Blog Tour: Cartel Kings by Carmen Rosales

They say, treat a girl like a queen, or you will lose her to a king.

But what if there were two kings?

Cartel Kings, an all-new must-read, dark mafia romance from bestselling author Carmen Rosales is now available!

I was destined to be his.

Santi was all I ever wanted. I thought my love for him would never die.

I thought his touch was all I ever needed.

But his love was cold.

It wouldn’t hurt if he didn’t know or let him go.

Or he’d change if he ever found out about him...and I.

They say, treat a girl like a queen, or you will lose her to a king.

But what if there were two kings?

Start reading today!

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Keep reading for a look inside Cartel Kings!

“What classes do you have?"

I look up and see my brother giving me a disappointed look. He knows what classes I have, but he wants to give me shit. It’s written all over his face.

"You know what classes I have, Xavier. Stop being a dick."

He looks around to make sure no one is listening. "You know it annoys him that you're always following him around."

I roll my eyes. A habit I got from my mother, and I know he hates it. "So," I say with a shrug. "Why do I have to hide the fact that I like Santi and want to be with him. He should feel good about it. I don't see the problem, Xavier."

But I see he does with the way his eyes harden. He hates that I like Santi. He hates that our parents expect us to get married to form an alliance between our families. Entre familia. It is our way of life. Family is in our blood. Our culture.

Mexican culture is about our roots and history. Tradition. Our fathers have the ultimate authority. Woman are usually second in-command to her husband. Our mothers are highly respected. The Kings believe what God has created cannot be destroyed by man. In the cartel, it is hierarchical organization. All of our families follow.

"You know, Elena. Sometimes I curse the day our mom and Alina agreed to this arranged marriage crap. I curse the day our fathers and their wives came up with this medieval bullshit. I had to listen to it when we were in middle school, high school, and now college. It's freshman year, and all you can think about is hooking up with the guy who can't stand the idea of marrying his boy's sister." I flinch when he steps closer. "Honestly, I agree with him because I have the same problem. We can't stand to be forced to be with someone, and what's worse is agreeing with my best friend in treating my sister like shit." And with that, he storms off.

I slide my phone in the front pocket of my leather Dior bag and watch him walk into the campus gym.

“What the fuck crawled up his ass and died?"

I look over my shoulder at my cousin Mia walking toward me from the parking lot. "Me wanting to be with Santi.”

She snorts. "He found out about your class schedule, huh?"

"Yep."

She sucks her teeth. "He'll get over it."

I look at the quad where students are hanging out. Girls smiling at their boyfriends like they found the cure for cancer or some shit. Their boyfriends smile back. I Envy the way they look at each other.

I thought Santiago looked at me like that once when we were thirteen. We are the same age but five months apart, and it was my birthday.

Our families decided to celebrate at the beach house in Malibu. My father, Aiden, gifted my mother the house as a honeymoon present. I saw it as a sign.

After we had cut the cake and everyone had given me their presents, Santi waited until I was alone. He had a black metal box with a sugar skull on it. I knew he had a gift for me because he looked anxious. He was holding it in his lap the entire time.

We were the best of friends growing up. He would protect me. Make sure I never fell on the playground or fell off my bike.

Santiago Cortez is the man I've loved since I knew what it was to like boys. Girls at school would ask who I thought was cute. Boys would ask if I had feelings for them but I already had feelings for Santi.

 That day, I thought we would be together forever. That I was the one he would always want to be with.

For more information about Carmen Rosales and her books, visit her website:

https://carmenrosales.com