Chapter 4 #2
But mostly when I've been on a date. If the simple fact of men being jerks wasn't enough to keep me away from dating, my father's men being around to witness my first kiss put me off for sure.
Dad loosened the reins a few times when I went out with some of his younger prospects because he knew they wouldn't dare mess with me.
Though one did dare… and that was so lame and rushed it was very unfulfilling.
I open the passenger door and lift Tina inside, clipping her into the doggy seatbelt before circling to the driver's side. I grip the steering wheel and sit there for a second, staring through the windshield.
Rio pops into my head again. Inappropriate timing.
I’m sure it has nothing to do with thinking about sex, even though he is hotter than sin.
I didn't expect him to be attractive. Or to smell nice.
The men I'm around usually smell like cigarettes.
Rio smelled like earth and cold morning air and something sweet but manly.
He smelled like freedom and sex rolled into one.
I haven't stopped thinking about Rio since the minute I left his office.
Not all weekend. Not even when I was elbow-deep in shampoo and fur.
And I haven't stopped digging either, but apart from those stupid pictures I've got in the manila folder, the guy seems straight as an arrow. Then again, he wouldn't be stupid enough to leave a public digital footprint, and all I have at my fingertips is the internet.
Black Ridge wasn't known for being dark and murky back when Rio was there.
They ran gambling rackets, so maybe they broke some bones over loans.
They dealt weed, but that's not breaking news these days.
I need to tie him to something bigger. He won't help me unless he has to; that much is clear.
And that makes me hate him more. Because who wouldn't want to help two innocent women?
Then again, I have to admit he's playing it smart by not believing me. I suppose when you used to move in my father's world and then move to another, even if he's seeing it from the other side now, trust doesn't come easy.
But I don't need him to trust me. I need him to help me.
Later this week, I have another getting-to-know-you dinner at Luther's house. I have to get back into Luther's office. That's how I found the folder in the first place. Where there is one secret, there are bound to be more.
I didn't really know exactly what I was looking at at the time, but I knew it had to be important. There was a note from Ray to Luther that simply said: This is your power. Use him, but guard him with your life.
There were old photos of a prospect with a patch that read Jackal and matching photos of the same man, a Rio Mendez, featured in San Francisco's tech magazines. Who was this guy? Whoever Luther was now guarding with his life had to be important.
I snapped photos of as much of the contents as I could before I worried someone might leave the party to find me, and put the folder back exactly as I found it. Then I printed it all off and made my own manila folder.
Damn, was I surprised when the internet told me one of the country's most influential men used to be patched at Black Ridge and was likely doing favors for them over the years.
Now, I too am using Rio, but know I need to guard him with my life.
Rio was smart enough to understand his power in the situation.
I know he doesn't want me to go to the press, but he's right — if I burn him, I lose him.
It's something of a catch-22. Maybe if I can see more of that folder, I'll find something more damning.
He sure did surprise me, though. Rio was way more put together than I expected him to be.
I thought he would have that sleazy look my father's men have, but be wearing a suit.
Sure, I knew he was gorgeous because I looked him up online before the meeting, but his photos had no real personality in them.
He was stoic. A statue. But in real life, his energy was alive as hell, and I wish it wasn't true, but his chiseled features were so perfect it was almost breathtaking.
When I was twelve, my mom took me back to Puerto Rico to visit her side of the family, and I met my teenage cousin.
He had a friend who was this absolutely flawless man — perfect bronze, dark, thick hair, panty-dropping gaze…
my cousin's friend didn't even look at me.
I wasn't of interest to him in the slightest, even though I couldn't get him out of my mind's eye for weeks, hell, maybe months after.
I hate that Rio stirs the same kind of distraction.
Then again, it's very easy to remind myself what a prick he is to get past it.
Why wasn't he more urgent? Why wasn't he more afraid of being blackmailed?
Does he think I'm some stupid girl like the men at the club do?
Like my dad does? Does he think I'm not strong enough to pull the trigger?
Or does he have law enforcement in his pocket, just like my father? I wouldn't put it past him.
Men lie. Men cheat. Men think money makes them untouchable. Rio certainly didn't look scared; not one little bit.
Still… he's meeting me tomorrow night.
God, I hope he found those women. Surely, with all his tools, that would be nothing for him. Then again, all he has are passport photos, and when I ran his words through my mind — that passports mean nothing — I have to agree.
If I'm going to get him to take me seriously, I need more. More on Beatriz and Isabel. And more on Rio. Men like him are never clean. I already know he's touched the scum at Black Ridge. I'm sure he's been somewhere else, somewhere a man who runs the world's top cybersecurity agency shouldn't be.
My phone lights up on the dashboard.
Dad
Dinner at 8.
I stare at the screen. We don't do dinner. We do meetings. We do negotiations. We do appearances when it benefits him. If I'm at a table with my father after dark, there's a reason, and it's not to enjoy a lasagne.
He's folding me in. Pulling me in tighter in an attempt to squeeze any of my own will out of me. Why? For the next shipment of women? I don't know, but he doesn't want me there because of my shining personality.
My pulse ticks up. There's less than a month now before my wedding to Luther. I gave Rio two weeks because any more time and it's pressing too close to that date. I want out of here. Marrying Luther isn't an option. I can't be legally tied to that man. I can't.
I'm damn lucky Dad picked tonight instead of tomorrow, when I'm set to meet with Rio. I get the impression Mr. Mendez doesn't reschedule, and neither does my dad. How the hell did I end up in the middle of a triangle of the world's worst kind of men?
I swipe my dad's name off the screen and put on some music. I don't respond to the text because I don't need to. Attendance isn't optional. He knows I'll be there.
What I wouldn't give to see his face the day he realizes I'm gone.
I start the engine and pull away from the curb. I check my reflection in the rearview mirror.
I need to be careful with Rio, find something to make him act, and help these women.
Tomorrow, I find out if Rio is the weapon I need. Or the one that backfires.