“Dude, that’s perfect. Just drop down to my balcony and you’re home free.”
He eased the glass door open further and stepped onto the smooth wooden deck. Glass encased the length of the patio, providing an unobstructed view of the ocean. He could do without it. He reached into the suite and closed the curtains, and then eased the door shut in case someone decided to close it.
A soft whistle echoed in the night. He inched his way to the railing and peered over. Dylan waved at him, his white teeth flashed mischievously. He thought this was funny. The fucking bastard.
“Hurry up, I can see your vagina from here.”
Nate’s hands dug into the metal rail. In a minute, Dylan wasn’t going to be happy to be face-to-face with him. He shot him the finger, glanced over his shoulder, and then heaved himself up onto the railing. The salty wind swirled around him and the bright white of the full moon illuminated his way down… all the way to the black sea.
He swallowed, swung his legs over, and balanced his toes on the edge of the overhang. All he had to do was drop down, hang from the overhang, and swing onto the deck below. Not an easy feat for the average person, but for him, it should be no sweat. His military training had been intense, and recon put that to shame. Difference was, none of that had been with the ocean beneath him. Since when had he become such a pussy? Dylan was right.
A soft grunt sounded from his throat as he crouched down, grasped the smooth overhang in his hands, and lowered himself over the abyss. Sweat collected between his traps and trickled down his spine. The edge of the overhang dug deeply into his palms, his weight bearing down even harder. His shoulders bunched, the muscles straining to hold onto the sharp edge.
Dylan’s hand grasped his ankle and guided his foot to the rail below. The balls of his feet balanced on the curved surface. His teeth ground together, shooting pain through his jaw as his limbs stretched. Dylan grasped the back of his knee.
“Let go and jump, bro. I’ve got you,” he whispered.
Nate released his death grip on the ledge and leaped forward. His feet connected with the deck below, the impact vibrated through his bones. But he’d made it. He wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his wrist and straightened.
Dylan clapped him on the shoulder. “C’mon. We gotta listen in to Carlos, they’re bringing Maddie in. It’s not good.”
Nate breathed a curse as he followed Dylan through the patio door. His heart constricted in his chest and his stomach clenched. He should have stayed in their damn suite.
Chapter 18
A light flickered in the brightly lit hallway as she moved slowly toward her suite. She swallowed. Please, God. Don’t let the power go out again. If it did, she’d have a stroke. Her heart beat frantically against her chest like the wings of a hummingbird. Carlos’s voice had been rough and demanding when he’d requested she come up to their room. Now. Though he hadn’t shouted, he’d hovered on the brink of losing his temper like a coiled snake ready to pounce.
Her breath strangled in her throat and she forced air into her lungs. This was stupid. What could he want to talk to her about? She had the encrypted phone tucked into the lining of her clutch, so he hadn’t discovered it. She had nothing else that could incriminate her.
Where the hell was Nate? She’d called him the second she’d hung up with Carlos and he hadn’t answered. That wasn’t like him. She’d sent a text, explaining that Carlos had demanded she return to the room—no response.
Icy fingers of fear curled around her heart. Had something happened to him? Had Carlos discovered their relationship and—
Oh, God.
Could he have planted a camera or bug in their room and seen her screw Nate on the desk? Blood pounded through her veins and hammered against her temples. She blew air out through her lips. Whatever he wanted, she would deal with it. As long as she wasn’t wound like a spring she could talk herself out of anything. And if she couldn’t... well, she could at least kick his ass.
The door yanked open. Her hand fluttered to her chest and she staggered backward. Hector’s big, meaty fingers curled around her wrist and he towed her inside. His mouth was set into a thin, grim line. His greasy hair curled around his ears and the heavy scent of body odor burned her nostrils.
She tore her arm from his grasp and curled her lip. She didn’t need to put on a show for this asshole, and she sure as hell wasn’t going to let him manhandle her.
“Where’s Carlos?”
