by Elisabeth Naughton, Cynthia Eden, Katie Reus, Alexandra Ivy, Laura Wright, Joan Swan
“I’m not sure what sleight of hand Saul has used out here in the community to create the illusion that he has a credible business, but I can promise you he is living off the estate’s operating fund. He has no income of his own and no control over the estate’s funds or any of the trusts. All my mother left him was the right to reside at the estate. Nothing more.”
Paco looked down at the table, hands resting clasped in his lap. A strange smile lifted his mouth—part cunning, part suspicion. “Señorita Christo…” A soft laugh punctuated the pause after her name as if he were trying to choose his words carefully. “I agree that his business is far from credible, but I can promise you that while he may be living off the estate’s operating fund, he does have his own source of income.”
Icy fire roiled in her belly. She wanted to know what it was, and before Paco left, she’d try to get it out of him, but first things first.
“Even if he does,” Cassie said, “Saul and I have never been on good terms. We share a mutual loathing for one another. He would rather pay you to take me than pay you to get me back. Receiving a ransom payment from him is even less likely than bleeding money from the trusts, the chances of which are nil.”
“I see.” He rested one hand on the tabletop. Tapped his fingers. “Then what do you have to offer?”
Cassie stared, confused. “Excuse me?”
“Let’s say…hypothetically… your potential kidnappers see the dilemma and are willing to make a deal. Say they were willing to trade something up front not to kidnap you.”
“I’d say that’s extortion,” Cassie said, crossing her arms on the table, leaning forward, and meeting his gaze directly. “And it wouldn’t change the fact that I have nothing to give before or after, unless of course, you’d like my student loans. They’re all yours.”
Paco chuckled. “Student loans. Why would someone with your family money need to incur student loans?”
“Because I’m independent,” she said. “I like to stand on my own.”
“Yes. Santos always said that about you. He taught you well, chica. You’ve held your own here with your… cojones…for lack of a better word. You’ve gained respect within a rough community in only a few days.” His smile changed, became more serious. “But I was thinking more along the lines of information.”
“About what?”
Paco mirrored her position until their faces were less than a foot apart. When he spoke, his voice was barely audible. “You see, Saul has an uncanny ability for slipping through authorities’ hands. His goods cross the border without fanfare or detection. Granted, Rio is good. Very good. But there is more to it, and I want to know what that is.”
Cassie’s chest squeezed. Paco had just verified her worst fear. One that she had hoped—desperately—hadn’t involved Rio.
She looked at Javier. He gave her an easy smile. It didn’t help.
She cleared her throat before asking, “And what goods are we talking about?”
The corners of Paco’s mouth twitched. “Well, we think we have an idea, but that’s something we’d like you to confirm. There have been…rumors. And I wouldn’t want to influence your information by telling you what I think. Just get those answers for us, and I’ll have something to take to my boss. This could solve the problem I talked about with Rio this morning.”
“Who is this boss?” Cassie asked. “Knowing may help me develop information that would interest him.”
Paco’s chin came up. “Suarez. Marco Suarez.” He said the name with both reverence and arrogance, as if working for Suarez made Paco powerful and worthy of respect. “Do you know who he is?”
“I’m sorry, no.”
“You should.” His expression had gone from congenial to cold granite.
“And why would Señor Suarez begrudge Rio a favor you owe him?” Cassie asked.
“Señor Suarez is a businessman. He bases his decisions on the value of an asset. Some assets are worth more than others.”
“Are you calling me an asset?”
“You could be,” he said. “As to your other question, Rio took care of something very important for me. But a favor owed by one man is not owed by another out of association. I repay my debts, and Rio has made it clear that keeping you off my upper management’s radar is where he’d like my repayment focused.”
Cassie was trying to piece out the cryptic messages, the language, the innuendo to find the true meaning in Paco’s words, but was sure she ended up more confused than when she’d sat down. Before she could ask him to clarify, his gaze drifted up and past her, and the warmth disappeared from his eyes, leaving them as flat as black glass.
