Taken In

Chapter 21

"There's nothin new to me- maybe we can ask our business man after he's done getting some." He jokes and the group laughs again.

Pedro leans closer to me and I listen intently. "He's not on his business phone, that's his personal one. Is he back with Adriana?"

I haven't heard that name in a long time. Adriana is Javier's high school sweetheart, that's before she fucked his cousin 5 years into their relationship. They've been on an off again but last I heard she was in LA working for some backstreet guy. J isn't stupid enough to take her back, no matter how much he loved her. That didn't stop him from fucking her a few months ago while she was in town.

"Nah, Adriana is long gone." I shake my head and try to brush off the conversation, we're supposed to be partying hard, not bitching about irrelevant bullshit. If he wants to be on his phone all night then fuck it.

J isn't the type to talk about the females he fucks anyway. The only reason we know about Adriana in the first place is because we all grew up together, and the rest of the Siete know about her because every so often she'll come all the way out here to beg J to take her back. J doesn't pay her no mind though, apart from hitting it and sending her on her way. It hasn't happened for a while so I guess she has a guy in LA treating her good.

My mind quickly remembers the girl he's been keeping in his house the past few weeks. Is he texting her?

Arturo nudges me, snapping me out of my thoughts. "You good G?" I nod and take another shot.

"You know what's up with La Parca?" He continues, and my face starts to heat up with frustration. I've always had a short temper. "No." I respond bluntly.

Pedro catches wind of the conversation and now the group is looking towards me, I guess they've been curious about what's happening with J too.

"All he goes is stay in his house with Breo all day, you think they're fucking?" Pedro asks nonchalantly, the question alone makes me ask the guy outside our section to bring us more shots.

"Who's Breo?" Arturo asks, Fernando nods intently, curiosity rising in his face.

"The girl from the kitchen the other day." I say blankly.

"Oh her?" Carloz exclaims loudly. "No way he's fucking her, I'd put my life on that shit. She looks like she nurses sick puppies back to health, La Parca murders them." He jokes and the group laughs.

"Don't he like thick bitches anyway? Adriana was bad as fuck." Alejandro continues and the group laughs again in unison.

"Fuck yeah." Pedro piles on, clinking his beer with Alejandro who looks too wasted to sit up.

"That bitch don't even speak or nothing, she probably got something wrong with her- wouldn't be surprised if she was coked out." Carloz points out.

"Who Breo?" Pedro questions. Carloz nods, along with Alejandro and Arturo.

"Nah Breo's a nice girl, she's just shy." Pedro seems to sober up for a second as he comes to the girl's defence, he must know something about her that I don't, because as far as I know, shit hasn't been getting done now that she's around.

I don't know if it's the liquor or what but I decide to confront her, I need to know what her deal is.

Standing up abruptly I rub my eyes for a moment, trying to gain my balance before leaving the bar, I brush past J on the way out. He taps my shoulder to get my attention and I turn accordingly.

"Hey man you good?" I watch as he slips his phone in his back pocket, turning to me completely.

"Yeah yeah just wanted to get some air for a minute." I say blankly, he narrows his eyes at me for a moment before patting my shoulder and reentering the building.

The drive back to the lot was quick but hazy. I'm glad the roads were empty because those last few shots I took started to hit in traffic.

Parking by house I walk across the lot to where Javier stays, using my spare key to open the door before making way upstairs.

I tell the cholo standing in front of the door to step aside and he hesitates, causing my temper to rise.

"I said move." I repeat through my teeth. He looks at me for a moment before stepping aside, I'm glad he knows better.

Opening the door quietly I watch to see the girl sitting on the couch, watching cartoons on TV. I stop myself from laughing at how dumb this is. This is the reason J has been blowing us off?

I close the door behind me, loud enough to catch her attention but not enough to scare her, well at least in my opinion. She turns abruptly and stares at me, reaching for something on her lap that I can't see.

"You good?" I question, realising her boyfriend beat on her a while ago and she's slow- so there's no reason to go hard on her.

She nods and I walk closer, she looks at me hesitantly, pushing herself further into the couch as if it'll make a difference- yeah she definitely is slow.

"Look I'll be quick." I continue, sitting on the arm of the couch across from her.

"You have family? Friends? Someone?" I watch her for a moment while she thinks. "F-Family." She says in a whisper, I can barely hear her over the AC, and it's quiet as fuck in here.

"Why don't you go stay with them?"

She shrugs her shoulders and I start to get irritated. Is she fucking with me?

"You know all those guys you saw in the kitchen the other day?" She nods and I continue, "And the guy outside, or the guys you see in the lot?" She nods again, holding some sort of bear in her hands. This is a new low, especially for Javier.

"They-" I clear my throat, "We, all work for him."

"Okay." She whispers, I can see tears form in her eyes but I'm past the point of caring. If she can't have a simple conversation then I don't know what the fuck Javier sees in her.

"J keeps this house, his cars and his money because of the work we do." She nods again, wiping a tear from her eye as it rolls down her cheek.

"But you see." I lean forward before explaining further, "J can't do his job if he's here with you. Right?"

I pause for her to answer and responds with another nod. "Right."

"Okay and you're not fucked up anymore, you can walk now and shit."

She nods again and I roll my eyes.

"So don't you think you should go back to your family? That way J can focus on what he needs to do without being distracted. Don't you agree?" I feel like I'm talking to a 5 year old but she seems to be getting my point.

"Okay." She finally says, interrupting the deafening silence that filled the room.

"Good, I'm glad we agree."

I give her a plastic grin and she reciprocates with a small smile, before I stand up and leave the room. Walking down the stairs I ignore the build up of guilt I feel towards the girl.

I haven't done anything wrong- I'm just looking out for my bro.