Chapter 10 Bodies Armor #2
“Yes, amor, I am unharmed. If I had hesitated another moment, I wouldn’t be."
Toro saunters back into the foyer from our suite, where he'd been finishing off the last survivors. His gaze rakes over Sophia with brief but blatant appreciation, and then he shakes his head like a dog and whips around, facing away. When Fonz doesn’t immediately follow suit, Toro yanks him around by the shirt, keeping hold so the injured man doesn't topple over.
Naomi's face peeks around the doorframe, eyes going wide at the godawful mess of gore bathing the walls, floor, and ceiling, and then fixing on Sophia's naked form, and then mine.
I don't miss the way her eyes linger on certain portions of my anatomy before she squeezes her eyes shut, blushing.
She vanishes, and reappears with a bathrobe in each hand, proffering them to us. We both gratefully shrug into them.
"We need to move out ASAP," Fonz says, uncharacteristically devoid of humor. "If this bunch found us and gained access, you can be sure more baddies are inbound. You lovebirds get your shit on and we can get scarce."
"Fonz is correct," Sophia says, her tone and expression once more hard, cold, and unforgiving—purely Inez, now. "Dress, gather whatever is necessary, and we will all meet in your suite in five minutes so we can plan our next move."
She turns on her heel and glides back into our room, an incongruous sight with her sopping wet hair sticking to her neck, wrapped in a thick, fluffy white spa robe, assault rifle in her hands, bare feet flashing beneath the too-big robe.
She vanishes into the bathroom again, slamming the door behind her with a resounding crash. I take a moment to drag the bodies out of our room so I don't have to look at them while I get dressed, and then close the door to the suite behind me.
My phone is buzzing—it's Bradley, our liaison. I answer it, ready to rip him a new asshole. "How the fuck did they get up here?" I snarl, by way of hello.
The voice is not Bradley's. "Mr. Araujo, my name is Bruce, I'm the assistant head of security.
Bradley was my immediate supervisor. They, uhhh…
tortured and killed him for access. I don't know how they got into the Bellagio in the first place without being spotted, but rest assured we're on high alert.
The authorities have been contacted, obviously, since the noise was reported by multiple guests.
The owner of those suites is one of our most important VIPs, so as a courtesy, I'm giving you a heads-up so you can make your exit before law enforcement arrives. "
"I appreciate it, Bruce. We'll be gone in a few minutes. I'm sorry to hear about Bradley."
"Me too, Mr. Araujo. He was a good man. He didn't give up the information easily."
"I don't doubt it. Goodbye." I end the call and then head for the bathroom.
I tap on the door and then let myself in. Sophia is hunched over the sink, slowing her breathing. "I heard the shots,” she whispers, “and I thought—I thought you…"
I pull her into my arms, turning her to face me. "I'm okay. I'm fine. Not a scratch."
She nods against my chest, letting out a shaky breath. "I need to…" She pulls away, straightening, lifting her chin, hardening her features. "Sophia needs to go away for now, I think. I can't be her out there."
I pinch her chin and tip her face up. "I know. But first…" I take her mouth, kiss her breathless.
She pulls back, panting softly, gazing up at me with a soft, loving expression. "Ren," she breathes. "I wish we had more time. I had planned on returning the favor. My legs are still a little shaky from those three orgasms you gave me."
I kiss her again. "Only if you want to, amor.
There's no score, no keeping track, no returning any favors.
I do that because I like to. Making you come is more than pleasure enough for me.
" I run my thumb over her lips, silencing her protest. "I know.
I know. And if you want to, I will very gladly let you.
But if that's a trigger, then you need to know down to your very soul that I will never feel deprived if you can't do it.”
She smiles up at me, searching my face with such love and gratitude that my heart feels incapable of absorbing the blinding beauty of it.
"Ren, my sweet love. Your compassion and understanding are…
" she shakes her head, shrugs. "Such a gift.
One that a part of me says I don't deserve.
