"Manny! Nel! Wait for me!" Teo's voice had been high-pitched and panicked, coming from the window as Lionel and I dashed down the street, leaving him behind. I could practically hear the desperation in his call, the way his breath quickened as he tried to catch up. But by then, it was already too late. Lionel had always been quicker, always a step ahead, and I—always the younger, always chasing after him—had followed without a second thought.

"Keep up, Manolo!" Lionel had shouted, his tone carrying that familiar edge of impatience. "If you're too slow, then maybe I will take Teodoro with me next time instead of you."

"No you wouldn't," I scoffed, but sped up nonetheless. "Teo's just a kid. He can barely walk without stumbling over his feet."

Lionel laughed at the description of our younger brother and took a sharp turn to the right. I followed suit and soon, we stopped at a small warehouse-like building. Lionel spun around and raised his finger to his slips, telling me to be quiet as he climbed onto some boxes stacked by a small window. I took a seat beside him and studied the scene in front of me.

Men of all ages and builds were standing around the empty room, talking amongst each other. Some stood with their arms crossed over their chest and feet pounding against the ground impatiently while others seemed more relaxed.

"Do you know who they are?" Lionel asked me in a whisper and I shook my head. "You know who that is though, right?"

He pointed to the front of the room and I followed his gaze to a familiar dark-skinned man. "Dad."

Lionel's smirk grew. "All those men over there? They're nothing. They all follow Dad and do whatever he says."

"Really?" I asked and my older brother nodded vigorously.

"Really. Isn't that cool? With just a snap of his fingers, they all fall in line...I want to be like that someday."

I didn't respond. Instead of focusing on the scene taking place inside the building, I focused on Lionel and how his eyes seemed to light up as he followed Dad's every movement and the way he mouthed the words Dad said as if committing them to memory. He didn't say anything else to me for the remainder of the time we sat there, watching Dad and he didn't need to.

I knew from that day on that Lionel would one day become exactly what he wanted—exactly like Dad.

...

"Manolo?" Wesley called out, glancing at me from the corner of his eye as we pulled into the parking lot where he was supposed to meet Boreal. "Are you sure this will work?"

"Huh?" I said and blinked a few times to rid the memory from my mind.

"Meeting Boreal," Wesley repeated slowly, that familiar look of anxiety reflecting in his eyes. "Are you even listening to me?"

"No," the word left my mouth before I could consider otherwise and it was exactly what was needed to cause Wesley to hyperventilate.

"What if he realizes? What if he starts asking questions? What if he kills me—"

I raise my hand and place my pointer finger against his lips, causing him to freeze. His eyes widened in shock, and he stopped mid-sentence, his breath shallow. I kept my finger there for a moment longer than necessary, making sure he understood.

"Nothing is going to happen," I told him firmly. "You're going to calm down and walk in there like you always do. He's going to ask questions, but we talked about this, remember? Keep it simple and vague. It'll be fine."

He sighed, nodding as he unclimbed his seatbelt. "If I die, I'm coming back to haunt you."

"You aren't going to die," I reminded for the umpteenth time. "However, if you did, I'd be honored. But only if you promise to keep it interesting."

He stared at me for a minute before shaking his head. "You're impossible."

Wesley got out of the car and headed toward where he was supposed to meet Boreal. I slouched down so my figure wasn't noticeable from the window just as Boreal's familiar car pulled into the distance.

He stepped out and adjusted his coat, his eyes scanning the area before he spotted Wesley. I waited until he was a good distance away before getting out of the car myself so I could get a better view of the situation. I wanted to get some type of equipment, but Wesley was completely against the idea and I knew with this being his first time, I could only push him so far before he backed out.

I chalked it up to just his paranoia, but as a second car pulled in, I frowned. There wasn't supposed to be anyone except Boreal.

I could see Wesley's expression drop and Boreal turned around just as the car door opened to reveal...Teo?

"Teo!" Boreal exclaimed as my younger brother approached.

Why was he here? He had nothing to do with Wesley or his situation. Did this have something to do with Lionel? What was I saying? Of course, it did.

Teo stopped a few feet away from Boreal and his gaze flickered to Wesley briefly before returning to Boreal.

"Teodoro," he corrected.

Boreal's smile seemed to tighten and he nodded. "Teodoro."

Teo closed the distance between himself and Boreal. His correction was sharp, like a subtle reprimand, and I couldn't help but feel like I'd missed something important.

Boreal's smile softened slightly, though the tension in his jaw didn't fade. "I didn't expect to see you here," he said, straightening his form.

"Neither did I," Teo replied blankly. He shifted his weight, his body language betraying an edge of discomfort, though he kept his expression calm. "But I heard this meeting was happening and thought I'd check in."

Check in? My frown deepened as I crouched lower, watching the exchange from the shadows. What was Lionel up to?

Wesley glanced between them, his confusion mirroring my own. "I..."

Teo's gaze snapped to him, sharp and calculating, before softening into something more neutral. "Wesley. That is your name, yes?"

"Yes..." Wesley skeptically answered.

Teo nodded. "My name is Teodoro. You're not in any more trouble than you already were. I came here to monitor this trade and discuss with Boreal. Feel free to act as if I'm not here."