“There you are,” Paco said. “I was starting to think your señorita traded you in for a new model.”
Oh, shit.
Cassie tried not to cringe, but her shoulders climbed closer to her ears as she felt Rio’s heat close in around her from behind. His big hands covered the arms of her chair and he loomed over her. His familiar, sexy scent floated on the air, making her blood heat and her body crave. But her heart hurt—with disappointment, disillusionment, loss.
“Thanks for the cover, man,” Rio said to Javier.
Javier picked up the hint and pushed his chair back. He gave Rio a fist bump. “Anytime, bro.” He smiled at Cassie. “See you tomorrow?”
She nodded, and Javier exited the patio.
“Paco,” Rio started, his voice low in warning, “how many times do I need to tell you—”
“She called me, man.” Paco gestured between them. “And I’m glad she did, because it looks like she’s got something you don’t—something that will allow me to look the other way. We have an understanding, don’t we Señorita Christo?”
Cassie didn’t respond.
“Would you excuse us, Paco?” Rio said.
Cassie pulled the inside of her cheek between her teeth. This was going to be so unpleasant.
“Of course.” Paco stood and smiled at Cassie. “We’ll stay in touch. Talk soon.”
A long moment of silence followed before Rio’s, “So…you really do have a death wish. That would have been nice to know before I fell for you.”
Bittersweet emotion squeezed her chest. She pressed her lips together and tightened her threaded fingers.
“Why in the bloody hell,” Rio said when she didn’t respond, his voice far more angry, “did you meet with Paco?”
She took a shaky breath. “To explain that all Mamà’s assets, all my assets, are in trust and that there is no way to get to them directly, so a ransom demand for me would never be met. And I explained that Saul would just as soon pay them to keep me, so they wouldn’t be getting anything from him either.”
Rio put his mouth to the top of her head, pressed a slow kiss there. The sweet gesture pulled hard at her heart. “And what understanding did you come to with Paco, princess?”
“We didn’t.”
“You might as well tell me, because if you don’t, Javier will.”
Shit. Javier. She hadn’t thought of that. Protection had its price.
She turned and looked up at him. A white bandage peeked out from underneath the sleeve of his T-shirt. Guilt spread through her chest. “We need to get your arm stitched up. Some antibiotics on board.”
“Done. I went to the ER. The doctor wasn’t near as pretty, but his disposition was way better.”
She scowled, crossed her arms, and slid down in her chair.
He rounded her chair and crouched, placing both hands on her knees. The warmth of them burned into her skin, and his heat spread up her legs, pooled where her thighs met. His thumbs caressed the insides of her thighs as he watched with hungry, intense eyes that turned up the heat in her body like an inferno. She should push them away. She should.
“What did he want, Cassie?”
“He wanted me to get information on how and why you are so successful at getting Saul’s goods over the border. And we’re not talking art pieces here, Rio. We’re clearly talking something of an il
legal nature. You told me you weren’t smuggling drugs or weapons. Another lie?”
He gripped her thigh tight. “No. I didn’t lie to you.”
“Then what are you smuggling?”
Rio’s lips tightened.
Cassie’s temper frayed. She leaned toward him and, in an attempt to keep her voice down, rasped, “Stolen goods? Women? Babies? Black-market organs?”
“Now you’re just being ridiculous.”
“What else am I supposed to do? You won’t tell me. All I have is my imagination.”
“Which is amazing,” he muttered, “but I’d rather you keep it in the bedroom.”
Her anger rose, and she pushed from the chair, forcing Rio to stand. “Just… Fine.” She was drawing stares, and it took all her willpower to keep her voice down. “I don’t want to see you waste yourself. I don’t want to see you get hurt. But I can’t force you to let me help.”
She turned and walked out of the enclosed patio and started down the sidewalk toward the clinic. Rio took her arm. Cassie, expecting the move, pulled away before he could get a firm grip.
