El Malo Read online

  Angel laughs, dark and cold. “Fuck her up.”

  “How?” Javier demands, his jaw tightening.

  “We should all fuck her and then hang her upside down from the rafters. Cut her throat and watch her bleed out,” Angel offers.

  Javier transforms to evil personified as he gestures at him. “Then by all means, Angel. Lead the way.” When Javier is in the shed, he likes toying with his victims.

  Angel grips a fistful of my hair and I scream, taken by surprise at the forceful way he does it. He pushes me down to my knees. His strong hands rip apart my cotton dress from behind and it falls to the floor at my wrists. Panic, despite knowing it would come to this, overwhelms me. I start to crawl toward Javier, but Angel grabs my hips. My breasts are falling out of my bra as I try to get away. Angel yanks down my panties.

  It wasn’t supposed to come to this, though. “Javier!” I scream, no longer able to keep up the act. I let out a terrified howl meant for my husband and look up at Javier, but he’s gone.

  “You stupid cunt,” Michael yells, laughing. “You were always so fucking stupid.”

  From the corner of my eyes, I see Javier circle around. A calm washes over me. I seek out an ally and lock eyes with Marco Antonio, whose face is bright red. He clutches his AK-47 like he’s ready to use it.

  Lucky for the both of us, he won’t have to.

  The plan is going accordingly.

  “I almost let the information of you feeding secrets to our enemies go because you’re nothing but a stupid kid,” Javier roars, his voice unlike I’ve ever heard before. “I could almost look past you roughing up one of my maids because you’re still young and don’t know how to treat a lady. But every video I watched of you in my house touching my property like it’s fucking yours…” He trails off, leaving us all in suspense.

  A choked sound resounds from behind me and I scramble away the moment Angel releases me. I cover my chest and back up against the wall. Javier has a piece of metal wire twisted in each hand and is using it to choke Angel. Angel’s eyes bug out from his head as his face turns purple, shock gleaming in his frantic gaze. That’s right, asshole. You don’t touch an Estrada. Ever. Blood leaks from where the metal wire cuts into his throat. Javier’s face is pure, unfiltered rage as he uses all his strength to yank that wire toward him.

  “I tried to give you so many chances,” Javier hisses. “I tested you over and over again.” He pulls the wire harder. “You failed, motherfucker.”

  Angel makes choking sounds that turn into gurgling.

  Blood.

  So much blood.

  Javier has no doubt sliced through the carotid artery because bright red blood sprays out in a wide arc and splatters the wall. The kid is dead and yet Javier is lost to the madness. He cuts through until he must meet resistance on Angel’s spine. With a rage-filled roar, he shoves the body away from him. It hits the floor with a loud thud.

  Javier is covered in blood and he’s every bit the monster the CIA was after. A killer. A psychopath. An untamable beast.

  He’s beautiful.

  “What. Happens. When. You. Touch. Javier. Estrada’s. Girl?” he yells, his face turning purple. His veins on his neck and face bulge with ferocity.

  “You die,” I breathe out, my voice barely heard.

  He snaps his attention my way and stalks over to me. Giant and muscular and scary as hell. And mine.

  “You die,” he repeats as he drags me into his arms. “Manzanita, I’m sorry.”

  I cling to his blood-soaked apron and tilt my head up to look at him. “I love you, baby.”

  His features soften and he kisses me sweetly on my lips. “I love you too, mami.”

  Michael lets out a garbled sound. “What the fuck? No. Fucking no. Kill her, you idiot! She’s a lying cunt!”

  I pull away from Javier and walk over to the tool box. I pick up a hammer before turning to regard Michael. The scent of piss permeates the room as he loses control. Fear has taken over his body. When I start walking toward him, he squirms in the chair.

  “R-Remember your place, Agent Daza. As your superior, I order you to stop!” Michael yells.

  I pause in front of him, looking down at his pitiful self, the hammer hanging down at my side. Javier’s body heat warms me from behind. He grabs my hips and twists me around. His fingers stroke through my hair as he regards me tenderly. My eyes flutter closed when he kisses me, this time harder than the one before. His tongue dances with mine and encourages me.

