Page 33 of When Sinners Hate
“Mariana is our sister. She’s as much a part of the business as everyone else. She’s also proved herself on more than one occasion. My mother built this business, and we now run it. She should be respected because she’s earned it. And Wren is the woman Dante loves.”
“But why does that grant her an automatic pass to the family?” I don’t see why one equals the other.
He sets down his knife and takes a drink, looking up at me after. “Dante trusts her. We trust her.”
“But it’s more than that. It’s respect, too. You listened to Wren, took her advice and respected her decisions."
“Why wouldn't I listen to her? She's good at what she does. Our arrangement is different. You’re a business decision. You'll only be seen as part of this family when you’ve shown me who you really are.”
I take a few bites of the soft ravioli while I gather my frustrations.
“And Alexia, you mention a word about the full extent of this business to Wren, and I’ll come down so hard on you you’ll wish you were never born.”
I frown but nod at yet another show of respect to a woman other than me. Maybe it’s because this conversation just highlights the disappointments I’ve always felt with my own family. They showed me so little respect in comparison to what these women seem to get. I’ve never known it any other way.
“I’ve always been shut out from decisions my father and brother made. The Ortega’s don’t view women favourably. Neither do you, or you wouldn’t be trading in girls. Maybe I’m just trying to understand why Mariana would want anything to do with it.”
“I suppose you should ask her yourself, but don’t be fooled by her appearance. She’s a Cortez through and through.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
ABEL
“But she's not, is she? A Cortez, I mean,” she says.
“We’re all Cortezes.”
She finishes her third bite of food. “No. Dante and Knox are, Elias, too, before he was killed, but neither you nor Mariana or Shaw are.”
“Is there a point?”
“Well, again, there seems to be this bond between you all, and it all comes down to your mother – the feared matriarch, I suppose.” She runs her finger around the top of her Mojito glass, dipping it into the drink and sucking her finger dry. “See? Women. Respect. It’s such a contradiction. You sell women and yet some seem to be treated as if they're revered.”
I don't offer up an opinion on that. It's just the way I’m built, and because of that, all my brothers have been built the same way, with me guiding them. The fact that Mariana came along, giving us a sister to deal with, helped tame even Elias’ behaviour.
“Why did she choose to keep that name and not your father’s, or maybe Mariana and Shaw's father?”
“I chose to keep that name for us all. Richard Harris was a dick.”
“Was Emilio Cortez a dick too?”
“No. He was the kind of man I admired. Ruthless. Aggressive. Merciless.”
“And yet you killed him.”
“Yes.”
“Openly. In a restaurant full of people. Rather stupid for someone like you.”
I take my time and watch her eating the last of her meal. It’s not like it’s hard knowledge to know about. It was all over the news for long enough, but the fact that she's brought it up now, probably to try dissecting me, is irritating my bad enough mood.
“You’ve been researching the past.”
She leans back and laughs, taking her drink with her so she can suck on the straw. “Of course. I’d hardly be a sensible wife if I didn't know about my husband. You never told anyone why, though. Just admitted guilt and went to Huntsville for it. That was a long term inside that you could have avoided had you been less passionate about it.”
“Passionate?”
“Openly like that? That's the sign of an emotional killing. It tells me you're less heartless than you seem. So why? Why so reckless?”