2. Chapter 1
Chapter 1
R amiro looked away from his computer screen only to be sideswiped by Summer’s smile. It was like a punch in the gut, but one where he didn’t mind losing his breath.
She crossed his office, the smell of his favorite sandwich mixing with her lavender scent. That had become his favorite scent as well, the lavender one, not the food. The food just proved that after ten years, she still tried to take care of him.
He loved it and hated it at the same time. Didn’t she yet realize that he was the one who was supposed to take care of her?
“Spoiling me with my favorite again?” He reached out, his finger grazing her hand as he took the wrapped sandwich. He could allow himself that small of a touch. “Didn’t realize it was lunchtime already.”
“That’s what I’m here for.” Summer’s smile widened, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. She was forcing it again .
Which meant her current prick boyfriend needed to be taught a lesson.
Encouraging her to date other men had been the right thing to do, but he still regretted it. Summer seemed to attract all the worst men. After the married one and the one scamming her out of money, Ramiro had background checks done on anyone she was interested in. The latest one had nothing pop on his history. On paper, he was clean-cut, with a decent office job.
He still wasn’t good enough for Summer, but then no one was.
Especially not Ramiro, who’d done more nasty things than she even knew were possible, including killing his own father.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, setting his sandwich down on his desk.
Her smile just grew wider, teeth flashing. “Everything’s fine.”
He hated those words. She’d said them a lot over the years, and they were never true.
Ramiro forced his voice to soften. He was a big guy with a big voice, but Summer never handled raised voices very well. “Please tell me.”
“There’s nothing to tell,” she insisted, but her hand rubbed against her neck, something she only did when she was anxious.
“Summer,” he pushed. He’d hoped she was past this, past the bullshit she’d been trained to believe—that it was wrong to complain about anything, selfish even.
Her eyes shifted back to his, still the brightest blue he’d ever seen. “Not yet,” she murmured .
His hand curled around the edge of his desk.
The office phone rang, and Summer brightened at the interruption. “I’ll get that!” she called back, already halfway out the door.
Ramiro wanted to tell her to ignore the damn phone and get back there, but he knew she prided herself on being the best secretary she could be. She’d been nervous when he’d offered her the job. Before that, she’d only worked in retail and restaurants, the kinds of jobs that someone who’d dropped out of high school and gotten her GED could get.
When he’d first taken her in, setting her up in a separate apartment had been the best option. Too many men that he wouldn’t want knowing about her could have dropped by his place at any time.
He’d been trying to keep her away from his life, but she became more and more insecure from his help when she couldn’t make ends meet on her own. Since becoming his secretary, she’d started to grow in confidence again.
His inner-office line beeped, and he picked it up.
“I’m transferring Diego over to you,” Summer said, her voice light and breezy.
Ramiro wondered if her face would match, or if, because she was out of sight, she let herself look sad. “I guess I’ll talk to him,” he said, rewarded by her huffed breath of a laugh.
Summer finished the transfer, and Diego’s murmur filled Ramiro’s ear.
“After this, do you want to—”
“Please tell me you’re not flirting with your new wife while calling me,” Ramiro interrupted.
Diego chuckled. “I like that. Wife. Still getting used to it.”
“The church wedding was only a couple of days ago.” They’d donated a ton of money to smooth things over with the pastor after Diego threatened him into it. Well, Ramiro had made Diego donate the money; it was his damn wedding after all. “Why are you calling me? Shouldn’t you still be in the honeymoon stage of things?”
“Hannah didn’t want to go on one. She’s still getting morning sickness.”
“Regretting knocking her up?” Ramiro shuddered at the thought. Kids terrified him, and there was something creepy about pregnancy. A woman’s body should be worshipped, not fed off of, especially from the inside.
“Of course not,” Diego said. “You should come over again soon. I’ll let Emma torture you some more.”
“Very funny,” Ramiro growled, only it wasn’t. The toddler Diego had adopted was a menace and handsy as hell. “Stop threatening me and tell me what you need.”
“It’s about that new client I set up surveillance for. I caught something and wanted one of your guys to gather more intel for me. That way I don’t have to leave my new, pregnant wife.”
Ramiro snorted. “Send me the details.”
From outside his office, the bell of the outer door clanged. Ramiro frowned. He wasn’t expecting anyone that day. It wasn’t like their office was an actual business with visitors. His men sometimes showed up, but only when he nagged them into it.
Summer’s hesitant tone drifted to him from the lobby. “C-can I help you?”
“Ram?” Diego’s voice sounded like static in his ear as Ramiro stood. “I asked if you’d seen any movement from the cartel.”
Summer’s choked off scream had the phone clattering to the desk as Ramiro rushed out of his office.
A man had Summer trapped against his chest. Her terrified expression was all he could focus on. That and the knife pressed against her delicate white throat, right where she’d rubbed it to soothe herself before.
“Freeze, or I’ll kill this juicy piece,” the man taunted. The fluorescent lighting glowed on his bald head, and he had a tattoo under his left eye.
The lighting also glowed off the knife. The man held a knife on Summer.
It was going to be the last thing he fucking did.