Wicked as Seduction: Trees & Laila - Part 1 (Wicked & Devoted 5)

Trees sighed like he was about to impart bad news. “Three men were murdered sometime overnight. Their killers dumped their bodies in the EM Security parking lot, almost like they intended to send us a message. But we don’t understand. The victims’ identities are unknown, but they were all Hispanic with lots of ink, between late-twenties and mid-thirties. That describe anyone in particular you can think of?”

Was he kidding? “Victor and Hector had those loyal to them and, thus, Emilo. But they always suspected Geraldo had his spies on the inside, telling him everything his son did. But they were all men. All pigs. Almost all fit that description.”

With a frown, Trees leaned back in his chair. “Spies? If Geraldo didn’t trust his son, why would he give Emilo responsibility for a chunk of his empire?”

“I cannot say. I only met the man a few times. Thankfully, he found me beneath his notice.”

“Thankfully?”

“He terrified me. Emilo was violent and ruthless…but ultimately greedy and lazy. Sloppy. I do not think he would have ever been capable of running the whole Tierra Caliente cartel. I think his father tried to make it so by giving him the necessary experience, but it was beyond Emilo. Geraldo, however, is the perfect kingpin—shrewd, strategic, even diplomatic when need be. Of course, he is also ambitious and not afraid of violence. Victor described him as something of a chameleon, able to rub elbows with government dignitaries as easily as criminals. He knows exactly which moves to make, which people to pay off, and who he cannot trust.”

“Good to know. Zy will send over some pictures of the dead bodies when he gets them together. Will you look at them for me?”

Laila wasn’t sure if she could identify anyone, but she was willing to try. “Of course.”

“Thanks. Why don’t you shower and get dressed? Then you can do the dishes and start the laundry. I need to work on a few things.”

With a nod, she stood. Trees’s stare swept up and down her body. She flashed hot. Self-consciously, she tugged at his shirt, trying to drag it below her knees in a futile effort to feel less seen. But unlike the Ramos brothers, his stare wasn’t a precursor to a sexual demand. Trees merely rose to his feet, withdrew his phone from his pocket, and headed to the corner of the house that contained his home office—the room beside hers.

After a shower, she realized she had nothing clean to wear until she finished laundry, so she donned Trees’s overlarge red tee again, gathered all the dirty clothes, then started the washing machine. While the clothes agitated, she cleaned the kitchen.

That left her with nothing to do—a state she hated—so she made Trees’s bed, then started tidying the rest of the house. As the weather warmed, he left his office. Together, they made lunch, then ate in relative silence. Afterward, he took her out back to better acquaint her with Barney. The big black dog still intimidated her, especially when he growled at her approach. But soon enough, he sniffed her outstretched hand, took a treat from her, and allowed her to pet him. Perhaps they would never be best friends, but she would settle for him not biting off her leg.

Back inside, afternoon shadows turned to evening. With that came thoughts of bedtime. Would Trees invite her to sleep there again? If he did, would they finish what she had so abruptly ended last night?

Laila wrestled with her mixed feelings as she tried to find interest in a telenovela. Eventually, the dramatics of the characters seemed too foolish to waste even another moment, and she drifted around the corner from her bedroom. The door to Trees’s office was cracked enough to see the darkness inside, broken only by the glow of his computer monitors.

As she hovered in the doorway, his phone rang. He swiped it off the desk with a curse. “What’s up, Muñoz? Any break on Kimber’s case?”

Laila didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but as she stepped back to give him privacy, his next words stopped her.

“No. Fuck no! Listen, let’s cut the shit. Laila is safer here than anywhere else. Every inch of my land is monitored, and no one can set foot anywhere on it without me knowing. I’m armed to the teeth. I’m ready for any battle, even the fucking apocalypse. You know that; everyone on the team does. The only reason you and the Edgington brothers told Walker to come get Laila is because you think I’m fucking guilty of being your mole.”

Shock froze her. Was it possible? Ever since their Orlando safe house had been breached, she had been wondering who inside their organization had leaked information to the wrong ears and exposed her family’s location to Emilo. But Trees? In the past few days, she’d come to believe he was forthright. That he kept his word. That he was one of the good guys.