  I am his.

  No one is allowed to touch Javier’s Rosa Estrada.

  No one.

  Angel learned the hard way and so will Michael.

  “What the fuck, Daza?” Michael hisses behind me. “El Malo?”

  I smile against Javier’s mouth. My tattoo on my lower back proudly boasts of who I belong to. El Malo. The bad. Javier’s good little undercover maid turned cartel and mafia queen.

  “Remember, Estrada,” Javier says to me, his eyes tender as he regards me. “He hurt you.”

  I give him a clipped nod.

  And then I turn, swinging the hammer violently through the air. It connects with Michael’s temple with a sickening sound.

  Crunch.

  Crunch.

  Crunch.

  Crunchcrunchcrunchcrunchcrunch.

  Over and over and over again I swing my weapon.

  Agent Daza is gone.

  I am El Malo.

  I’m lost to the darkness for seconds, minutes, hours, forever.

  Warm, strong arms wrap around my middle and gently pull me away. Someone tugs the hammer from my grip. Another person offers me their black suit jacket. I’m numb as I stare at the now mutilated head of Agent Michael Stiner.

  “Why did you fucking make me do that?” I scream at his unmoving corpse. “Why did you fucking make me do that?” I use his words against him—words he’s said to me before—but he doesn’t answer.

  It’s over.

  Javier scoops me up in his arms and carries me away from the carnage. We slide into the back of Marco Antonio’s Land Rover and he doesn’t say a word about the blood we’re staining his car with. I cling to Javier as we drive home.

  I’m in a daze.

  Drifting and drifting and drifting.

  I don’t start to come out of it until I’m naked with my husband and standing in our massive shower. He dutifully washes me until the water runs clear. And then he holds me. Loud, ugly sobs rip from my chest and I can barely keep from collapsing to the floor.

  “Shhh,” Javier croons against my hair. “Don’t cry, manzanita. He deserved it.”

  “He did deserve it,” I agree, choking on my sob. “But she didn’t.”

  His black brows furl together. “Rosa Daza.”

  “She died. Rosa Daza is dead.”

  He smiles at me, his dimple forming. “No, mi amor. You are wrong. She didn’t die,” he murmurs as he kisses my forehead. “She was reinvented. Born from the ashes. My sweet Rosa found her fire again and she blazes brighter than any sun in this universe.” His palms find my belly. “And she’s carrying my whole world.”

  I thread my fingers with his and nod. “Te amo, Sr. Estrada.” I love you, Mr. Estrada.

  “Yo también te amo, mi dulce y fogosa esposa.” I love you too, my sweet, fiery wife.

  Javier

  Three years later…

  “Marco Antonio says the last of the hotels have gone into contract to sell,” Arturo tells me. “It is done.”

  I lean back in my desk chair and kick my feet up on my desk. Sucking in on my candy apple little cigar, I raise an eyebrow in question before letting out a plume of smoke. “Done, huh?”

  “Sí, jefe.”

  Arturo’s gaze drifts to the window where Tania and Rosa sit in the shallow end of our new pool. Both pregnant. Both happy. We’ve only lived in Puerto Vallarta for a year now, but we love it. It’s clean and gorgeous. There are even some cliffs worth diving from much to my father’s horror.

  My fathe
r is dancing with Emiliano. The kid is always laughing and playing. Our little María Elena adores her uncle, who is only four years older than her. In her cute little yellow bikini, she wiggles her butt. Her loud giggles can be heard through the glass. God, she’s so cute.

  “Bring home our boys,” I tell Arturo as I stand and snuff out my cigar in an ashtray. He rises and gives me a nod before disappearing to make the call to Marco Antonio and Alejandro.

  I quickly stride into my bedroom and change into my trunks. By the time I step outside, Father has María Elena in his arms and she squeals as he spins her around. With my daughter distracted by her grandfather, I dive into the deep end of the pool and swim toward my target.

  The sexy Sra. Javier Estrada.

  Her belly is big beneath the water. Full with my child. A son this time. Our daughter kept asking the sex, so we found out for her. She’s thrilled to have a little brother.

