ESTEBAN
Fucking Santos Cruz. The revelation of who has truly been behind it all stuns me into outright stupefaction. “Are you sure?”
Rodrigo dries his face and hair with the white kitchen towel before dropping it. Then he lifts his shirt and removes a dirty and bloodied bandage, showing me the long angry line cut into the side of his abdomen. “I got a real good look at the Diablos tattoo on one of the men’s necks as he dragged me out of the Bronco and tried to fillet me.”
Beside me, Aurora tenses. Then, to my surprise, she drops my hand and goes to him. “You need to get that cleaned properly. It’s on its way to a nasty infection.”
Rodrigo practically snarls at her as she tries to inspect it. “I just told you, we don’t have time.”
“The tattoo could have been a trick,” I tell him, waving her back to me. “A ruse to take the attention from Villegas.”
“I don’t believe so. They were there to kill me. It wasn’t their intent to leave a witness. But I got away and hid in the pigpen on the outskirts of town.”
“Why would Cruz want…” I trail off as the answer comes to me. “He wants to corner me.”
Rodrigo nods, “If you think you’re under attack, you might let him in for protection.”
I mentally scold myself, regretting the moment I decided to trust that cartel fuck with the location of Campo Escondido and recalling his gleeful grin as he saw it from the helicopter. “We need to alert all of security.”
“Yes, but not until we’ve moved from here. Villegas may have had a hard time discovering this address, but we’ve trusted Cruz with a lot more information.”
My gaze narrows on him suspiciously. “Did you disclose something?”
He cracks his neck as if the question offends him more than our current situation. “Do I look like I’d disclose anything about you? But I can’t say the same for anyone else on your staff. Any one of them could have been followed. Or worse, taken and questioned.”
I grind my teeth to keep from reminding him he’s head of security, and if anyone on the staff betrays me, it’s still his responsibility. However, it would serve me no purpose to berate a man who has been loyal for years, even when it’s gone against his better judgement. A man who has never failed me. “We would have known.”
“You can’t take that risk. Not with him.”
I glance around the house, bringing to mind the faces of the people who work here. Although I don’t believe any one of them would ever betray me, with the right leverage, anyone can be persuaded to talk.
“Agreed,” I say, then look to Aurora, who doesn’t seem as frightened as I would assume she’d be. “I’m sorry, but I can’t let you go back to your apartment yet. He knows your name and could have just as easily found out where you live as I did.”
“I wouldn’t want to leave you anyway.” She takes my hand and squeezes. “I’d go insane wondering if you were all right.”
Unable to resist, I pull her into me, embracing her tightly. “Pack a light bag. We leave in ten minutes.”
“Where will we go?” She presses her head against my chest.
“Bellazul,” Rodrigo answers for me. “With our security doubled, he won’t try to attack again. It will give us time to assess and plan.”
Aurora pulls away from me. “I should be ready to go in a few minutes.”
“I’ll be right behind you,” I say to her before turning to Rodrigo. “As soon as we’re out of Puerta de Hierro, I’m going to contact Cruz. We need to end this.”
“You should retaliate,” Rodrigo demands. “We must show him we’re—”
I raise my hand to stop him. “The last thing I want is a war with the Diablos. It won’t bode well for any of us. What we should do is negotiate.”
Exasperated, he says, “You can’t negotiate with people like that.”
“I have to try.”
“There’s only one thing he wants, Esteban.”
“Campo Escondido isn’t on the table.”
“Then I’ll say it again, you can’t negotiate with people like Cruz. We must move with caution around him.”
Rodrigo may be right. But even if that’s the case, it wouldn’t be the time I’ve thwarted a hostile takeover attempt by men like Cruz. Wealthy, powerful men that have wanted what I have. They’ve tried and failed because I’ve proven to be a more ruthless businessman. Santos Cruz will be no different.
“You have so little faith in me, old friend.” I grin and slap him on the back, then start toward the bedroom to pack as well, saying over my shoulder, “I’m not so easily defeated, especially not by that punk, Cruz.”
In the closet, I find Aurora already changed into a pair of jeans and a blue sleeveless shirt. She peers up at me from where she’s bent down, lacing her sneakers. “I’m worried.”
I take a black duffel bag from the high shelf and toss in a few items. “About what?”
“Santos. He’s come up many times in my research. His cartel has a lot of power in Mexico.”
Setting the bag down, I go to her. I place my palm beneath her chin, and lift it toward me. “You weren’t afraid of me when you believed I was a part of the cartel.”
“That was different.”
“How?”
She chews her lower lip, then, with a shrug of her shoulder, says, “Maybe I should have been afraid, but what I wanted overrode any common sense.”
A smile paints across my lips. Extending my hand to her, I help her up, immediately pulling her into my arms. “You were obsessed with me.”
“Unfortunately.” She touches the button on my shirt, tracing the rim of it with her fingertip. “I still am, which means I’m still throwing caution to the wind when it comes to you.”
“But you already know everything about me. There’s nothing left for you to expose.”
“That’s not what I’m obsessed with.” She looks at me through long, dark lashes, the sudden change in her breathing pattern giving away her meaning. But I still want her to say it.
I pull her tighter against my body, allowing her to feel how she affects me. The way she makes me hard and ready. “What is it then?” My lids lower as I take in the soft blush on her lovely cheeks and the fullness of her mouth. Unable to resist, I come close and lick her lower lip before I nip it. She moans, letting me suck on it gently to assuage the sting.
“I’m obsessed with the way you touch me.” She sighs.
“Do you like it when I do this?” Hooking my thumbs on the straps of her shirt and bra, I tug them down her arms. Then I skim the edge of the material, grazing the tops of her breasts before I pull it down over her nipples. Gently, I sweep my knuckles on one, then the other.
“Mmm, yes,” she breathes out.
“What about this?” With my finger, I draw a line from her breastbone to her bellybutton. Undoing her fly, I slide my hand inside her jeans and underwear, where I cup her sweet pussy. It’s warm and soft and moist in my palm, and the feel of it drives me to near insanity.
“God, yes!” she cries out when I thrust a finger inside her wet opening.
“Good,” I growl, pressing her into the dresser. “Because it’s mine. You know that, right?”
“I do.”