“No,” she said. “If you can’t trust me, if you can’t open up to me, we’re done. I’ve already invested enough. I’m not going to spend three months down here falling in love with you only to watch you throw your life away or, God forbid, find out you’re married, or worse, get yourself killed out of pure stupidity. I’ve had enough heartache.”
The Jeep was within sight. She would not cry. She would not cry. A few more steps and she could escape.
His strong arm wrapped around her waist from behind and nearly lifted her off her feet. Before she could get her breath back, he’d twisted her around to face him and circled her into his arms, pulling her up against his body. One hand slipped behind her neck and tilted her face up to his.
“I’m. Not. Married,” he said, his determined gaze shining bright green. “I’ve never been married. I’ve never even been with someone I wanted to marry. Let’s just get that off the table now.”
Her heart floated. Relief and gratitude loosened the tension in her shoulders.
He released her waist to brush hair off her face. “Are you falling in love with me, Cass?”
Yes. Yes, yes, yes.
“I can’t. You won’t let me. Every time I head that direction, you close up. How can I fall in love with a man I don’t know? With a man who keeps secrets from me?”
“Listen.” His thumb kneaded the base of her skull, and it felt so amazing Cassie nearly lost focus. “I’m not in this for the long haul. This job is a means to an end, okay? Try not to judge me by this one situation.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean this is a stop on my path, not a career.”
Cassie pulled in a breath to shoot more questions, but Rio brought his mouth down and kissed her.
He pulled back just enough to whisper, “Don’t ask. I’ll tell you when I can.”
“How long?”
“Soon.” He cupped her chin, and the way he looked at her made her heart want to break free of all its restrictions. “All I can say for sure is that I promise to make it worth the wait.”
Chapter Nineteen
Rio turned the Jeep around and headed toward Avenida Heraldo, feeling different somehow. Deeper. More purposeful. And like the luckiest and most asinine bastard on the face of the earth. She was falling in love with him? He shouldn’t be this thrilled, feel this complete, be looking this far ahead. And it wasn’t like Cassie was particularly happy—with either him or the whole falling-in-love thing. But even the fact that she admitted the possibility had his heart nearly bursting in a way he’d never experienced.
“Why don’t you let me drop you at the estate?” he asked. “I’ll come back and get whatever papers you need from Raymond.”
Cassie turned from looking out the window, hand on her forehead. “I didn’t tell you who I was going to see, only the address.”
The near accusation that Rio had somehow infringed on her privacy when he’d been offering to help, and after all pretenses of privacy had been breached the night before, clipped those wings still fluttering in his chest. “I know Raymond, and I recognized the address.”
She considered for a moment, then turned her gaze out the window again. “I have to sign papers.”
He had to bite his lip to keep a snarky you’re welcome from snapping out of his mouth. “Fine. But I want you to consider letting me do some of the things you want done, Cass.”
She slanted him a wary look.
“I’m giving you a chance to trust me.” But that wouldn’t work if he didn’t keep the irritation and hurt out of his voice. It would only scare her. He forced his voice level. “Nobody watches what I do; they watch what you do.”
She cocked one brow his direction. “You’ll get me the information I need to prove Saul’s doing illegal things. Things that can put him in prison, even when that information could implicate you in the same crimes.”
He ground his teeth. When he was sure he wouldn’t bark at her, he said, “I’ll get you the information you’re asking for so that Saul gets off my back about keeping you out of trouble and calms down about having you at the estate. I know what you want, Cass, and I know why you want it, but I’m confident whatever information you ask for will not contain enough evidence to send Saul to prison. I’m sure Paco had all kinds of things to say about Saul and me, but before you go investing yourself in any one tale, consider the source.”
“He said you took care of something important for him. That he owes you a favor. What did you do?”
Rio strangled the steering wheel. “I was in the right place at the right time, that’s all.”
