by Lena Hart
Carlos backed away from her. “I’m done with this,” he muttered, his tone void of any emotion. “You don’t want to talk to me then let’s go.”
She shook her head. “I don’t have to go anywhere with you,” she whispered.
He glared down at her. “I don’t have time for your bullshit. It’s me or the cops. Your choice.”
She tensed. He made the threat, but he had no intentions of going through with it. Whether she deserved it or not, he couldn’t bear to see her arrested and treated like some criminal, but damn if she wasn’t making it hard for him.
He reached in his pocket for his cell phone, but before he could flip it open, she rushed toward him.
“Carlos, wait.” She grabbed his hand and lowered it. “Please don’t. I made a mistake and I’m sorry. I-I didn’t take anything, I promise. I just made a really big mistake, but I’ll leave and never come back. I promise. Just please don’t do this. Please.”
He frowned down at her. Her hand was now clutching on his forearm. She was scared but something told him it wasn’t just of him or the idea of being arrested. He’d actually planned to enlist his cousin’s help with getting her to talk. Tristan may not be a cop anymore, but he had all the gear to intimidate her into talking. And maybe it was best he brought someone else in. He clearly couldn’t separate himself enough to do his job.
“Tell me what’s going on, Judith.”
“I…I can’t,” she said, staring at his chest. “I’m sorry.”
She took a closer step toward him, until her breasts lightly brushed against him. His nostrils flared as he caught a light hint of her scent, which brought up memories of her beneath him, clasped tightly around him. She moved her hand slowly up his arm and over his chest. He couldn’t stop his body from reacting to her touch and his cock jerked when she moved her hand down to his abdomen. Now that he’d tasted and touched every inch of her, he only wanted more. She moved even closer, pressing her body firmly against him and his thread of control snapped.
With a low growl, he hauled her to him and brought his lips down on hers. The kiss was hot, hard and fierce. He wanted nothing more than to lay her down and go in deep, but knew it would never be enough. He would always want her, always crave her, but not like this. Not with so much anger and bitterness and distrust between them.
Not when it was plain she was trying to use sex as a way to get around this.
He pushed her away from him, his breathing labored. Her attempt at seduction didn’t fool him for a minute. He grabbed her chin and stared down at her. “Sex is not the only thing I want from you, Judith,” he growled.
She hadn’t been unaffected by their kiss either. She clutched fistfuls of his shirt as soft tremors coursed through her.
“What…what is it that you want?” she asked quietly, keeping her gaze on his chin.
Your heart. He wanted her to love him, to trust him.
But he’d been the stupid one to fall in love with her. He now needed to accept that she would never feel for him what he did for her.
He released her and took a step back, needing to put distance between them. If she refused to trust him, then there was nothing he could do to change that. But he had a job to do and he couldn’t continue to let his lust cloud his judgment.
“What I want is for you to be straight with me,” he said carefully. “Fucking me is not going to change anything.”
She sucked in her breath. “I didn’t mean to—”
“Yeah, you did,” he bit out, infuriated that she would try to deny it. “But it’s a waste of time. Your pussy is not gonna get you out of this so don’t try it. You’re only going to piss me off.”
Her eyes widened then slid away from his. He knew he was being crude but didn’t care. It was reflexive, a way to let out some of his bitterness and hurt and maintain his resolve. Yet, it did little of both.
“Okay, I-I’m sorry,” she stammered. “I shouldn’t have—”
“No, you shouldn’t have,” he snapped. “Don’t do it again.” He couldn’t stand to see the despair on her face, but he steeled himself against it. “Now tell me what the hell’s going on with you. Why did you do this?”
She hesitated for a moment then told him a disjointed tale of an envelope and an anonymous phone number.
“The woman said she just wanted to copy a file and all I had to do was stick the flash drive into a computer. I hadn’t planned to use Mr. Kristensen’s computer, but I was already there and…” She shrugged. “It just all happened so fast.”
He studied her, trying to gauge if what she was telling him was the truth. “What was this mystery woman looking for?”
“I don’t know. She said it was just a file from the server. But whatever it was, I don’t think she got it.”
“How do you know?”
She told him about the “cleaning woman,” who’d walked in on her, and about her panic, which had led her to disconnect the call and ultimately terminate the transfer before it could be completed.
Carlos frowned, not quite sure what to make of her bizarre story. “Why you?” he asked after a while. “Of all people at the company, why would this person want to target you? And why would you be stupid enough to go along with this?”
Did she secretly have ties to this person that she wasn’t telling him about? Did she think he would never find out? With his foolish infatuation, he thought with disgust, maybe he wouldn’t have.
She shook her head, her apprehension and fear once again clouding her eyes. “You wouldn’t understand.”
He bit back a curse. “Maybe not,” he snapped. “But believe it or not, I’m trying to help you.”
Again, she stared up at him with those large, stark eyes before she responded. “She…she promised to help me with…a problem I have. Thinking back on it now, I should have never believed her, but I…I was too scared not to.”
