out, I yelled at the cooks to give them more food. Then she cheated on a written test. Amorette had handled that issue, but I spoke to Molly later.

Life is hard. Take all the help you can get and use every single fucking resource you can. But don't get caught. That’s how we stayed alive and thrived.

"Molly," I said as I stepped into the office.

Ms. Garcia, the house mother, stopped her rant and Molly glanced up. "Ms. Aguilar!"

She ran straight to me and wrapped her arms around my waist.

Damn. This kind of stuff got to me every time. It was like shocking myself with experiences I never knew I wanted. No one in the Dirty Dogs would even dare to touch me like this. Not the Dirty Dogs’ precious princess.

"Ms. Aguilar, Molly is being reprimanded for fighting. I already notified Ms. Black." Ms. Garcia spoke with a heavy accent. She was as local as we could find, and for the most part did a good job, but like Amorette, sometimes she got lost in the rules.

"I need a word with Molly. Amorette is behind me. You can discuss it with her." It would give me a few extra minutes without the bestie bringing up things that made me stabby.

"Of course." She twisted her lips to the side. Most likely she was confused on why she'd need to talk to Amorette again. As long as she did it, it didn’t matter what she said.

I touched Molly's shoulder and she backed away. Pointing to the conference room behind her, she took the hint and led the way. There was a large rectangular window next to the door that was perfect for me to stop Amorette in her tracks if she tried to come in.

Molly didn't sit at the table. I didn't ask her to. Amorette was insanely intense on not forcing the girls to do little things like that. She wanted them to have as much control as possible unless they were in a class setting.

I, however, took a seat facing the window .

"Ms. Aguilar. I started the fight, but those other girls are nasty! You should hear the things they said to me!"

Molly was one of the girls who had been saved from the Gallery. Well, not the actual Gallery, but the girls who were being trained for it.

I was so fucking glad Amorette and her men had shut that operation down. The Dirty Dogs weren't innocent. Papá had dabbled in the skins business himself, but now all the girls were locals and paid for their services. That I could stomach.

What happened to the girls at the hands of the men running the Gallery...

That also made me stabby.

Molly was only twelve, taken from the streets in Texas. Blonde hair, big blue eyes, and mean as a snake. She had her own set of rules and she really didn't like it when the other girls broke them.

"What did I tell you?" I asked. If she wanted to tell me what happened, I'd listen, but there was a bigger lesson here.

"Keep my nails filed so they're sharp as hell."

I pressed my lips together to stop my laugh. "That's important, but not what I meant."

She squinted one eye. "Don't let no bitch keep me down."

"Nope." I beamed. I'd really imparted some wisdom on her. I'd have to have Amorette add these nuggets to the manual she'd written. The code for the girls.

"Don't get caught."

"Right. Use all the resources at your disposal, but don't get caught. You wanted to punish these girls?"

Amorette stormed into the office, her face red and her blue eyes blazing. Ms. Garcia engaged her, but she stepped toward the conference room .

I raised a finger and she stopped, glaring at me.

See? The window was perfect.

"They said nasty things. You can’t do that and expect people to like you." Molly fumed, balling her hands up by her thighs.

"Fair. But fighting got you caught. What's the lesson?"

She glanced up at the ceiling, sticking the tip of her pink tongue out. Eventually she returned her attention to me. "Punish them a different way?"

"Right. Show them a little karma, but not in a way that will come back on you. I learned that the hard way. You're lucky I did, so I can help you avoid the same mistakes."

She stared at me for a beat, then two, seeming to think my suggestion over. I thought we were getting somewhere until her next words.

"But it's satisfying to land my fists into their faces."

I let myself laugh this time. "Fair, but they're in training too, and pretty faces are just as much a weapon as sharp nails. You can't damage school weapons."

Molly slumped and grumbled under her breath.

Amorette held up a hand as she answered her phone. Immediately the blood drained from her face. Before she said anything, she barreled toward the door, swinging it open with so much force, the handle probably dented the wall.

"It's Javier! He's in the hospital!"

Papá. I jumped up. That couldn't be. He was invincible. Larger than life.

"What happened?" I patted my waist and hips like I was going to find my phone, but I'd left it in my office.

Amorette gulped. "Heart attack."