Chapter 33
J ago
Treachery was the most dangerous weapon of all.
At least that’s what I’d believed for years.
I’d experienced it and used it, both ending tragically.
Yet I’d learned a valuable lesson that was more painful that the thirty lashes that had scarred me for life.
Love was even more dangerous.
I stood off to the side, staring up at the sky as if doing so would provide the necessary answers. Not from God as he’d forsaken me long before. Perhaps from some hopeful other deity who might intervene. Maybe the same one who’d created the most incredible goddess in Spain.
A smile almost formed on my lips. Genevieve was as startling today as she’d been the first time I’d… kissed her. Perhaps even more so. I felt a presence and bristled.
“How is Genevieve?” Emiliano asked. I’d called a meeting of the men, which we held outside the castle. The last thing I wanted was for her to overhear someone else responsible for her father’s death had been captured. There was no understanding of how she’d react.
Her calmness didn’t fool me. She was a lioness and would strike if given the opportunity.
“She’s resting. As you might imagine, unnerved,” I told him. “Stay with her, Emiliano. Keep her protected. She’s… willful.”
“You mean hardheaded,” he corrected. “You’re right. She cares about you.”
“Which bothers you.”
“Not my place to say and I know that. I only want her happy, Mr. Torres. She’s very special to me.”
He was old enough to be her father, but I still felt a twinge of jealousy. Why? Because he’d managed to get close to her, when I had no skills to do so in a way that would satisfy her needs.
“Whatever happens, make certain she and her family stay safe.”
I could feel his eyes on me, but he remained silent.
“She’s special to me as well. Go to her. You’re in charge of her protection.”
“Yes, sir.” He walked away, but I could tell he had more to say. Now wasn’t the time. He’d called me sir, as if he believed I deserved the respect.
Sir. I wasn’t certain I was owed the nod of respect at this point. I’d almost gotten her killed.
As Navarro walked closer, I could tell he was eyeing Emiliano entirely differently than he’d done before. He waited until Genevieve’s bodyguard was out of range before finishing his approach.
“What is it?” I asked and headed for one of the specially designed utility trucks used for off-road situations.
“We have a mole.”
“That much I’ve concluded. I need a list of everyone who knew the name of the hotel in Madrid.”
“I’ll get that for you and shouldn’t take long. Emiliano is on it.”
I took a deep breath before tossing the duffle bags I’d stuffed earlier into the backseat. “What are you insinuating, that Emiliano is our leak?”
“Think about it. You know Genevieve told him every detail. She trusts him.”
“Perhaps, but why bother waiting to destroy her until she arrived back home?” I threw Emiliano a look before he walked inside, finding it interesting he’d done the same thing to me. He’d stopped just before opening the door.
“What good would it have done killing her in New York? I’m not saying he’s working alone, but he has more knowledge about the family operations than almost anyone since she’s placed her trust in him. There’s something about him that’s off. I don’t like it.”
“Right now, I don’t want accusations made. However, finding the mole is as important as hunting and killing Fassi and Hamza Bata.”
Navarro nodded several times. “Understood. I’m just suggesting you talk to your woman about keeping her mouth shut.”
There was no real reason for his words to strike a negative chord, but they did.
I was in his face in a flash, barely resisting wrapping my hand around his throat.
“She is my wife, Navarro. I suggest you keep that in mind. As such, she deserves the same respect that I demand. Am I clear?” At least I’d managed to keep my voice down.
He appeared both startled and angry but lowered his head. “I meant no disrespect, but she’s not used to our way of life any longer. You said so yourself.”
“No, she is not, but she can hold her own and outsmarts most of our soldiers. I suggest you keep that in mind.”
“Yes, sir.” His eyes flashed, which caused me to turn around. Genevieve was heading toward me with purpose in her step.
Emiliano was following, but I waved him off. This wasn’t his battle to fight. At least not now.
“Get the men ready to leave. I need answers and the fucker you caged will provide them one way or another.”
“You got it, boss.”
I took long strides toward her, my instincts unneeded for what her stubbornness had suggested she do.
She was dressed as if ready for battle, wearing all black as she’d done before. Only this time she also wore a shoulder holster and her long hair had been braided, swinging back and forth as she stormed toward me. The look of conviction on her face was more amusing than annoying.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I blurted out a little more aggressively than I’d intended.
“Going with you. I heard about the asshole Navarro discovered.”
“From whom?”
“Does it matter?”
“It does to me. We have a mole in our midst and if Emiliano told you?—”
I wasn’t given a chance to finish explaining what I was getting at before she lifted her arm. The slight twitch from anger in the corner of her mouth had ticked first, which had barely allowed me to catch her wrist before she could crack her hand across my face.
“Don’t you ever,” she hissed, “insinuate anything like that again about Emiliano. You have no idea how many times that man has saved me from assholes intending harm.”
I expected her to add me to the list, but she didn’t.
“I’m sorry. That’s not what I was saying. If you would have allowed me to finish, my lovely wife, you’d understand that yes, I’m concerned about the mole. He must be found. What really matters is that you and I are the same page. Whatever information is needed, we will tell each other.”
“But you were planning on leaving without telling me.”
“I was planning on doing so when I returned. I’m not trying to keep anything from you, Genevieve, but you went through several ordeals in a few days.”
