Chapter 13
The deep click of Rio’s boots sounds out on the path as he storms ahead, each step he takes is harder than the last. Without the guards’ flashlights now, I notice the darkness again like I did in the forest, only this time it’s alluring, and if I didn’t know Rio was about to unleash his fury, I could maybe even appreciate the aesthetic landscaping and the stars overhead.
But I have to almost jog to keep up.
He doesn’t look back. Doesn’t say a word.
It’s probably for the best, because if he did, I’m not sure what would come out of my mouth right now either—he pulled a hell of a stunt in there.
True, I got us in a twist.
But he tied this into a tight-ass knot.
We need this mini breather of fresh country air before it heats up again between us.
It’s dark out here. Proper dark. The countryside stretches around us, quiet and still as we wind through the cluster of houses—six, maybe. Same architecture. Spanish hacienda. The grounds are immaculate. Grass cut short, edges clean. Beautiful flowerbeds.
Who else lives here?
His whole family?
I scramble forward to make up the distance between us, following the broad, angry back in front of me.
I just needed him to see the locket.
I’ve jumped into the deep end without realizing it.
The night air is cooler than I expected, but it doesn’t touch the heat under my skin. My pulse is still racing—from the gate, from his family, from everything that just happened inside that house.
When Rio reaches his place, he takes the steps up to his front door two at a time. I follow, tightening my grip on the strap of Tina’s carrier as she shifts against my back.
He pushes down the handle and the oak door shoves open.
It was unlocked.
Which means the only people here are ones he trusts.
More than I trust any of mine.
He leaves a low light on in the living room. It catches on his bronze skin as he moves past it, already heading deeper inside like I’m expected to follow.
I shouldn’t.
Shouldn’t step into his house. Shouldn’t be alone with him.
I should be more worried than I am. Rio is a man who is willing to do bad things to get what he wants. He’s gorgeous and alluring, which makes him ten times more dangerous than any of the other men I know who are exactly as twisted.
Why have I now stepped inside this man’s inner sanctum? I could disappear, and I’m sure his family would cover. They seem tight. Really tight.
And at first, when I saw them all at the gate, I thought Rio was one problem I just made into five. But each of those men put me at ease in a way I didn’t think would be possible in a room full of testosterone.
But now Rio stares at me with those intense, but also sultry brown eyes. I’m angry but also there’s a feeling I don’t recognize. I’m not worried about being here in his home, and I should be. Why am I giving him unearned trust?
I need to put my armor back on.
I step inside, put the backpack and Tina down on the floor. The second the door clicks shut behind me, he turns.
The shift is instant.
Rio isn’t just a man anymore.
He’s a force.
I imagine every corded muscle under that jacket is taut. “You don’t get to walk into my world and start making moves like that.”
“Me?” I fire back. “You think I’m the one who went overboard? Jesus, Rio, you could have played along and dumped me tomorrow. You’re the one who just told your entire family I’m staying here for two weeks.”
“Yeah,” he says, low. Controlled. “You think I can let you leave now? You breaking into my property changes everything. You broke our agreement.”
“I asked you a million times to move the meeting up…”
He cuts me off. “I’m sure you’re used to getting your way–”
I’m fucking not.
“–but I agreed and you get what you asked for. If you want to make up rules as we go, you’d better expect me to do the same.”
“And the new rule is you keep me where you can see me?” I let out a sharp laugh, but it comes out thinner than I want it to. “What are you going to do? Lock me in your basement until you figure me out?”
His nostrils flare.
Then his eyes flick past me to Tina.
She’s pushed her pink head through the side of the carrier, ears perked like she has no idea she’s in the middle of a standoff.
Rio’s brows pull together. He looks at her, then back at me.
“Who the hell breaks into a place with a dog on their back?”
He’s not wrong.
“She can’t be alone for long,” I say, quieter now. “She gets nervous.”
He inspects my face as if something isn’t adding up.
He drags a hand through his hair. “Let the damn dog out.”
I hesitate. “She might—”
“Just let her out.”
–have an accident.
I crouch down and unzip the bag. Tina wriggles free immediately, hopping onto the floor like this is all perfectly normal.
Then she trots straight over to him.
Stops at his feet.
Sits.
And looks up at him like she’s already decided he’s safe.
