Come what may, Antonio Wayne and Roxanne would love and fight and bleed together, creating their own beautiful masterpiece of love and passion.
Chapter Twenty Eight
Crush didn’t know what love was. He and love had never met. But fear? Well, that was a different story, although he knew enough to understand that it was better to give than to receive. But he wasn’t at all afraid of Santiago or what he was capable of; he’d been subjected to the cartel brand of crazy, meaning fights, guns, and torture sessions. No, this was different. This time, he was worried about a woman.
He’d had his share of women; whores who would do anything to be on the arm of a cartel man. He moved in the shadows of power in the Colombian cartel; his job at the Club was only a small part of his cartel life. But it made him an appealing prospect to the single girls there, who often sought him out for the prestige that went with it. That’s one reason why this girl was different; she hadn’t sought him out. He’d never even noticed this little blue-haired troublemaker until the night she had climbed out the window of the club and ended up at the mercy of a neighborhood junkie. Now…all of a sudden, she was important to him. She mattered.
Of course, he didn’t want anything bad to happen to her. He didn’t want Diego to think he hadn’t done his job. But if he was honest with himself, he didn’t want her to be the next in a long line of women that were dead by Santiago’s hand. The idea sickened him and filled him with a primordial, caveman rage and protectiveness that had him wanting to bare his teeth and growl at anyone who would dare try to hurt her. Where the hell had all that come from?!
She sauntered down the street like she didn’t have a worry in the world. Why didn’t he feel like that? Instead, his protective instincts were coiled tight, ready to pop at the first sign of trouble, and his cock was at full staff, practically throbbing with every sexy sway of her hips. Damn it, what the hell was wrong with him? Maria was getting under his skin without even trying. It was a distraction he couldn’t afford.
She turned her head slightly and smiled in his direction, making him feel overheated, like he would die if she didn’t make it out of this situation safe and sound. She was making him crazy and she didn’t even know it.
Okay, focus, Crush, just fucking focus, he thought as he shook his head to clear it, and discreetly followed her down the street. Which gave him a perfect view of that ass. He shook his head again and let out an exasperated sigh. It was the first time he could ever remember being so distracted by a woman. He willed himself to be calm, peaceful, and observant. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
He had been around enough in life to recognize an obsession when he saw one, or in this case, when he felt one. His burgeoning feelings for Maria had quickly and inexplicably escalated beyond his control; there was no rhyme or reason to it. If that was the meaning of love, of lust, or of need, then so be it. He didn’t care; he just knew that being solely responsible for her well being felt right. And he wanted more.
He wasn’t the philosophical type when it came to matters of the heart. He saved his deep thinking for criminal matters. He was more instinctual in his day-to-day life, and he knew he’d kill anybody who threatened his blue-haired beauty.
His needs had always been simple, and he had never had any trouble making sure they were met. But this was different; he was getting his first taste of what happened when a woman turned a man’s world upside down. She was confusing the hell out of him. He didn’t like it, but he was sure as hell going to figure it out.
Diego was as crazy as any of the other men in the Colombian cartel, but like all of them he expressed it in his own special way. The way he saw things, serving up Santiago to the Ramirez brothers on a silver platter would serve a couple of purposes: first and foremost, it would keep his women safe, and second it would keep him in good graces with those crazy Ramirez fuckers. No small feat.
He sat behind his desk, his body draped over his chair, legs outstretched and fingers interlocked behind his neck. His eyes were locked on his woman, Brook, as he spoke to Antonio Wayne over speaker phone.
“Maria is hardheaded. She snuck out and got mixed up in a little trouble.” He saw no reason to get Antonio Wayne’s hair in a dander by telling him all the trivial details of the robbery. God knew the man was as temperamental as they came. “Nothing I couldn’t handle. I’ve decided to use it to our benefit.”
“So…let me get this straight, you’ve sent Maria out on the streets as a decoy to catch Santiago?”
“Yes, sir. Crush will be there waiting when Santiago makes his move.” Diego winked at Brook and she rolled her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose as she slowly shook her head. She didn’t envy him having to deal with those crazy ass brothers.
“That’s fine but I want him delivered to me alive.” The sound of sheets rustling preceded his next statement, prompting Diego to suppress a grin. “That is not negotiable, Diego. My nephew has plans for Santiago and I wouldn’t want the boy to be disappointed. You tell Crush I’ll be using his head as a paperweight if he doesn’t deliver that bastard to us successfully.”
The line went dead.
“It’ll be fine. I got this.” Diego winked at her and all her fears melted away. They both knew everything would be fine…as long as Antonio Wayne’s orders were carried out.
Diego picked up the phone and placed the call. His message was short and sweet. “Crush, deliver the package to the brothers intact or it won’t be good.”
“Got it, boss. No worries.”
Brook found herself hoping for Crush’s sake that he was as confident and in control as he sounded. She had seen the way he’d looked at Maria earlier. Maybe Crush would be just what Maria needed—if he lived through the night.
Chapter Twenty Nine
Santiago sat low in his SUV, trolling the streets of downtown Louisville. He had the itch again. He’d been riding around for a couple of hours. He couldn’t believe his luck when he saw that blue-haired bitch walking down the street like a hooker on the stroll.