She pulled her hand away, shoring up her shoulders.
“So have you and more in the past. I’ll tell you once again.
I’m not fragile, Jago, at least not to the degree you think I am.
I need to go with you. I must be seen as a full partner.
I’m not gun shy and while I might not like the sight of blood, I won’t faint.
You do what you need to do to the man your men have captured and I won’t be offended in the least. We need information. ”
I lifted my head, noticing we were being watched. Maybe scrutinized. She was my wife and half owner of a now extremely powerful organization, but I was still the drug lord. I should punish her, banish her from going with me.
With anyone else, I would.
Only things had changed.
I’d changed.
The jury was out whether it was for the better.
“Fine, Genevieve. You can go, but you won’t like what you see and it will forever change you.”
She closed the distance, placing her hand on my chest. Her heated breath could easily drive a man wild.
“Don’t you think that’s already happened?
I’ve heard everything you’ve said, and I am so thankful you want to protect me, but if we’re going to work together then that’s what we need to do. I’m no princess. I’m a warrior.”
Genevieve
Warrior.
Maybe I’d overblown my abilities just a touch. Right now, I wasn’t certain I could be called anything but a disgusted, disturbed, angry, yet fearful woman.
While my husband had obviously thought I was locked in a haze, I’d been trying to lay out the pieces of how the hell information about our hotel in Madrid had been leaked. Had I floated Emiliano’s name in my mind more than once?
Yes.
Had I hated myself for it every time?
Oh, hell, yes.
I’d gone through the ranks, including Antonio, Kruz, Navarro, and the other men I’d met.
I’d also thought over a few more of my soldiers, but no one jumped to the top of the leader board.
I kept repeating to myself that it didn’t matter because I wasn’t used to acts of betrayal and espionage or blackmail or whatever was going on.
Whoever was betraying us had better be getting a shit load of money for his treacherous acts or there’d be nowhere he could hide where we wouldn’t find him.
We.
I’d all but insisted with the almost crack of my hand across Jago’s face that he take me with him.
Now I wasn’t certain I wasn’t regretting my demand.
But I held my own as the man Navarro and his soldiers had discovered was tossed on the concrete floor, immediately slumping over from the hard punch to the gut Jago had just issued.
That had been round two or ten. I wasn’t certain. By the time we’d walked into the building, the Turk had been beaten more than once.
But he still wasn’t talking.
His eyes were swollen, one completely shut and the other barely allowing him to see what he was about to endure. At least four teeth had been punched from his mouth and his nose was misshapen.
This certainly wasn’t anything like what I’d seen on satellite television and my father had never allowed me to watch a single interrogation.
Now I better understood why.
“Yusef,” Jago hissed as he dropped his head, rubbing his jaw with his bloodied hand. His knuckles would be bruised, but he didn’t seem to care. My husband was obviously in his element.
I remained where he’d placed me as soon as we’d walked in, doing my best to look the badass Bella had insisted I’d become.
Meanwhile, my stomach was in knots and I was grinding my teeth to try to keep from vomiting.
“Yusef,” Jago repeated and crouched down in front of the broken man, remaining on the balls of his feet. “I can make this much easier on you. You bought information, which you in turn gave to your boss, Hamza Bata. All I’m asking for is the name of the person you purchased it from. That’s it.”
Yusef eyed him warily. Antonio jerked him into a sitting position.
“Be respectful,” Antonio said. It was the first time I was seeing just how brutal my men could be.
Yusef still lolled his head.
Jago fisted the man’s hair, jerking his head so the two men could look eye to eye.
Swallowing, I forced myself to look away, but only briefly. If I held my breath any longer, I could pass out.
I heard a sound and realized Yusef had been stupid enough to spit blood and bile on Jago’s shirt. His previously sexy blue shirt that created shimmers in his eyes. I could tell the act had pissed Jago off in an entirely different way.
He dropped Yusef’s head and rose to his feet, nodding toward Navarro before walking toward me. The sexy smirk lingered on his face as he locked eyes with mine. He was thoroughly enjoying this.
I tried to look around him to see what was going on, but his shoulders were too broad and I was still firmly rooted to the spot.
The block didn’t prevent me from hearing the buzzing sound of a power tool. I opened my eyes wide just as Jago cupped my chin, rubbing his bloodied thumb across my cheek.
“One last opportunity, Yusef,” Jago said, never taking his eyes off me.
As if to emphasize Jago’s message, I heard a rev of the tool.
Immediately the man’s voice in English came. “Please, I’ll tell you.”
Jago waved his hand again and the horrible sound of the tool disappeared. He smiled at me, his eyes twinkling.
I shuddered, allowing myself to tremble.
He winked. “Tell me what you need to tell me, Yusef, or I’ll leave you here with my man and his toy.”
“A kid. Adan. Adan. I don’t… know his… last name.”
Adan was a Spanish name.
“Where did you meet him?” Jago continued.
“Via Laietana.”
I looked up at Jago. Where the hell was that?
“Excellent, Yusef. See how easy that was? Navarro, give the man some peace.” Jago gave me a nod and without saying anything else, he turned me around in the opposite direction and we walked together toward the door of the warehouse.
Once outside, I finally took that deep breath.
I expected to hear the return of the power tool. Instead, I heard a single gunshot and only then did I close my eyes.
I wasn’t cut out for this.