" It's her turn to speak over my protest. "I know, Ren.
I know—I do deserve it. Just as you deserve the love I have to give you.
I just…I can only hope that it's….that I'm enough. That it's balanced, between us."
"You're enough and more than enough. Especially when you look at me like that.
" I dip down and kiss her once more, soft and sweet and quick.
"Now, as much as I hate to see Sophia go, it's time for you to become Inez again.
We need that part of you if we're going to get ahead of these assholes and put a slug in Rafa's fucking skull. "
"Rafa," She snorts. "If only you knew how much that man hates being called Rafa." She scratches fingernails down my beard, gives me a peck on the lips, and then steps back. “All the more reason to call him that, I suppose, eh?”
I watch the transformation with fascination—her posture stiffens, her chin lifts, her eyes harden, the smile vanishes. Any trace of softness and warmth is utterly gone as if it never was.
We dress quickly, gather our gear. I remove body armor from one of the less messy corpses, find the breacher and stuff my pockets with slugs for the shotgun, and clip a few flashbangs to the vest. By the time I've finished this, the rest of our group has gathered in the living room of our suite.
Inez faces them. "I thought we were safe here—how our enemies knew we were here, I don't know.
I'll be contacting my employer for an explanation when we're en route.
For now, we're simply going to get out of this hotel and out of Vegas while I figure out our next destination, which hopefully will be Rafael's location so we can end this once and for all. "
My phone buzzes again—Bruce. "Law enforcement is in the lobby. I have a pair of Suburbans for you at the loading dock, but you need to get down there now, or I won't be able to keep them from detaining you."
"Understood. Heading down now. Thanks." I hang up and address the group. "We're out of here, now. Law enforcement is in the building and we do not have time for that. And with Pugli involved, we can't trust law enforcement anyway."
Forty minutes after the assault, we're a caravan of two heading west toward LA. Toro and Fonz are in the Suburban behind us with Annika, Anjalee, and Myka. With me and Inez are Naomi, Tatiana, Terra, and Taj.
Inez has called Jakob no fewer than six times in the last forty minutes, and it's obvious she's becoming concerned.
She tries him again, letting it ring until it goes to voicemail with a digital female voice: "We're sorry, the voicemail box you're trying to reach is full. Please try your call again later."
She tosses the phone into the cupholder with a hissed curse in Portuguese . "He has never not answered, Lorenzo. Not once in the decade I have worked for him."
"Decade?" I ask. "That long?"
She nods. "After I left the base in Goiana, I made my way north. You gave me several thousand dollars, a fake passport, and a Beretta."
"It was all you would accept."
She nods again. "I desperately wanted to stay with you.
But I knew Rafael would be looking for me, once he returned and discovered what I'd done.
I couldn't risk putting you in his crosshairs.
" She inhales deeply, holds it, lets it out slowly.
"It's why I stayed hidden so long. I knew the second I reappeared in the wider world, I'd end up on his radar, and if I were to approach you, you'd be in danger.
I just couldn't do that. It seemed better to remain invisible. "
"I understand. I would have accepted the risk to be with you, but I also would have made the same choice—to protect you—if the roles had been reversed.”
She nods. "I took a bus from Goiana to Manaus, and another to the Colombian border.
One of my father's business associates whom I knew rather well lives—or lived—in Medellin, so I took a chance on him.
He remembered me, and more importantly what I was capable of.
I worked for Vicente for two years, under the assumed name you put on the passport.
Only Vicente knew my true identity, at first. But a few of his lieutenants knew me too, and eventually it became an open secret that Bruno de Silva's daughter and Rafael Sousa's wife was working for Vicente, and rumors of La Víbora's return to cartel operations began to spread.
Unfortunately for me, I didn't realize the danger until it was too late.
I thought Vicente could protect me. He was always like a kindly old uncle to me, ever since I was a little girl, and I had faith in him. I underestimated Rafael, however."
“This is all new to me," I tell her.