  My wife doesn’t startle when I wrap my arms around her. She likes danger. I grope her tits for a minute before I surface behind her.

  “Hey, handsome,” she greets, a smile in her voice.

  “Hello, beautiful.”

  She relaxes against me and I rest my chin on her head. My thoughts drift to the night when she told me she was pregnant with María Elena.

  “I took a test last week and another to be sure this morning, but, Javi, we’re going to have a baby,” she tells me, her smile widening.

  I toss the test and the cigar to the floor before grabbing her hips, yanking her to me. My lips crash to hers and I kiss her until she’s moaning against my mouth. Gripping her by the ass, I lift her and walk her to the very wall I intend on fucking her against. Except when I make it there, I don’t move. Simply press her back to the wall and stare at her.

  “¿Voy a ser papá?” I will be a daddy?

  She nods, tears welling in her eyes. “Sí.”

  I maul her, eager to show her just how happy I am when she palms my scruffy cheeks. Her eyes are sad and serious. “You don’t doubt my love do you?”

  “Nunca más.” Never again.

  “Bien.” Good.

  She pulls me closer so her lips brush against my ear. I’m drunk on her news, but her whispered words sober me up.

  “I’m tired of lying.”

  “Lying?” I growl.

  She clings to me. “Just listen, Estrada. Don’t talk. Listen.”

  Fuck, she’s fierce. My sweet Rosa.

  “I’m not who you think I am,” she admits. “My real name is Rosa Daza.”

  I pin her with a severe glare. Her walls are down. She’s finally letting me in. I fucking told Arturo and Marco Antonio to give her time. Rosa is strong and fearless. Braver than most men. Plus, she loves danger. And what her lips are letting slip out are very dangerous words.

  “My father is David Daza. A criminal. A bad one.” Her nostrils flare. “Like you, baby.”

  I arch a challenging brow at her, but she doesn’t waver. Whatever it is she’s saying, she won’t stop now. Pride surges through me at her bravery.

  “He went to prison for his crimes and left my mother all alone to take care of me. She loved him. When I was younger, I didn’t get it. I didn’t understand how she could love a monster.” Her fingers tenderly stroke through my hair. “But I understand now.”

  Tears well in her eyes as she remembers her mother, but she doesn’t stop. She continues, lifting her chin. “Criminals like my father shot up the restaurant we were visiting. My mother was a casualty. From that moment on, I decided I wanted to avenge her death by going after every Mexican mafia monster I could. I studied hard in school. I remained focused. Eventually, I was accepted into the Central Intelligence Agency.”

  “Rosa—”

  “I said be quiet,” she bites out, her brown eyes flaring. I have this woman in my arms blabbing her most hidden secrets that could affect whether she lives or dies tonight, and still, she’s fearless. “Four years ago, I was assigned under my superior, Michael Stiner, to go deep undercover. The agency wanted me to infiltrate Javier Estrada’s organization. I was to spy and learn everything I could from the inside while Michael gathered intel from the outside.” She frowns. “I worked so hard. So diligently. I hated you and everything you stood for.”

  A growl of warning rumbles through me, but she’s not fazed by it.

  “But then…things changed. You looked past the maid façade and saw Rosa. Your interest was piqued, and to be frank, the moment you took notice, I wasn’t immune to your charm. I fell hard for you, Estrada. So damn hard.”

  I should kill her.

  A smart criminal would.

  He’d snap her neck and toss her body over the balcony.

  Avoid all the heat she could bring down upon me if she chose to.

  But, apparently, I love danger too.

  “And now?” I ask, my voice husky.

  She draws my head closer to her, our lips nearly touching. “And now, I’m yours. I think I was that night when you looked after me in the kitchen. That’s when I awoke from the fog I’d been drifting along in. Everything was so clear and I finally felt alive.”

  “Rosa Daza,” I murmur, trying out her name aloud, but certainly not the first time. “I know.”

  Her brows furl together in confusion. “What?”