Wesley remained tense and I cursed to myself, knowing that it didn't matter what he said or did at this point. There wasn't supposed no way he was going to get any information out of Boreal with Teo there.

The trade took place in an eerie silence. Even Boreal, who I've always known to have an irritating tendency of never shutting the fuck up, was quiet as a mouse. He took Wesley's money, gave him a new date for their next meeting, and ordered him to go.

I could see Wesley almost wanting to argue, but in the end, he made the smart choice to do as instructed and leave. He passed me as he headed back to the car, but instead of trying to sneak back in, I gestured for him to drive off. I'd be damned if I was leaving without some inkling of what Lionel was planning and Teo's involvement.

Wesley frowned but did as I said and Teodoro seemed to watch him drive off before turning his intention back to Boreal.

"You gonna tell me what I owe this visit to Teodoro?" Boreal questioned, crossing his arms. He spat out Teo's name as if it was poison and I could see my brother wince slightly, though I didn't understand why.

It was common for the underlings as I liked to call them to address us by our full names or with some sort of title. It was order. Respect. The only two who ever referred to him as 'Teo' were our father, Lionel, and myself—and even that was a rarity when it came to the former two.

"Don't take it so personally. I'm here because Lionel asked me to be."

"All that was for Lionel?" Boreal questioned.

"'All that' was me being professional, as you should be." Teo crossed his arms.

Boreal pouted. He actually pouted like a fucking dog, looking at Teo with these sad eyes I knew would've irritated Lionel if he saw them and, on a different day, would have amused me. But Teo, further proving my impression of him to be wrong, sighed and seemed almost sympathetic to the other man's gaze.

Boreal moved closer, entering Teo's personal orbit, and I expected my brother to retaliate in some fashion or, at the minimum, say something but he didn't. He allowed it and didn't stop there. Boreal leaned forward and I directed my eyes elsewhere, a feeling of disgust falling over me.

And, more importantly, disappointment in Teo and myself because if my younger brother believed that Boreal was the best he could pull then I must've failed him somewhere along the way. A tragedy, really.

"I'm tired of this," Boreal muttered, still not moving back. If anything, he got closer.

"We've talked about this before—"

"—Lionel wouldn't accept it. I remember, but don't you think if we just...I don't know, talk to him we could change his mind?"

I scoffed and Teo actually laughed at that. There was no way in hell Lionel would ever accept whatever the fuck I was looking at and he knew it in his bones.

"You've seen how Lionel's been lately. He's been a mess since the whole Manolo situation. If we were to try talking to him right now, do you want to know what the more likely scenario would be?" Teo leaned forward and touched Boreal. "A bullet between your eyes and I, for one, prefer you alive."

I perked up at the mention of my name. Lionel was going crazy? Good. They do say karma is a bitch.

Boreal faltered for a second. His face scrunched up like Teo had just slapped him with a wet fish. "Fucking Manolo. They still haven't found him yet?"

Teo sighed, running his hand through his looser curls. "Lionel thinks someone's aiding him. He's working through all the guys and wants me to go through the debt list."

"So that's the real reason," Boreal mused. "You weren't just here to see me."

"I told you I wasn't." Teo shrugged, but he didn't push Boreal away when his arms wrapped around him. "Tell me about the guy you were meeting tonight. You think he's worth looking into?"

"Wesley?" Boreal scoffed. "The guy's afraid of his own shadow. I doubt he even knows what Manolo looks like. He keeps his head down and focuses on himself. There's no way, Teo."

Teo hummed in response. "You don't think a guy like that could fall victim to Manolo? You remember the Hilda situation and I know you know as well as I do that Manolo can be silver-tongued and a bit of a wild card."

I rolled my eyes at the mention of Hilda. It was four years ago. I was nineteen. They needed to let the story die.

Boreal shook his head. "Trust me. If Wesley saw Manolo then we'd know by now. That guy prefers to say out of stuff like this. He wouldn't willingly get himself into deeper shit with Lionel."

Teo nodded. "If you're sure."

"I am," Boreal confidently stated and I shook my head. Once an idiot, always an idiot. "Now, enough about Wesley. Let's talk about us."

I frowned. Absolutely not. I backed away as the two started toward their cars and quietly left the area before they could notice me. I walked a good distance away before pulling out one of the two cheap burner phones I'd picked up earlier and dialing the number. It only rang once before the call connected.

"Manolo?" Wesley called out.

"I'm at..." I glanced around and noticed a big, yellow sign. "The dollar store. Come pick me up."

I hung up the phone after that and leaned against a tree as I waited. My thoughts traveled back to Boreal and I groaned out loud.

Now I knew why he was still alive.

Wesley pulled up not long after and I entered the car. We drove in silence for a few minutes, but his eyes kept shooting to mine.

"I'm sorry I wasn't able to keep our agreement."

"It's fine," I said dismissively. "I got the answers I needed. Besides, now we'll be better prepared for next time."

"'Next time?'" Wesley repeated with a hint of dread in his voice and I couldn't help but laugh, especially thinking back to Boreal's analysis of him.

This man had no clue what he was in for.