“I’m in here,” he called from the office doorway. He still wore his neatly pressed navy blue suit and white checkered shirt. A bright red tie brought out the deep olive tone of his skin and his green eyes flashed at her. He might be a creep, but he knew how to dress. His jaw bore thick stubble below his full bottom lip. He shoved his hands in his pockets and jerked his head toward the inside of the office.
“Come in here please, darling. There’s something I’d like to show you.” He turned his back and disappeared inside the office.
She pressed her tongue to the back of her teeth and curled her fingers at her sides. She moved passed Hector, ignoring the salacious smirk at the corner of his mouth. She lifted her chin and her high-heels clicked on the floor as she breezed down the hallway.
She had nothing to hide. As long as she kept that thought at the forefront of her mind, she’d be fine. Nothing to hide at all.
Except who she was, why she was with him, and the fact that the FBI was stationed directly across the hall and below their suite.
Carlos sat on the edge of the desk, his long legs stretched out in front of him and ending inches away from a vacant, high-backed leather chair.
“Sit.” He gestured, palm open, to the seat.
She smiled and dipped her eyebrows. “What’s this about?”
He rested his hands on his thighs and crossed his ankles as she sat against the cool material. Hector entered the room and she knotted her hands together on her lap to hide the tremor that racked over her. This wasn’t good. Carlos was a private man, even with his enforcers. If Hector was staying, it was because Carlos wanted the extra muscle.
Her tongue burned with the urge to ask Carlos to speak with him alone. She met Carlos’s gaze pointedly, and lifted her eyebrows to Hector. It wouldn’t serve her to be weak. If he knew she was scared, he’d know it was for good reason.
The corner of Carlos’s mouth tucked in, revealing a deep dimple. He waved his hand at Hector as if shooing away a pesky fly. “Don’t mind him. He brought something to my attention that I would like you to explain.” His tone was calm and indifferent, sending alarm bells off in her head. The pounding at her temples turned ferocious like the gushing of a dam breaking. She sunk her teeth into the side of her tongue and kept her eyes on Carlos.
“Sure, honey. What is it?”
He reached behind him, lifted the sleek laptop off the desk, and set it in front of her. Her throat closed and she pressed her clutch into her lap. On the screen was a still, grainy image taken at night. She squinted and leaned closer. The parking lot at the back of Carlos’s bar filled the screen. A woman with dark hair stood at a car with her back to the camera, her purse slung over her shoulder.
It was her.
Carlos’s eyes fastened on her. His pupils reacted when her eyes met his.
“Look familiar?” One thick eyebrow rose at her.
A shiver skittered down her spine. She couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. All she could do was stare at the screen, willing what was to come next to disappear.
“Hold on, there’s more.” He moved his finger to the mousepad and clicked the play button. The image moved into a video. She watched, her eyes burning with the need to blink. Tony stepped out of the shadows before she could slip into the safety of her car. In a flurry of movement, he had her up against the door, his face in hers.
Oh, God. Next, she’d kick Tony’s ass and leave him choking for
breath in the gravel lot. Her brain worked like rapid-fire. She had to come up with something. Carlos would be pissed that she’d kept this from him, but more importantly, he’d know what she was capable of.
Out of the corner of her eye, Hector moved. His hand clenched into a tight fist, his gaze glued to the computer screen. The dark line of his jaw flexed and a vein throbbed at his temple. Her cheek burned under his glare but she wouldn’t look at him.
On the screen, Tony had his hands around her throat. Her stomach flipped over as she watched herself disengage his hold and land a blow to his face. If she hadn’t been awaiting death row, she would have been impressed watching herself. Seconds later, Tony charged at her image and she landed the savage jab to his throat that dropped him to his knees.
