25. Twenty-five

Carlos

My eyes stay focused on the men in front of me as I sit up against the headboard. My head is still spinning, and I"ve reached a high I"ve never experienced before. With me and Isaiah, we had been temporarily shielded away from the rest of the world when we were together. Now with the three of us, we'd completely left earth, slipping away to a place in a different universe. One that's only made for us. I can"t explain the intensity I felt in this room. I am flying high above all my troubles instead of drowning in them the way I usually am. My heart pains when I think about being caught back in those dark waters when they both leave, going back to their home they"ve built together. One I am never meant to be a part of. As long as they remain here, it"s like that other home had never existed and they were meant to be here all along—with me.

Then Isaiah pulls Joey into his arms, whispering in his ear and I"m once again on the outside looking in. He rocks him back and forth until his body relaxes, and he goes still. He presses more kisses into his hair, and I feel like I"m intruding on something special. A moment made for only them.

My gaze drops to my naked body and I pull the towel back over my body, climbing out of bed. I walk past Isaiah and Joey, moving quickly toward the door with confusion overcoming me. The house grows quieter the closer I get to the kitchen. The bag of food is still sitting on the counter with Isaiah"s half eaten taco sitting next to it. I laugh, shaking my head. There haven"t been many things known to keep Isaiah from eating, but Joey has the power to make him forget anything else exists when he"s in the room and I"m starting to understand why. The moment Joey slipped into bed beside me, I had forgotten where I was and why I shouldn"t kiss him. His lips had claimed mine and everything else was forgotten.

Loud footsteps move behind me and large arms wrap around me. "I would say just like old times, but I"d be wrong," Isaiah says, pulling me against him and peppering kisses into my neck. "It was something else entirely." He kisses my neck again. "I think Joey will be sleeping for a while this time. He"s got a lot to catch up on I"m sure. We may have to force a taco in his mouth later in order to get him to eat," he says with a half hearted chuckle while taking a step back. I turn my neck to gaze into his tired eyes and it"s hard not to melt at the sight of his mesmerizing smile.

"He may want to eat ten tacos the next time he wakes up. I"ve seen the way that boy eats when he goes too long without it," I say with a grin.

He smiles. "Yup. Joey does love to eat as much as he loves to sleep. Pretty sure sex cancels those two things out for him though. It"s the first time I"ve seen him lose himself to such a high degree, but I think I could say the same for all of us."

"Yeah, we probably shouldn"t have gotten so carried away like that. Especially when I need to be focused. Letting my guard down is never a good thing."

He releases a long sigh. "Carlos, taking time away for some fun and relaxation is important for any person. Especially someone like you who"s been lacking it all these years."

Relaxation and fun is all it was and from now on I should probably not get lost in the false hope it could mean more. It"s better I stick to my reality. The reality being there"s Isaiah and Joey, then there"s me. The man who's never meant to fit in one place. Someone who is always made to wander the world lost. Doing what I did for a living kept my mind busy, giving me a sense of purpose and sense of belonging. "It can also be dangerous. Why do you think I spend most of my time alone?"

Isaiah frowns. "I understand how important your work is to you C, but neither Joey or I are one of your jobs."

"I don"t know if you remember the shit storm we caused yesterday, but it sure hasn"t forgotten us and neither has Santana. Not to mention Veronica hasn"t accomplished what she set out to do. Which is get rid of the men she feels ruined her life."

"Are you sure that"s what this is about? I"m sorry I left you here all these years. Maybe I never was meant to."

"You"re saying you were never supposed to leave everything behind for the man you love?"

"I"m saying it took me until now to realize I may have left one behind."

A loud knock comes to the door saving me from getting too wrapped in my emotions. Men like me aren"t supposed to have them. "I think I should get that and you should get back to your husband."

Our shoulders bump together as I start toward the door, wondering what other problems await me on the other side. My brother Gabriel shuffles from side to side and a gust of heat from outside hits me when I pull the door open. "I'm assuming this isn't a social call."

"You'd be assuming right." He moves past me, entering the house. "Sorry, hermano, I know you are probably still exhausted after everything you've been through this week, but unfortunately now isn't the time to rest."

"When have you ever known me to be a person who rests?"

He laughs, shaking his head. "I guess you have a point there. Have you left the house yet?"

"Isaiah has to grab breakfast, but I'm sure he was careful about not being followed."

"Good. Well, men who work for Veronica have been spotted near the clubs. There's no doubt she's looking to finish what she started. Santana is still nowhere to be found and I think we finally figured out why." He runs a hand through his hair, taking a seat on my couch. "It's because he's been hiding behind someone else all these years."

"I thought we already knew that?"

"We knew he wasn't any of the guys who claimed to be him, but what we didn't realize is he's been right in front of our faces all along. You see this whole time we've been searching for a man."

My eyes grow wide and freeze where I stand. "Are you saying Santana is a woman?"

He nods, scooting closer to the edge of the couch. "Supposedly, The Gatekeeper got orders directly from Santana and he's been seen meeting with Veronica many times. Shortly after being seen together, people get taken, killed or business deals get made. Not to mention her husband is not who she says he is either. He isn't just an ordinary banker she married to stop living in her parents" shadows. He's a well-known money launderer. They are merely business partners and I don't think the pregnancy is real either."

