𝐏𝐞𝐜𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐢

43 | María Lopez

I don't think I heard Val correctly. Did she call this woman María Lopez? Why is this woman here, and is this man Carter? I don't think it is because he'd be dead right now.

"Darling, thank you for letting us in. As I said, I wanted to talk," she smiles, then looks up at the man with an arm around her, "you remember Thiago."

"Valentina, it's been a while. You've grown into a beautiful woman," he winks, making me bristle in my spot.

Val scoffs, "shut it, old man. You look closer to death every day."

He grins, "oh, darling, I'm sure you've missed me."

"I've missed your pancakes, but that's about it —" Val playfully teases before her blank mask slips back into place, "this is Thiago; he's María's bodyguard, but going by the body language, I'm assuming you two finally came to your senses and are together now?"

María laughs, "I believe I have you to thank, darling, you tried telling me years ago, but I kept denying it."

"Besides, you did keep telling me to shoot my shot all those years, and I finally did two years ago," Thiago chuckles, kissing María on her temple.

Val beams, "I'm happy for you both. I'm assuming Carter doesn't know about any of this."

María's face falls, "no, we have been going behind his back. You, of all people, know what he's like. That asshole cheated on me many times, but I stayed out of loyalty. You know how loyal I am to the Cartel and how much I loved my family, but nothing I ever did or said mattered to him."

Val smiles sadly, "I know, I am sorry about Victoria — I know she was your daughter, but she had pissed me off and disrespected me, and I killed her out of pure rage."

"Water under the bridge, darling, that girl was beyond manipulated by her father. I tried to warn her, but she never listened to me. As for Hayden, he's just as bad —" María waves it off, "the reason I'm here is that we don't want to be involved in the war that seems to be brewing. I've never had an issue with you, darling. Truthfully, I've held so much respect towards you, and when you were with us, you were like a daughter to me."

"To both of us —" Thiago continues, "Carter is so far gone in his plan to kill you; his empire is starting to crumble. It doesn't help that Galen is whispering in his ear either, they both want you dead, but we know you're hard to kill."

I remember when Val would talk about María Lopez, she always held high respect for the woman, and she said the best thing she got out of the relationship she had with Hayden was meeting his mother.

She never mentioned a Thiago, but going off this interaction, I'd say they were friends in the past.

"I have men loyal to me. They've agreed to stay out of the fight as well. Once you've dealt with Carter and Hayden, I'll be taking over the business with Thiago," María explains.