Carlos stopped the video and turned to her. The desk creaked under his weight. His cold, emerald eyes locked on her. Her heart dropped to her stomach with the force of a bowling ball. He was going to kill her. If she didn’t think of something fast and get out of this…
Where was Nate? Was he listening in? Would he come bursting through the door any second? The thought of him risking the case to save her brought bile to the back of her throat. No. She’d worked too hard and come too far. She wouldn’t let it go to waste.
“Tell me honey, what the fuck did we just watch?” His thumb fidgeted with the gold ring on his middle finger.
She lifted a shoulder. “You watched me hand Tony’s ass to him after he sexually assaulted me.”
A muscle at the corner of his eye twitched.
Hector lurched forward. “You—”
Carlos raised his hand, stopping him in his tracks. “I told you, I will handle this.” His tone rose an octave and Hector vibrated on the spot. His fists curled at his sides and his breath came out hot and heavy through his nose.
Creep.
She returned her gaze to Carlos. His eyes moved down to her hands on her lap, and then back up to her face. He was assessing her. As a man who has put the fear into a lot of people, he knew very well how to discern if someone was lying.
“Why didn’t you tell me he attacked you?” His hand moved from his knee and dropped to the edge of the desk. He wasn’t a large man, but he was a lethal one.
She forced the muscles in her face to relax. This wasn’t a big deal, she had to act like it was nothing.
She nodded, letting her head drop a little. “I thought about telling you. It was really difficult being around him, but I didn’t want you to think I was trying to come between you two.” She shrugged and lowered her eyes. “We haven’t been together very long, and I figured you would side with Tony over me.”
Hector turned away, a hand fisted in his hair. He wouldn’t dare step in and piss Carlos off even more. This was her chance to right this.
Carlos extended a long, dark finger at the computer. “Don’t give me that shit,” he growled. “I don’t have a man on my payroll who could have done what you just did.” He jerked his head to the computer screen beside him.
Her temper simmered to a boil and her brows snapped down. She uncrossed her legs and leaned forward. “Then maybe you should hire me.” Her voice matched the steadiness of his.
His head snapped back and color crept up the side of his neck.
“Look,” she began, forcing a calm into her voice. “I understand that you’re mad at me for not telling you. But what I did was self-defense. He would have raped me had I not. Why aren’t you more concerned about that?”
His jaw moved back and forth and he got to his feet. A dark shadow crossed over his eyes and he pointed a long, stern finger at her. “That isn’t basic self-defense, Maddie. You have training and I want to know why.” He hovered over her, his knees inches away from the arm of her chair. He thought he was dominating her, but all it would take was two quick moves to have him on his back. She pushed out of her seat and fisted her hand on her hip.
“I have a black belt in mixed martial arts. I’m also trained in ju-jitsu and hapkido. My parents put both my sister and me in martial arts as kids and I was passionate about it. I stuck with it up until college. It has saved my life on more than one occasion. It’s not something I openly tell people. To be honest, I don’t even think about it. It never occurred to me that it was something you would need to know.”
Carlos folded his arms across his chest and his jaw worked.
Yes, yes, yes. He was falling for it.
“You can’t believe this shit!” Hector cried. His body trembled with rage and sweat trickled down his sideburns. His hand closed over Carlos’s shoulder and he wheeled him around “She’s lying and I know she killed Tony.” He lurched toward her, his hand stretched like a claw for her throat.
She stepped back. Her instincts fired through her nerve endings, ready to snap his wrist. Carlos grabbed the front of his shirt and slammed him into the desk.
“Don’t ever touch me again.” Carlos’s voice gurgled in his throat, deadly and vicious. His eyes bugged out of his head and his knuckles turned white in his grip. His body radiated heat and a dark tint fell over his cheekbones. If anything was going her way, it was Hector’s ability to piss Carlos off.
She rooted her feet to the ground. She had to spin this around.