Traitor.
Rio holds her gaze for a beat. Then just as quickly, he snaps back into this mess.
The one I started.
The one we’re both in now.
Rio’s gaze hardens again like the softness for Tina never happened.
I straighten my spine. “Are you going to tell me why you just told your entire family I’m staying here for two weeks?”
His jaw tightens. “It buys me time.”
My stomach knots. “Time for what?”
“To figure out what the hell you’ve dragged me into,” he says, stepping closer. “And to keep an eye on you.”
He’s such a dick.
“You think I’m letting you walk out of here?” he continues. “Call your fiancé? Run back to your father? After what you just pulled?”
“I’m not running back to Luther.”
“I don’t believe you.”
If he didn’t believe me before, breaking in definitely didn’t help.
But I have the locket.
“You’re not going to ask why I came here?” I snap.
He lets out a short breath as if the question irritates him more than anything else.
“It’s a mystery, Princess. We had a meeting. You could’ve waited two days.”
Princess. I want to call him out for insinuating I’m anything like that. As if I have any power in my father’s court. But I let it slide. Getting this over and done with is more important.
“I couldn’t wait,” I say.
“Why not?”
Because I can’t share a bed with Luther Vaughn.
Because I can’t live free knowing they aren’t.
Because I’m out of time…
The words claw at the back of my throat, but I swallow them down along with the memory of Luther’s smarmy smile when he delivered the news that we are to be married this weekend.
I had to leave no matter what, and the faster Rio finds Beatriz and Isabel, the faster I can get the hell out of dodge for good. I felt it in the restaurant when we last met, felt that he was searching for them, but why, with all he has at his fingertips, does he still not have any information?
“I needed you to see something,” I rush out. “To make you stop dragging your feet.”
He releases an unamused laugh, his intense stare not leaving my face for an instant. “Dragging my feet?”
Just then, Tina scratches at his ankle. He glances down at her and she sits, wagging her tail, begging for attention.
He offers her a soft smile and my heart twitches unexpectedly.
But his stern gaze returns when his eyes land back on me.
I cross my arms. “I’d have thought this would be easy work to find those women, for a man with your tools. You’re cracking down on international drug rings that have been around for decades, for God’s sake, and you can’t track two women for me?”
He closes his eyes briefly, as if containing frustration, and when he opens them, his question is surprisingly patient. “Why did you come here?”
“Because you don’t believe me…”
He interrupts. “Of course I don’t believe you. You threatened to burn me and subsequently, my family.”
He steps closer again, his commanding, devastating beauty fills the space in a way that makes it hard to think straight.
“Here’s a tip,” he says, voice almost a growl. “Don’t trust anyone willing to hurt someone else to get what they want.”
Condescending asshole.
“That’s lush from a man who started his fortune doing just that. You’re not talking to the press anymore… Jackal.” My eyes narrow. “Don’t stand there and tell me who I should and shouldn’t believe. I’ve learned plenty the hard way.”
Tina continues to gaze up at him with starry, puppy eyes and it’s annoying the hell out of me that she’s giving this dirtbag any grace, so I bend down and snatch her up into my arms, where she belongs.
To think I used to believe this dog could tell good from evil.
“For the record, I don’t trust you either, Rio.”
Heat flares between us, neither of us backing down. Tina wags her tail and licks my face as if a war hasn’t just erupted.
Finally, Rio removes his jacket, revealing swirls of gorgeous tattoos, some elaborate works of greyscale art, others more rudimentary, probably scrolled by a brother in Black Ridge. My stupid brain is drawn to the steely muscle of his arms, the veins on top of his hands.
Hands I’d be smart to remember may have broken bones.
He slings his jacket across the back of a chair, then folds his arms, the movement pushes his biceps tight against the seams of his t-shirt.
“Why did you come here?” He asks agian.
For some reason it bothers me that he’s the one being sensible and returning us to what actually matters. I lose my head around this guy.
I set Tina back down and straighten. “You don’t believe a hundred percent that the women were taken. The passports weren’t proof enough but I found something else. Something that might allow you to contact one of their families.”
My fingers slide into the inner pocket of my leather jacket. “This was in my father’s private belongings.”
I pull it out slowly, the chain catches the light as it slips between my fingers, the locket swings like a pendulum.