Her shoulders deflated. She turned to look out the window. “You can go by the accountant’s office and pick up the flash drives he’s got ready for me of the estate’s books for the last ten years if you want. I’m too tired to do it today.”
He wanted to tell her to just take a vacation for two weeks, come back, and he’d have her world set right. But all he could do to bridge this horribly anxious gap between them was take her hand, drag it to his mouth for a kiss, and thread his fingers through hers for the remaining few blocks to Raymond’s office.
As they started toward the office together, she crossed her arms tight over her ribs, gaze intent on the asphalt as if she were deep in unpleasant thoughts. All Rio wanted to do was touch her. God, how he wanted to touch her. Less than twelve hours out of bed with her and he craved her more now than he had before, which he hadn’t believed possible. And it wasn’t just her body or her passion he wanted. It was the connection they had in bed. The openness she shared, the trust she showed. The real Cassie beneath her shell, beneath her fear—that was who he was addicted to. Seriously addicted.
At the building, he pulled the door open and forced himself not to run his hand over her hair as she passed through. Her attention caught on the polished slate beneath her feet on her way through the foyer, and her posture relaxed. “This is gorgeous.” She glanced at Rio. “What do you think? For the clinic entry?”
A smile lifted his mouth. A warm sensation sluiced through his chest. He loved the way she’d started asking his opinion.
“Mmm-hmm,” he agreed. “It would be great.”
She reached Santiago’s office door, turned the handle, and walked in. Rio was still looking at the multicolored slate beneath their feet when he simultaneously heard Cassie’s gasp and ran into her back.
His senses had him reaching for his weapon with one hand, reaching for Cassie with the other before he’d even put a solid thought into place. With an arm around her waist, he dragged her back through the doorway and behind him. He aimed his weapon into the office. Half-hidden behind the wall, he didn’t see anything threatening in the waiting area, but Cassie’s breathless, “Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God,” behind him, had the hair on his neck rising.
He swept the lobby toward the reception desk, inching forward. His vision slid over bookcases,
a potted plant, a file cabinet, the corner of a wooden desk, then the entire desk.
A split-second of horror caused Rio to pause his sweep. Blink. Stare.
The woman behind the desk sat perfectly still, her head dropped back, her eyes open and staring at the ceiling. Rio couldn’t look away from the scarlet gap across her neck, stretching from side to side, or the spill of crimson down the front of a snow-white blouse. His mind slid backward. His vision dimmed until the midday office turned to night on the desert floor. He saw Aurelia’s neck when he’d finally broken from his mother’s hold and run to his sister, long after her screams had stopped. He saw the blood drenching her yellow sundress.
With Aurelia’s screams still in Rio’s head, he forced himself to drop his arms and pull back. He pressed his back against the wall and waited until his head stopped twisting. His chest rocked with deep breaths. Sweat chilled his face and shoulders.
“Ray,” Cassie whined. “Oh God, Ray."
Rio’s vision finally sharpened. Cassie had her mouth covered with both hands, her eyes wide and distant with horror.
He gripped her wrist and pulled her close. “Stay right behind me,” he ordered. “You’re not safe outside alone.”
Cassie lowered her hands and nodded. She stepped close, and Rio pulled her across the lobby to the wall beside Santiago’s closed inner-office door. He released her arm and said, “Don’t move.” Then amended, “Unless someone starts shooting, then run like hell.”
Rio reached out and turned the door handle slowly. He took a shallow breath, pushed it wide, and swung his weapon into the room, keeping his body partially barricaded by the wall. Santiago’s form registered instantly, but Rio ignored it until he swept the office. Then his gaze refocused on the man who sat behind his desk, much as the secretary once had.
Rio’s stomach jumped toward his throat, taking him by surprise. He grimaced, swallowed.
“No!” The mewl came from deep in Cassie’s throat. Anguished. Tortured. She darted past Rio toward Santiago with an outstretched hand.