"Where is the bitch now?"

"That's the thing, just like Santana, she has dropped off the face of the earth. No one has seen her since the delivery truck was found on the side of the highway and a lot of businesses and lives were affected by the auction not going well. Ivan was killed and men didn't get their purchases and the other cartel didn't get their money. Not to mention their whole operation has been tampered with, forcing them to start over from scratch."

"I wish I could bring myself to care, but I'm really having a hard time giving a shit about their little fucking operation. I don't regret what we did, and I wouldn't take it back if I could. Even if it means they"ll be coming for me soon."

"They may be coming for all of us soon. Miguel hasn"t exactly held up his end of the bargain. He was supposed to be the one running the deliveries at the depot, but he handed the job to someone else. Since that person can"t be accounted for, it falls back on Miguel. There were also a few men who escaped the Auction and saw Joey taking down a lot of the men there."

"So what do you suggest we do? I"m assuming you came here with a plan in mind."

"I did. Mateo has sent a few of his men to different clubs and they will be waiting for Veronica"s men now that we know what they look like and hopefully we can get one of them to reveal where she is."

"And if we can"t?"

"I think you know as well as I do that someone always talks eventually. Especially the people who don"t want any harm coming to their family. People like Joey"s driver, Daniel. He was found this morning at a pharmacy not far away from here, picking up medicine for his sick kid. He doesn"t seem to know very much though, only confirming what we already know about Santana being in Mexico and how he was the one who hired Daniel to take Joey by offering him the best medical care for his kid."

"Shit. No wonder Isaiah came alone. He can"t even trust the men who work for him."

"There is one I can trust, and I"ve made him aware of what"s going on," Isaiah says from behind me. "He said they will probably search for us there soon and he"ll be ready for them when they do. He reminds me a lot of his sons."

Gabriel and I both go quiet, not taking our eyes off Isaiah. I try to find my words, but they come out a jumbled mess. Luckily my brother is able to ask what I can"t. "What do you mean? How do you know you can trust him?"

"Because I know you both trust him too and if it wasn"t for him, Angel would have never made it out of that shed."

My mouth opens and closes. "Are you saying what I think you"re saying…this whole fucking time you"ve been working together, and this is how you plan to tell me?"

Gabriel"s eyes shift between us and his eyes grow big with the realization of who we are talking about. "You know where Marcus is?"

Isaiah nods. "Your dad is Joey"s and my business partner. We wouldn"t have come this far without him. He didn"t think it was safe for any of you to know where he was."

"So he thought continuing to live some other life would help keep us from harm? What fucking good that"s done."

"I can"t speak for Marcus, but in a way I can see where he"s coming from. I stayed away for the same reason he did and if I never came back, y"all wouldn"t be put in the bind you are now. All I did was bring my problems home, putting everyone here in more danger. Danger that could have been prevented if I stayed away," Isaiah adds.

"Mateo and Miguel are happy to have you home again even if it means we have to all fight to keep you here. We would have done the same for our dad, it"s what family does. Why do you think Carlos didn"t turn you away?"

Isaiah stares between Gabriel and me. "Only I"m not Carlos" family."

"No, you"re more than that. Carlos has never taken down a whole trafficking ring for any of us before," he says with a loud chuckle.

I roll my eyes. "I don"t think you have to worry about anyone taking your ass. They would immediately turn around and bring you back."

"I hate to break up your little family tiff, but none of this is exactly helping us get closer to taking down my bitch of an ex and her little friends who will be coming for us next," Joey says standing at the end of the hallway dressed in a baggy shirt and pants that are too big to stay up on their own. "We can"t hide away in this house forever. Maybe in order to bring Santana out of hiding, we need to be the ones who come out first."

"What if we don"t see her coming? We don"t even know who all to look out for. It took us this long to figure out who Veronica"s new alias is. Who knows how long it will take to figure out who all her business partners are," I say, not sure putting a bigger target on our back is the best option.

"From what I"ve seen so far these men aren"t very good at keeping secrets and know how to stand out," Joey adds.

"It"s a good thing some of us know how to go unnoticed," Isaiah"s gaze shifts between Gabriel and I. "Joey and I can be the ones to put up the flag."

"Then I guess it"s all been decided, huh? The best way to finish what we started is to first set out the bait. Looks like those flashy suits of yours weren"t a complete waste of money after all," I mutter toward Isaiah.

"They have come in handy in other situations too. How do you think I keep reeling you in like a fish on a hook?"

"Apparently I have a thing for damsels in distress," I respond.

We all erupt into laughter. It"s good to finally break the tension that was taking over when Isaiah and I were alone. Joey takes a seat next to me, placing his hand on my leg and calms my body"s restlessness. It makes it difficult for me to pull away. "Don"t worry, big guy. The worst is behind us. They"re stepping in our territory now."

He"s right. They are coming into our world now and I can guarantee we"ll be better prepared than they were.