Carlos frown deepened. “Is it money?” He would hate for her involvement in all this to boil down to that, but in his experience, people did a lot of stupid things for money. Then again, he couldn’t think of a valid excuse that would make what she did okay.
“No, it wasn’t anything like that. It’s something that…no one can help me with. Not really. I just need to leave here.” Her eyes were earnest now. “Please Carlos, just let me go and I promise I’ll stay gone.”
Her plea only added to his irritation. Was it that easy for her to walk away?
“You should have come to me.” Those words weren’t planned but he couldn’t take them back. The protectiveness he felt for her had not lessened. If anything, it had grown stronger. He wanted to pull her into his arms and comfort her, tell her without words that he would keep her safe.
But would she believe him? She’d already proved that she didn’t trust him.
“What would you have done?” she asked hesitantly.
“I could have at least set a trap for this woman,” he said curtly. “Maybe even find out who, or where, she was.”
She fell silent for a moment as she thought about that then sighed. “You’re right. But all I know is that I couldn’t let… I couldn’t take the chance. Maybe if I had more time to process it all, I would have come to you. But I—”
“No, you wouldn’t have,” he interrupted. “You clearly don’t trust me enough to come to me for help.” And that ate at him the most. She was the one who’d betrayed him, didn’t trust him, yet he still wanted to protect her. He ran his hand through his hair, frustrated with himself and her.
She wrapped her arms around herself, her shoulders slumping in defeat. “It’s not you, Carlos,” she murmured. “I just have a problem with trusting all the wrong people.”
He wasn’t particularly happy to hear her infuriating admission, but at least she was being honest.
“Do you still have the phone number for this woman?”
She went to her large purse and pulled out a small note. “I tried calling it again, but it doesn’t work anymore.”
When she hande
d it to him, their fingers briefly touched and she swiftly drew her hand away, balling it at her side. But it couldn’t be ignored because he’d felt it too. The electric spark from just a simple touch.
He quickly read the short note. “Is this it?”
She crossed her arms under her breasts then turned away from him. “There was also the flash drive,” she said over her shoulder. “But you already have that.”
He folded the note and slipped it into his pocket. It wasn’t much but at least now they had something to start with. And something to verify whether she was telling him the truth.
“Okay,” he said. “Grab your bag and let’s go.”
She whipped around to face him. “What? Where?”
“You said you couldn’t stay here, right? Well, until we can find this woman and find out what she was looking for, I’m not going to just let you disappear.”
She stiffened. “Carlos, I’m telling you the truth.”
“Then you won’t mind me keeping you close.” The uncertainty in her eyes irked him. “Trust me or don’t trust me, either way I’m not letting you leave,” he said bluntly. Then he sighed. “I’m only trying to help you, muñeca.”
Her brows furrowed slightly. “Why?”
Because I love you, damn it. But he couldn’t tell her that. She didn’t trust him, and the last thing he wanted was to have her question what he felt for her.
“You wouldn’t understand,” he muttered bitterly. “And right now, you don’t have many more options. Now let’s go.”
Chapter Nine
Carlos pulled into the driveway of a wide, brown and creamy beige single story home and shut off the engine.
“I’m only going to be a second,” he said, pulling the key from the ignition. “Stay in the car.”
Judith nodded, staring straight ahead. The ride to Carlos’ uncle’s house had been strained and she wondered how she was going to endure the hour long ride to his family’s ranch home just outside of Moapa. She held Prince on her lap. Surprisingly, he rested quietly in the large tote bag she carried him in.
She watched as Carlos went to the front of the house. She didn’t know why she’d agreed to this but then, as he’d said, she really had no other option. She either accepted his help and stayed where he put her, which appeared to be deep in the desert, or risked him getting the police involved. Being arrested would void any assistance from the agency and she couldn’t jeopardize her only chance at starting over.
She’d seen the way Carlos looked at her when she’d told him what happened. Even to her ears, it sounded ridiculous—something out of a bad mystery novel—but it had been as much of the truth as he needed to know. Her past and Ken’s recent parole was her problem and her problem alone.
Even if she wanted to confide in him, there would be no point to it. He didn’t want her anymore. He had pulled away from her when she had stupidly touched him, thinking he had wanted her as much as she had him at that moment. She had only wanted a moment to forget everything, to lose herself in him again. But he’d mistaken her desire for him as just an act and now resentment and regret were wedged solidly between them.
She could only hope that Carlos would find the woman who’d blackmailed her into this—and soon. He would see that she had been telling him the truth, and maybe then he would consider letting her go. Then she would be free to start the new life the Agency was creating for her.
There was a commotion coming from the front of the house that pulled Judith out of her thoughts. Carlos was walking toward the car, a fierce frown on his attractive face. This one worse than the one he’d had before he’d left the car.
Following close behind him was an older Latina woman, who Judith assumed was his aunt. An older man, with graying dark brown hair came outside the house to stand next to the beaming woman.