He stayed far enough behind her and waited until she was stupid enough to go through an alley. Dumb bitch deserves to die. That thought was quickly overridden by the frustration of realizing his SUV was too wide to fit through the narrow passage. Why did this woman have such good luck? It was like she had a guardian angel watching over her or something. She constantly walked into trouble but it never stuck. Teflon.
That meant he wouldn’t get his chance to kill her if she eluded him and made it home. That high-rise apartment’s security would see to that. Bitch must be scared of something or she wouldn’t be living like that—all safe and secure behind a damn doorman.
After a moment of despair over the loss, he willed himself to be even more determined to get what he wanted. Now she had to be the one to die. Nobody else would do. It felt personal now. It was fucking humiliating how she kept slipping through his fingers.
She sashayed through the alley, blissfully unaware of his presence. The way he saw things, she was only getting what she deserved. A girl with any sense would have stayed on lockdown. He knew Diego well enough to know there was no way he let her out of the club. The girl hadn’t been home in days so she must have snuck out. This was a one-in-a-million chance; if he didn’t get her now, he wasn’t going to. It was truly a now or never moment.
He tossed around the idea of parking and tackling her in the alley, then strong-arming her into the SUV. No, too much of a risk. The last thing I need is that bitch kicking and screaming, drawing unnecessary attention that will get my ass locked up.
If she had lived in a house it would have been so much easier. He could have just let her go to sleep and caught her unawares. But there was nothing to be done about that now. He had two blocks to catch her or she would get away again.
Fucking Teflon.
If he had to sleep outside in his car and wait to catch her in the morning—he would. That was the hardest thing about being a killer—the waiting. Controlling the urge to kill was like
being a junkie with a fix dangling in front of him and having to grit his teeth and say no to it.
Patience, Santiago, patience.
Maria jammed her hands down deeper in her pockets, exasperated and beyond bored with this whole thing. She’d been walking around for over two hours and there’d been no sign of any serial killers. Figures…
She was tired, her feet hurt, and she really missed her little apartment. The thrill of being bait in the Santiago manhunt had worn off an hour ago. Now she just wanted to take her ass home and relax in a steaming hot tub of water with a glass of wine as big as her head.
Oh, enough of this bullshit. She walked briskly through the alley and around a corner to buy that bottle of wine. Two more blocks and she’d be home.
“Miss Maria, you’re back!” The liquor store owner smiled as he pulled a bottle of her favorite Merlot from the display behind him.
“You know me so well.”
“And why wouldn’t I? You’re my favorite customer.” He winked at her and smiled, revealing perfectly straight teeth that just had to be dentures. Just a dirty old man who thinks he’s still got some swagger, trying to get his groove on. No harm in that.
She smiled, handing him a twenty and a ten. “Keep the change—I’m feeling benevolent.”
She didn’t see his smile or the way he appreciated the sway of her hips as she sashayed back out the door and onto the main street that would take her home. She also didn’t see Crush anywhere. Hmm. She hadn’t seen him for the last couple of blocks, not since she’d slipped into the last alley.
She chastised herself for feeling just a little disappointed. She thought she’d seen some male interest there, maybe even a little protectiveness when it came to her. Maybe it had been wishful thinking.
Maybe this guy was more covert than overt when it came to doing whatever it was bodyguards did. Oh, well. It looked like tonight she’d have to settle for a hot date with a bottle of merlot, a hot bath, and her vibrator. Again.
Great.
Crush’s blood was pumping through his veins way too fast, the roaring between his ears becoming too loud to ignore. He needed to calm the fuck down and think. The message from Diego had been short and sweet but he got its meaning, alright.
The Ramirez brothers had a reputation for being crazy and the younger one was downright sadistic. He’d seen and heard what Antonio Wayne was capable of, and he had no intention of getting to know the business end of that man’s bullwhip.
Antonio Wayne had a saying: ‘A chainsaw is the Colombian cartel’s truth serum.’ Crush had every intention of going home with all his body parts intact tonight. Bullwhips and cutting off body parts, yep, that’s your signature. Antonio Wayne had been known to spend hours coming up with new ways to interrogate and torture his enemies. Let Santiago be Antonio Wayne’s entertainment tonight. Not me.
If he’d learned anything in his line of work it was to not allow his emotions to cloud his judgment. In an effort to not trail Maria too closely, he’d lost sight of her when she cut through an alley. It wasn’t so much that he’d lost sight of her as much as it was the alley was too damn narrow for his big ass truck to get through. Dammit. He had no way of knowing a serial killer was waiting for her at the other end of the alley. He found himself regretting his decision to buy such a big truck, but he was a big guy, he needed a big vehicle. Beating himself up over it now was pointless.
Nothing was making any damn sense to him right now because he was in the beginning stages of learning what all men learn sooner or later: you can’t reason out matters of the heart. Then he found himself second-guessing his decision to follow her at a distance. Crush was anything but insecure about his abilities—until now. What in the hell was this woman doing to him? He was going to have to rely on instinct and the little he’d learned about her behavioral patterns. People were creatures of habit and even though he didn’t know all of hers yet, he had enough to go on.
