His eyes narrow slightly and he clucks his tongue, “Because I’m not into-” he stops, shaking his head. “Forget it. What do you want?” he asks.
I want to make him finish his sentence, but I figure I’ve only got a limited amount of time before a Costa comes looking for me. So, I’ll settle for asking the important questions. “What happened to you?” I ask him.
“Got shot.” He shrugs his shoulder and instantly winces. “I guess that was a bad idea,” he mutters. “I need that damn doctor back in here to give me some of her drugs. No wonder the Costas don’t give a fuck about getting fucked up, they’ve got the good drugs here. The best we got is somebody’s baby mama whos’ a nurse at the clinic to fix us up.”
“I…” I can’t even figure out a response to that, so I change trek. “How did you get shot?” I ask him instead.
“Simple, someone put a bullet into a gun and then they shot me. You know I thought you had a little more brains, Winter.”
I ball my fists, my jaw clenching, “You know that’s not what I meant.”
“Yeah, I know,” he says casually. “The Ramos Cartel set us up.”
Okay, my interest is definitely piqued.
“Ramos Cartel?”
“Yeah, you were there when your boyfriend made the deal with my father for us to draw them out. Well, they were drawn but apparently, they knew it was a set up. They started shooting before they even got all of the way out of the car. And yours dearest had the honor of drawing first blood.”
“And they brought you here?” I ask in confusion.
From what I’ve seen, Diamond doesn’t get along with anyone in the family. So, I don’t know who’d think it a good idea to bring him here to recover.
“Yeah, that damn Bianchi apparently thought I needed him to save me,” he shoots me a look, “but I didn’t.” I can’t tell which one of us he’s trying to convince.
“Of course not.” I sit down in one of the chairs along the wall.
“I’m going to be busted out of this joint any minute,” he says.
“It’s not exactly a prison,” Lucia says as the door opens and she walks in. Her eyes only move over me for a moment before she switches her attention to Diamond.
This is the first time I’ve seen Lucia since that night, and I can’t help but to cringe as I take in her face. There are dark bruises that have faded. I’d hate to know how they looked when they were fresh. I know from the night Maximo left the basement that the torture probably didn’t just stop at her face.
I swallow.
“Well, I think it is, because I clearly remember telling everybody I was good to go hours ago.”
Lucia crosses her arms over her chest, leaning a hip on the counter next to the door. “Oh yeah, if you’re so good, how about you get up and…” her lips quirk up, “waltz right on out of here.” Her eyes move to his bandaged leg.
Diamond doesn’t seem to find her joke as funny as she does. “You’re one to talk, look at your face. Did cousin dearest do that to you?” he quips.
“Not cousin dearest, but the other one,” she corrects him, her tone nonchalant but her shoulders tight.
“I thought you were supposed to be some tough assassin or some shit like that. You mean to tell me you just let motherfuckers beat your ass?” he asks and there’s a little edge to his tone that has me watching him closely.
Is he… offended for Lucia?
I tell myself I must be crazy, but apparently Lucia here’s the same implications that I do because she straightens up, glaring at him. “First of all, I’m not an assassin, I’m a hit woman, the best fucking one in this town.”
“Same difference-”
“And no, I don’t just let motherfuckers beat my ass,” she snaps at him.
I find myself leaning away, even though I know I’m not in any actual danger.
“Lastly, you don’t know me so stay the fuck out of my business.”
“I know a lot about you, Lucia Costa. You don’t think it’s weird how you walked in here and I knew who you were, even though we’ve never met face to face.”