Chapter 56
Addie was nervous as they walked into LittleLand. They went in through the back again with Cash holding onto her hand tightly.
“Don’t be scared. I’m with you,” he said.
Right, sure. Only she was about to meet his boss, and from all accounts, he could be a bit terrifying. And she didn’t know how he was going to react to her, or what to think about the fact that he had insisted Cash bring her.
At least Ink had agreed that Butch could work for the next three months in Las Vegas, looking after Dotty. They’d come to some sort of agreement about payment. While Butch had arranged all of that, Ralen had organized their flight back to Billings.
Apparently, Dante had not been happy when he’d arrived here and found them gone. She could understand that since their job was to look after Bonnie. But surely he understood there had been extenuating circumstances.
Of course, they hadn’t realized those circumstances existed until they’d gotten to Las Vegas. But they also hadn’t realized that Dante was going to turn up in Billings.
Monroe had come back with them. Addie had been a bit nervous about going to the airport, wondering if somebody was going to follow them and try to grab Monroe or hurt her, but the whole thing had gone seamlessly.
Ralen had had his eyes on Monroe at all times.
Neither of them had even been allowed to go to the bathroom alone.
That part had been slightly embarrassing. Especially for Monroe.
They’d left Monroe at Callahan Security with Ink watching over her. She’d wanted to come with them to meet Dante and explain everything, but Ralen had told her it would be better if she stayed with Ink. Then they wouldn’t have to worry about her security.
They’d flown on a private plane. She had no idea how they had afforded that, although perhaps it had something to do with their boss.
Ralen walked ahead of them into Bonnie’s living room. She stepped in to see Titus standing by the kitchen island. In the kitchen Bonnie was pouring cups of coffee, and next to her stood a gorgeous, dangerous-looking man. A shiver actually ran through her at the sight of him.
Wow.
Was this Dante? If so, how did people spend time with him? Just looking at him was making her want to run and hide.
She tightened her hold on Cash’s hand and wished she could bring Snaggles out of her backpack.
Although even Snaggles might be intimidated by this man. Not much scared a saber-toothed tiger, but Dante might be the one thing.
They’d had to get by one scary-looking guy guarding the entrance and she’d kind of expected there to be more in here. But they seemed to be alone.
Ralen walked over to the terrifying Dante and held out his hand. For a long moment Dante just stood there and stared at him.
“Dante,” Bonnie said in a quiet voice. “Ralen is your cousin, remember?”
“I am trying to remind myself of that fact,” Dante said smoothly. “And how upset my mother would be if I murdered him.”
Addie couldn’t stop the small squeak of fear that left her at those words.
She took a step toward Ralen, wanting to protect him, but then she also had to protect Cash.
What if Dante wanted to hurt him too? She immediately regretted the noise and her movement as Dante’s dark gaze slid to her.
She stood frozen like a rabbit in headlights as he studied her closely.
“This must be Addie, the reason why you left your post to fly to Las Vegas without telling me, or Titus,” Dante said in a drawl.
Oh, God. Oh, God.
She couldn’t move. She was frozen on the spot, paralyzed. This was the meaning of paralyzed by fear. She thought she’d been afraid before, but this almost seemed an extreme sort of fear.
His eyes seemed to hold hers, and she couldn’t even look away, let alone move.
And then Cash swept her up against him, lifting her onto his hip. At another time, she might have been embarrassed to be held like this, but right now she was relieved to have an excuse to take her gaze off Dante.
She buried her face into Cash’s chest and let him hold her. Perhaps she’d just let him deal with Dante.
“Cute little thing, isn’t she? Does she talk?” Dante asked.
“Dante, you’re being rude,” Bonnie scolded. “Addie is my friend. And I don’t mind that Cash and Ralen went to help her. From what Ralen said, if they hadn’t been there, she could have been badly hurt. She could have been stabbed. I’m glad they went.”
“I know you say that she’s your friend, Bonnie,” Dante said, his voice softening. “But how long have you even known her?”
“Is there really a number of days that you have to know someone in order for them to be your friend?”
“She’s met her once,” Titus said.
“Titus, whose side are you on?” Bonnie exclaimed.
“He’s on mine,” Dante said. “Since he’s my man.”
“Well, since you get a man, then I’m going to claim a woman, and I claim Addie,” Bonnie told him.
“Really? And what do you claim her for? What will she do for you?” Dante asked her.
“Dante, people don’t always have to do something for you. Sometimes you can do something for them.”
“Oh, like try to save her from me?” Dante asked smoothly.
Was she in danger?
“You’re not going to hurt her, Dante,” Cash said.
Oh, shit. Things were not going well.
“And who’s going to stop me, if that’s what I want?” Dante asked.
“I am. I’m not going to allow you to hurt her. Addie belongs to me. She’s under my protection. She’s my girl.”
“So you’re going to go up against me in order to keep her safe, are you?” Dante asked.
“Yes, I am.”
Addie scrambled out of his hold. She must have caught him by surprise, because he let her go. She stood in front of Cash with her arms spread wide. “I won’t let you hurt him. If you’re going to hurt anyone, hurt me.”