“Ask Hector where he was about two hours ago. Did he tell you that he cornered me in the bathroom with a knife? Had someone not come in he would have done the same things as what Tony had in mind.” Distaste stung her mouth at the memory. Her fingernails dug into her palm as she took a step toward them. “What kind of men do you have on your payroll that they would assault your girlfriend? And if you don’t believe me, I’m sure security can pull the tape of him following me into the bathroom.”
Rage boiled through her. Yes. She had every right to be mad at him. If she forced Carlos to question Hector she might have a leg to stand on.
“You know what? I’m leaving at the next port.” Her voice trembled in the still air. Something passed across Carlos’s face. Regret? She had to drive this home.
“It hurts that you don’t trust me.” She curled her fingers into her breastbone as if it ached. Tears stung her eyes and made her voice rough. She turned her back on the two men.
Blood pulsed through her eye sockets and blinding pain clouded her vision. This couldn’t be happening. The tears that had choked her up moments ago weren’t because she feared for her life, and they surely weren’t because Carlos had hurt her damn feelings. It was the expanding weight of failure that had opened up in her stomach, swallowing her pride and dreams. She closed the bedroom door firmly behind her and pressed her back against it. She had to succeed at locking Carlos up... for Leila. She’d been sweet and so full of life before she’d become infatuated with Carlos’s charm. Her family deserved vengeance and he deserved to rot before he claimed more young, innocent lives.
Moisture clung to her lashes and her throat tightened. She’d do anything to snuggle into Nate’s warmth, to hear the timber of his voice assure her that she hadn’t just lost everything she’d worked for.
She pushed away from the door and cleared her throat. Carlos’s muffed voice matched Hector’s in the other room. She had to get word to Nate that she was okay. Her fingers trembled on the clasp of her purse. She dug the encrypted phone out and brought the device to life.
Carlos just confronted me about Tony’s attack in the parking lot. I’m okay, but he’s definitely onto me. Where are you? I’m worried.
She couldn’t give up. Not yet. Nate wouldn’t and neither would Ethan or Cal. They were beasts when it came to putting up a fight. With any luck, she’d planted a seed of doubt against Carlos’s suspicions. That’s all she needed to get through the next few days.
She hoped.
Chapter 19
“I’m giving you one last warning, move away from the door before I move you.” Nate’s forearms quivered with the need to pummel his friend and move his stubb
orn ass away from the door. Dylan’s hand pressed firmly against his chest, his face pinched in a scowl. Dylan was a tough fucker, but right now, it wouldn’t take much for Nate to throw his ass to the ground in order to get to Maddie.
Just as he’d predicted, things had gone south.
“Take it easy man, it sounds like she’s got it under control. If you would fucking listen.”
Dylan’s set up of three computers and all kinds of other shit, including two days’ worth of room service plates, was on the dining room table. Moments ago, Carlos’s sharp accusations had rung through the air and Nate had been on his feet.
Pain shot through his chest, numbing his arms. In seconds, Carlos could have put a bullet in Maddie’s head and thrown her over the balcony with no one the wiser.
Bang, bang, bang!
Nate’s eyes flew to the solid wood door behind Dylan’s back. His stomach lodged in his throat and his gaze sharpened on Dylan’s face. Shit. He strained his ears to listen to the computers, silence hung in the air. Was it Maddie? Had she fled down here in search of him?
Dylan’s jaw worked and his temper flared. “Get back,” he growled, his voice hoarse. Nate didn’t budge. Dylan turned and lowered his eye to the peephole as the door bounced with another insistent knock.
“It’s Ashley.” The tension eased out of Dylan’s voice and Nate moved so he could let her in. Her eyes went from Dylan’s pinched face and landed on Nate. A frown creased her smooth brow.
“What’s going on? Are you two fighting again?” She shut the door behind her and planted her fists on her hips. Nate watched Dylan’s eyes lower to the slim indent of her waist. Damn, he’d never thought two people could have it as bad as him and Maddie.
“I lost Maddie and have been trying to get ahold of you guys. You know it’s not safe for me to come down here. What happened?”
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