  “It took some digging, but Arturo finds people. He started sniffing you out the day you put the smackdown on Julio. Marco Antonio was just sure you were a professional. Turns out, he was right. At first I was angry, but you were so goddamned brave. Prancing around for years in the Estrada house, sneaking information. And, truth be told, I needed to be sure before I did anything. Before I dragged your pretty ass and ended you in the shed, I needed to know if the things that were happening between us were real. By the time they had information on you, I was in love, manzanita. I kept waiting for you to bring down the hammer and it never came. At that shop, I was just sure you were going to call in reinforcements and everything between us would have been a lie.”

  “We were never a lie,” she breathes, her voice firm and fierce.

  “But I had to be sure.” I rest my forehead against hers. “I had to be sure.”

  “I know.”

  “Rosa?”

  “I’m sorry, Javi.”

  “I know, mami.”

  “Are you going to kill me now?” She tilts her head and regards me.

  “Never, manzanita. You’re mine.”

  She smiles. “I had to be sure.”

  “I know.”

  “You’re quiet,” she murmurs as she turns in my arms to face me. Her huge belly separates us, but I don’t mind. It’s pretty fucking cool when my son kicks me for getting too close to his mother. “Everything okay?”

  “Just thinking about you.”

  She grins, her smile blinding me with her beauty. “Funny, I was thinking about you too.”

  “Good or bad?” I tease as I kiss her plump lips.

  “Always bad.” She nips at my bottom lip and it makes my cock jolt in my trunks. “You’re Puerto Vallarta’s newest and most terrifying villain after all. King Baddie.”

  My palms slide to her ass and I squeeze her. “And what does that make you since you’re married to me?”

  “The bad wife?”

  I chuckle as I admire this woman.

  My woman.

  “You’re a good wife, mami. So good.”

  She clutches my balls under my cock through my trunks and flashes me a devilish grin. “I guess I better start working on baddie skills.” Her hand squeezes me to the point of pain, causing a growl to rumble through me.

  “Careful there, manzanita,” I warn. “You’re dancing with danger.”

  “Well, I do love to dance,” she teases. Her eyes darken as her red lips quirk up on one side. “And we both know I love danger.”

  Fin

  (The End)

  Listen on Spotify here.

  “Let You Down” by NF

  “Bad At Love” by Halsey

 
“Love On The Brain” by Rihanna

  “The Night We Met” by Lord Huron

  “Him & I” by G-Eazy and Halsey

  “Havana” by Camila Cabello

  “Dark Side” by Bishop Briggs

  “Blood In The Cut” by K. Flay

  “I Found” by Amber Run

  “Picturing Love” by July Talk

  “Bad Things” by Machine Gun Kelly and Camila Cabello

  “Lips Of An Angel” by Hinder

  “Lights Down Low” by MAX and gnash

  “Can I be Him” by James Arthur

  “Duele El Corazon” by Enrique Iglesias

  “Sour Times” by Portishead

  “Back To Black” by Amy Winehouse

  “Drowning” by Banks

  “Hatefuck” by Cruel Youth

  “I Do What I Love” by Ellie Goulding

  “Wicked Game” by Stone Sour

  “Mad Hatter” by Melanie Martinez

  “Weather” by A Story Told

  “Something I Can Never Have” by Nine Inch Nails

  “The Fire” by Bishop Briggs

  “Woman” by Diana Gordon

  “Cocaine Cinderella” by Jutes

  “Issues” by Julia Michaels

  “If You Want Love” by NF

  “Silence” by Marshmello and Khalid

  “Wolves” by Selena Gomez and Marshmello

  “Desire” by Meg Myers

  “I Really Want You To Hate Me” by Meg Myers

  “Homemade Dynamite” by Lorde, Khalid, Post Malone, and SZA

  “Monsters” by Ruelle

  “Love On The Brain” by Cold War Kids and Bishop Briggs

  “River” by Eminem and Ed Sheeran

  “do re mi” by Blackbear

  “Sorry” by Halsey

  “I Feel Like I’m Drowning” by Two Feet

  “Love Is a Bitch” by Two Feet

  “Lil Darlin” by ZZ Ward and The O’ My’s

  “Young Dumb & Broke” by Khalid

  “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee

  “Felices los 4” by Maluma

  “Never Be the Same” by Camila Cabello

  “A Change Is Gonna Come” by Greta Van Fleet