[1] Midnight Lips | Ghost

𝐂𝐇. 19

VALENTINA
༻❁༺

     "Seriously, I'm fine," Kate repeated for the fifth time now, and no matter how many times she'd said it, I still had that feeling in my chest that refused to go away. "False alarm. John shouldn't have put you through that. I am completely fine."

I sighed. "Well, he's a fucking idiot, then."

Kate's laugh came through the speakers, dragging Alejandro's attention across the room. I met his eyes when he made this expression that had me fighting my laugh back. She's capable of laughing?

I rolled my eyes. Of course she is.

I stared at the screen that showed my beloved friend. She had a bandage on the side of her head and her eye was turning purple as the minutes passed, but the lady said she was fine. "Where are you headed now?" I asked her.

"Definitely not home. Not now that we've found new information."

I straightened my spine. "What is it?"

"Gather everyone. We've got bigger problems now."

*ೃ༄

"Ah, here it is!" Alejandro placed a large piece of paper on the table, and when I got a good look, I realized it was a map. A map of a mansion. A big one, let me tell you.

Soap stepped next to me to take a closer look. "La casa de Sin Nombre?" Sin Nombre's house? he guessed in poor Spanish with his Scottish accent.

"No. Uno de sus Lugartenientes." No. One of his lieutenants, Alejandro responded, lifting a brow at him like he was sure Soap would understand.

Soap surprised me by translating it, "A cartel lieutenant."

"Ey!" I patted Soap's back, the feeling of being proud of him overwhelming me. "Estás aprendiendo." You're learning.

"All thanks to you, princess," Soap winked at me.

Yeah no. I crunched my nose, putting my hand slowly away from him dramatically. I knew he was just playing with me, but still, "Ew."

"Continue." I heard Simon say in a tight voice from the other side of the table, and just like that, everything in me focused on him. He stood tall and strong, arms crossed over his chest, showing off those muscles that made him look ridiculously delicious, too much for me.

He peeked into my eyes for a brief second, but it was enough to see that he wasn't so pleased about this moment right now. But what was this moment? He glanced at Soap next to me, then looked away. His eyes were unreadable as always.

"My sources tell me all the VIPs in Las Almas will be there tomorrow night. Some are invited, others are, uhh..."

"Volun-told?" Graves tried.

Alejandro pointed in his direction and nodded, never taking his eyes off the map. "Yes."

"What's the meet about?"

I took a seat at the end of the table and watched Alejandro turn and say, "Us. Las Almas is burning, and they want to know who lit the fire."

"Sin Nombre will be there, yeah?" Simon asked.

"No guarantees but this is our best shot."

"Then we take it." Graves walked closer to Alejandro, and in a low voice he said, "I got enough Shadows here to take over the whole damn country."

I sighed out loud. In the short time I'd been here, Graves was always trying to take over and murder everyone while at it, and it was getting on my damn nerves.