Disclaim (Deliver #3)

by Pam Godwin

  She traced the ink on his forearm, following the branches with a finger. “Okay.”

  Frizz sewed up Matias’ leg wound in silence. Then he restitched his lips without a mirror, his fingers expertly moving the needle through the existing holes. She watched through a new set of eyes and no longer saw a scary freak. As he poked the needle through his flesh, she thought of it as a lip piercing, a rebellious expression of self. A fuck you to dear old dad.

  When he finished, he gathered the supplies and strolled into the house, whistling a cheery, unfamiliar tune.

  She sat alone with Matias for an endless moment. The heavy hush between them bled into the darkness, dampened by the buzz of winged insects.

  “When we get back, I’m calling my friends, Matias.” She slid her hand over his thigh. “They need to know I’m okay.”

  “Anything you want.” He turned his face toward her and put his lips on hers. Slightly open. A tiny gliding movement. Then he kissed her nose.

  “Why didn’t you tell me about the slaves three weeks ago?”

  “I wanted you to love me despite this.” He pulled away, bracing elbows on his knees, and stared straight ahead.

  “I would’ve loved you no matter what. It was inevitable.”

  “Through all your one-night stands, what would you have done if one of those men told you he saved child slaves? Would he have become more to you than just a hookup?”

  She rubbed her forehead and stared at him sidelong. “That’s such a crazy what if. I don’t know.” But she did know. She would’ve clung to that connection.

  “Your heart beats for the end of slavery. If you found that same passion in someone else, anyone else, your heart would’ve cemented you to him.” He met her eyes. “I didn’t want to be just anyone. I wanted to be your one, passions and pursuits aside. I wanted you to choose me for us.” He looked back at the landscape. “So I let you see whatever you wanted to see at the estate and waited until you saw me.”

  She swallowed thickly. “The amount of fear and doubt and fucking dread I’ve gone through over the past few weeks…”

  “Vulnerability has to happen for love to be real.”

  Profound and really smart, but also… “This is crazy.” She scrubbed her hands over her hair. “You could’ve just told me your slaves were horrible people, and bam, you would’ve had me just like that.”

  “Too easy. You’re not getting it.” He shifted to face her and gripped her chin. “I refuse to settle for anything less than what we had as kids. You loved me when you were sixteen for no other reason than because your gut told you we were meant to be together. But age and experience fucks with our instincts. Our minds get in the way and try to reason and rationalize every goddamn emotion.” He released her chin. “I stripped those rationalizations away and forced you to focus on what you really felt, not what your mind told you to feel. And you believed. You believed in us without seeing…this.” He gestured at the house.

  “Faith,” she whispered.

  “Faith in us.” He focused on her mouth and leaned in, kissing her in that tender way that always made her melt.

  “Seems like you went through a lot of trouble for such a blurry concept,” she said against his lips, her vision smudging with tears. “Who does that?”

  “People have been killing each other because of faith for hundreds of years.” He smoothed a hand across her cheek.

  “Because of religion, Matias, which is based on control and fear.”

  “But it starts with faith. Some believe strongly enough they die for it.” He leaned in and touched his forehead to hers. “You took that step tonight. You believed in us so passionately you walked into that house and risked your life.”

  “You’re insane.” She wrapped her arms around his wide shoulders and sighed. “I love it. Everything you said was wild and inconceivable and could be argued until the end of the burning sun, and that’s why it makes sense.” She kissed him, softly, deeply. “Every reason, justification, and argument leads us to the same result. We’re together because that’s where we belong.”

  He pulled her into his arms, and they settled into a cradle of silence. Voices and footsteps trickled from the house. The constant noise of whirring life echoed around them, and a thickening mantle of sorrow and relief smothered the air.

  “How are you doing with this?” He nodded at the door.

  “I experienced that whole thing way, way down deep.” An unreachable shiver jolted inside her. “All those feelings are still there, lodged somewhere between my heart and stomach. When they decide to resurface, it’s really going to hurt like hell.” She rubbed her face. “Those girls, Matias…God, I can’t…I just can’t think about it.”

  “Don’t.” He kissed her cheek, brushing his nose against hers affectionately. “It gets easier, I promise. And I’ll be right at your side every step of the way.”

  Golden fire, kindled in a Texan citrus grove and forged in a decade of hell, burned in his eyes.

  She drew him close and touched her lips to his scruffy jaw. “What happens to them now?”

  “The women will take them to a foster home, one of the many I vetted and trust. I fund every step of their recoveries. I also put the fear of God in those foster families to ensure they provide the best environments for the children I send to them.”