Crush was like any good bodyguard, he never knew which of the Club women the boss would have him protecting or what information he might need for Intel, so he eavesdropped. Maria was easy to figure out. She loved to gossip and be the first one to know stuff, and she got bored easily so she stayed in trouble. He decided that explained her sudden disappearance. She headed home. The novelty of being bait has worn off. The night had been quiet, not enough stimulation for an adrenalin junkie like her. She hadn’t been home in a few days and any woman loved her home so no doubt she’d been missing it.
Crush was good at his job because he noticed everything and he trusted his instincts. That was important on a job like this. It was simple: there would be zero tolerance for mistakes tonight, so he wouldn’t be making any.
“Seriously, Antonio!?” Roxanne ranted indignantly. “You’re going to kill a loyal, highly-skilled bodyguard if he doesn’t bring Santiago back alive?”
He glared down at her as he tossed the cell phone on the nightstand. His insolent gaze traveled a leisurely path up and down her nude body as she lay next to him in their bed. He hadn’t allowed her to dress after their vigorous fuck session, hadn’t even allowed her to clean up. He often took pleasure in her nudity during business phone calls. After all, what other didn’t know didn’t matter.
“You know better than to ever speak to me so recklessly. And that’s not what I said, nosey little girl.”
She crossed her arms over her chest with a huff, chastised but still determined to get an answer.
“I said that my nephew had plans for Santiago,” Antonio Wayne continued, “so Crush better not take the joy of that from him. If Crush gets out there and lets his cock do his thinking for him, then he might feel the need to protect Diego’s little blue-haired troublemaker. Did you know she was involved in a convenience store robbery?”
Roxanne’s arms dropped to her sides and she stared at her husband, slack-jawed.
“Mm, hmm,” he murmured smugly.
“How would you even know about something like that? And why didn’t you tell Diego you knew about the robbery?”
“After all these years, you still underestimate me. Tsk, tsk; it’s sad, really. But in answer to your question, you know me…I’ll file the information away and use it when I need it. You of all people should know that I reward loyalty.”
“I also know that temper of yours. I don’t want you killing off people who are loyal to the organization.”
“Still the mother hen of the Colombian cartel, how sweet. Always remember, those twins are the closest thing I have to sons, and what I feel for them goes far beyond the instincts of a mother hen.”
“Point taken again. And you should remember that I love those boys too. After all, they’re my nephews too.” She leaned in and pressed her lips to his before lying back on the pillows, her red hair fanning out across the pillow. “So, I guess this means that if I wake up later and find that you’re gone, I’ll know you’re a happy boy because you’ll be busy granting Tony his heart’s desire by terrorizing Santiago with his deepest, darkest fears. I, on the other hand, am exhausted. Some sex-crazed man and his insatiable cock wore me out tonight.”
As she rolled away from him to turn off the bedside lamp, Antonio Wayne raised up on an elbow and yanked the sheet off her body, his eyes glittering with sexual heat and his lips curved in a wicked smile.
Chapter Thirty
Maria sank down into the tub with her glass of wine. She did something she rarely ever did and allowed herself to be in the moment. The warm bath water felt good washing over her body—like a friend wrapping their arms around her with an encouraging word that everything was going to be okay. It wasn’t a feeling she was accustomed to so she took a moment to enjoy it.
Being home had never felt so good. She had a new appreciation for her high-rise apartment. She was always around people but at times she still felt so lonely. Tonight was different—tonight she wanted to be alone.
Even though she knew she had the protection of the Colombian cartel through Diego, a fierce sense of self
-preservation had become her constant companion. It didn’t matter how many people she had looking out for her, the need to survive was innate.
Her home gave her peace of mind. When people came into the building, they were escorted to the reception desk by a security guard. After they checked in at the reception desk, the employee would then call the resident to confirm whether the visitor could come up. She liked that added layer of security.
It wasn’t that she wasn’t a fighter, it was just that she’d seen all the ugly the world had to offer, up close and personal. Try as she might, though, she felt like she’d never shake off all that ugly. Sometimes it takes an outsider to see our true worth, to see the good in us. Maria had never had that, so instead she filled the void by creating meaningless, superficial drama, just so she could feel like she was part of something.
All she knew tonight was that she was safe at home and would live to fight another day. For now, that was enough.
Any seasoned criminal was bound to share a few traits with those who fought on the right side of the law. Crush understood that. He was a quiet man of few words. He had the brawn but he had the brains too. He considered himself a student of human nature. He was as cunning as he was deadly, which explained how he had earned the respect of cartel leadership. It also explained why he had been so confident that Maria had gone straight home.
As he pulled over to the curb, the lights went on in her apartment. He had been right, again. But he got bonus points for spotting the nondescript SUV parked just down the block. The one with Santiago behind the wheel. Fuckin’ A.
Santiago owned more than one vehicle for the obvious reasons—all the better to elude and confuse law enforcement. He was a truck man too, but he was known to favor his Cadillac Escalade when he wanted impress the ladies. After all, you needed to impress a girl if you were going to pick her up and kill her.
Inevitable (Colombian Cartel Book 3) Page 15