Dante caught her in his gaze again. Jesus. It took every ounce of willpower she had to stand her ground. Why were his eyes so dark? So soulless?
What was she thinking? Oh, yeah, she was thinking that she needed to protect Cash.
Dante stared at her without expression. Ralen seemed horrified. While Bonnie was just smiling.
“Oh, Addie. Love the outfit.”
Her outfit? She was wearing what they’d managed to find at a gift store on their way to the airport. So it was more Las Vegas tourist stuff.
“Addie, what do you think you’re doing?” Cash reached out, drawing her in behind him.
“You don’t need to hide her from me. I’m not going to harm her. I’m not actually in the business of harming innocent women.”
That didn’t mean that Cash was safe.
“So, it’s not just a fling then, huh? You really do care about each other,” Dante said. “You must, if you’re willing to go up against me to protect one another.”
Dante moved over to Ralen and took hold of his hand. Ralen gave him a shocked look as Dante drew him in, patting him on the back. The pat didn’t look gentle, and she winced, but Ralen didn’t show any sign of pain.
“Good to see you, Cousin.”
What was going on? She didn’t understand. Why did Dante now seem less cold and more relaxed?”
“That was a test?” Cash asked.
“I don’t want you just running off every time you see a girl whose skirt you want to chase,” Dante said.
“I had to know that you actually cared about each other. That she best be worth what you risked. The fact that she was willing to get between the two of us shows some strength of character, and the depth of her feelings for you.”
So he’d been scary on purpose to see whether she really did love Cash?
“But don’t get the wrong idea. I’m still very unhappy. The two of you took your time looking for Ortega. And then when you did find him, you didn’t keep him with you. So I had to come here to try and talk some sense into my brother since all he sent me was a short message saying, ‘I’m fine.’”
Ralen sighed. “I told him to call you.”
“Well, Ortega doesn’t always do what other people want him to. You should have stayed with him.”
“He didn’t want us to stay with him,” Ralen told Dante. “There’s no way we could have kept him with us if he wanted to leave.”
Dante crossed his arms over his chest. “Then I get here and find the two of you gone without a word. So no, I’m definitely not happy.”
“We’ll take whatever punishment you deem is suitable,” Ralen told him.
“Good, because there’s going to be one. The two of you need to decide which one of you is coming back with me.”
“Back with you?” Cash asked. “To Mexico?”
“Yes, I need one of you back home with me. I managed to actually get Ortega to meet with me. Apparently, he wants to spend some time here in the States and he will be on call for Bonnie if she needs him.”
“Not that Bonnie needs looking after,” she said as she walked over to Addie, holding out a pink mug. She winked at Addie. “I put some special sauce in it.”
Special sauce?
What was that?
Addie grabbed the mug and took a cautious sip.
Oh. That tasted delicious. Whatever the special sauce was, she wanted more.
“Take it easy on that,” Cash told her. “I’m fairly certain the special sauce is alcohol.”
Well, she wasn’t much of a drinker, but she might become one if this was what alcohol tasted like. Especially when it came with whipped cream and sprinkles on top. Bonnie sure knew how to make a good warm drink.
“Ortega is staying here?” Ralen asked. “Can he do that? Is it even safe for him?”
“Oh, I’m not very happy that he’s intending to stay in the states. It’s dangerous for him. But he seems to be fixated on someone who lives in North Dakota. So he’ll spend most of his time there and check in with Bonnie constantly.”
Fixated on someone?
She didn’t really understand what the big deal was about Ortega being here.
“Why do you need one of us back there?” Cash asked. “Why can’t we both stay here? This has become our home now.”
Dante turned his sharp gaze on Cash. “Yes, but your home is wherever I say it is, because you two signed an allegiance to me. I’m starting to regret being kind by sending you to work here.”
Kind? This man thought he’d been kind. She didn’t think he even knew what kind was. Did this mean they had to go back to Mexico? Could she live near him all the time?
From what Cash had said, this job was pretty safe. Bonnie was never in trouble, and she had Titus to protect her anyway.
“You knew it was for life, Cash. I didn’t have to take you on. However, Ralen is family. Unfortunately, I’d never hear the end of it if I let something happen to him. But if something happened to you . . .” he trailed off.
“Dante, you’re being mean,” Bonnie said. “I like Cash. He’s been good to me. He’s looked after me, and he’s always been loyal. So he left for a while to go and help Addie. What is he meant to do when the woman that he loves is in trouble? Just let her be hurt?”
Dante stared at Bonnie for a long moment, and Bonnie just smiled back at him. Wow, she was way braver than Addie. Addie had barely been able to speak in front of this man.
Cash held her against his side as he stared at Dante. He was tense and she worried that he was about to do something he would regret. Something that would end up with him dead.
She was not going to lose him just when she’d found him. Just when they’d finally gotten themselves on the same page, it seemed like this man had the power to tear them apart.
“I’ll go back to Mexico,” Ralen said.
“What?” Cash asked.
Ralen stared over at him, then back to Dante. “I volunteer to go to Mexico with you. When do we leave?”