Carlos walked up to her side of the car and opened the door. She had no choice but to look at him as he leaned into the car.
“My aunt and uncle want to meet you,” he said briskly. “You’re just going to say ‘hi’ and then we leave.”
She glanced at the petite woman standing in front of the dark gray sedan in her pink floral housedress not at all feeling up to carrying on whatever pretense Carlos expected her to.
He must have sensed her apprehension, because he grasped her chin and forced her back to face him. “Don’t you dare do anything to upset them.”
With a small frown, she stared at him searchingly. “Carlos, why would you even say that? I would never do anything to upset your family.” She would never intentionally hurt anyone and, from their brief time together, she would think he’d at least know that much.
Apparently he didn’t.
“Well, I can’t say that I really know you, now can I,” he snapped releasing his firm grip around her jaw.
She stiffened at the truth in his words. No, he didn’t know her. And based on the cold man standing before her, she couldn’t say she really knew him either.
He strengthened and pushed the car door wider. “Come on.”
She stared down pointedly at the bundle on her lap. “Is it okay if I bring Prince?”
He nodded curtly.
She stepped out of the car, the July heat not at all sympathetic to her sweaty palms or racing heart. But she contained her anxiety as the older woman came toward her, curiosity and delight in her kind, dark eyes. Eyes that was vaguely similar to Carlos’. Judith returned her friendly smile. She was a small woman with streaks of gray in her dark, wavy hair. Even at her age, she was an attractive woman.
“So this is your Judith, Carlito?” the woman said with a smooth yet thickly accented voice.
“Tia, this is Judith. Judith, this is my aunt Rosa,” Carlos said, neither confirming nor denying whether she was his.
The woman walked up to her and kissed her on the cheek and they exchanged greetings. Her welcome was warm and genuine and Judith found herself losing some of her nervousness.
“Muy bonita,” Rosa said, patting her cheek then grabbed her arm and pulled her toward the house. “Come meet with my husband, Guillermo.”
Carlos took the tote bag carrying Prince as Rosa dragged her to the stocky, older man standing near the house. “Please, just call me Gil,” he said, greeting her with the same warm friendliness. He kissed her cheek as well, which tickled from his gray-peppered beard.
His English was laced with an underlying accent that was barely noticeable. However, it was the contrast of his beautiful greenish-brown eyes against his swarthy skin that she found to be the most striking. There was also an astuteness in his eyes that was eased by his welcoming smile.
The couple ushered her into their large, beautiful home, which was spacious and cozy. Gil glanced over at Carlos, who stood by the door, staring intently at her. She purposely kept her gaze averted and concentrated on the two older people doting over her. It was unnerving but nice to have their warmhearted attention. She had lost that with Carlos and didn’t realize how much she missed having someone treat her with such affection.
“Carlos, whoever you stole this beautiful dama from must be weeping right now.”
Everyone shared a laugh except Carlos.
“Tío, we can’t stay long,” Carlos said. Judith glanced at him, but his gaze was on his uncle.
Gil waved at him dismissively. “I’ll get you the keys,” he said, the corner of his eyes wrinkling. “But after we eat.”
“Tío—”
“You will have plenty of time with her, Carlito,” his aunt interjected. “Let me feed her first, at least.”
Judith could feel her face getting warm at his aunt’s words. “I’m fine, really, Señora Rosa. But thank you.”
Rosa threw a frown toward Carlos then patted her hand. “Don’t let Carlito pressure you. We will eat, okay?”
Judith nodded. When Carlos brought his gaze to her, she glanced away. He was done with her, he made that clear. But his family thought they would be spending time together at their family ranch home. It was a th
ought she hadn’t even considered. Carlos had made no mention of staying with her. But then, if he did, maybe she could prove to him that she wasn’t some devious woman who had set out to conspire against him, that was she felt for him was unusual but real.
And maybe then, he would start looking at her with a little less contempt.
****
Carlos watched the way Judith charmed her way into his family’s heart.
With every laugh and smile, her pretty dimples would appear, captivating his aunt and uncle until even he found himself drawn to the sound and sight of her.
He hadn’t wanted them to stay, to have his family fall for her as he had, but it was clearly too late. A burst of laughter came from the kitchen where his aunt had whisked Judith away, and a whirl of mixed emotions flooded him. This pretense was hard to keep up, especially when he wavered between wanting to kiss her and shake her.
Carlos pulled open the sliding glass door and stepped outside to the back patio. Leaning against the wall, he stared out into the distance, needing to be in his own thoughts for a moment, away from the pull of her sweet voice and easy laughter.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this. What had once been a moment he anticipated was now something he couldn’t wait to end. It would only add to his embarrassment when he had to later tell his family that the woman he’d been infatuated with had turned out to be nothing but a beautiful little liar.
For now, he would continue to pretend that the woman in the kitchen helping his aunt with their dinner was the same woman he had told them about.
Carlos turned when the glass door slid open and his uncle stepped out. From the look on his uncle’s face, he knew there was a lecture brewing on those stern lips.