  “There’s my crime boss.” She stared up at the sky and smiled to herself. “You’re a good man, Matias.”

  “Then I haven’t scared you enough.” He lowered his mouth to her shoulder, pressing a kiss there while never taking his eyes off her. “I’ll have another chance to do that before we head home.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “The Córdoba cartel is waiting at the helicopter to ambush us.”

  Her face went cold. “What?”

  “WHAT DO YOU MEAN? Why are we just sitting here?”

  Matias felt the worked-up rasp of Camila’s voice like a hungry tongue on his cock. “We have time.”

  “Time for what?” She sprung nimbly to her feet and stepped off the porch.

  Dark jeans stretched over her sexy curves, paired with a plain black t-shirt that molded to her perfect rack. Illuminated by the glow of the porch light, shiny black hair framed her gorgeous face and hung in windblown waves around her shoulders. There wasn’t a square inch of imperfection anywhere on her.

  The savage need to claim her in front of God and everyone stirred in his blood. Wrong fucking place and time.

  She stood in front of his perch on the steps, putting them at eye level. “This better not be one of those I-ask-you-don’t-say-shit conversations.”

  He combated her glare, but goddamn, she made him hard as a rock. “We’re catching a different ride home.” His annoyance with the deal Nico made coiled tension into his shoulders. “I lost my favorite helicopter.”

  “Wait. Hold up.” Brown eyes full of spark, she anchored her hands on her hips in the feisty pose he’d loved since they were kids. “You said there’s another cartel waiting to ambush you?”

  “Yes. Los Córdoba.”

  “How do you know this?”

  “I set it up.”

  “You what?”

  He smirked, enjoying the angry flush in her cheeks.

  She cast her gaze heavenward. “Santa Madre de Dios, give me the strength to not strangle this man.”

  The crunch of tires on gravel sounded in the distance and grew louder up the driveway just as Nico stepped out of the house.

  “We’re on our way,” Nico said into the phone at his ear. Ending the call, he strode down the steps past Matias.

  As the black sedan pulled up behind Camila, she pointed at Matias. “Keep talking.”

  “In the car.” He moved off the porch, toward the driveway, and opened the rear door for her.

  Burd relinquished the driver’s seat and headed into the house. As a lower-ranked member, he’d been vetted for the vigilante portion of this trip, but not for the next part.

  “Are the others coming wi
th us?” Camila stared after Burd as she slid into the backseat.

  “Frizz and Picar will stay with the girls for a couple days.” Matias latched her seatbelt, trailed a finger across her bottom lip, and shut the door.

  He met Nico’s eyes over the roof of the sedan. Matias preferred to be the fake bodyguard and chauffeur—the guy no one paid attention to or targeted. But as Nico climbed into the backseat beside Camila, Matias reconsidered the whole decoy thing.

  It was purely an emotional reaction after a godawful night. He didn’t want anyone else protecting her or sitting by her. He sure as hell didn’t want people thinking she belonged to Nico.

  Fuck, that sounded ridiculous, even in his head.

  Wiping a hand down his face, he lowered into the driver seat, cranked up the A/C, and drove away from the house. He only had about ten minutes to prepare her before they reached their rendezvous point.

  “Last week, you gave me an idea.” He adjusted the rear-view mirror and found her steady brown eyes. “I decided that we didn’t have a mole, but we needed one.”

  “I’m not following.” She shook her head.

  Nico powered on his tablet, and the glow from the screen brightened her face.

  “We know Gerardo leaked information to a cartel.” He eased onto a dirt road, watching the side mirrors for other vehicles. “We just didn’t know who he worked with or if he exposed our two biggest secrets.”

  “I assume one is your identity. The other…” She frowned in concentration. “The location of your headquarters?”

  “Yes. For the past week, I kept all our lieutenants congregated at the estate and inconspicuously beefed up security, all while giving whoever was watching our business activities the impression that we were still focused on finding a spy.” He hit the gas on a straight empty road surrounded by fields. “We kept our ears to the ground, listening for whispers about an attack against the estate, and uncovered nothing. Not a peep. The location of our headquarters remains a secret, but…” He propped an elbow on the console. “The information Gerardo leaked put our smuggling routes at risk.”

  “They’re going to attack your supply lines?”

  “The most profitable ones. Our rivals want that business more than anything.” He clenched his jaw. “I’ve let them think we’re too distracted to notice what they’re planning. And I gave them a different distraction—another Gerardo.”

  “You gave them a mole? Inside your cartel?” She leaned forward, watching him in the mirror with wide eyes.

  “A fake one.” Mierda, he loved her interest in his business. “Chispa sent out feelers, making contact with our enemies under the guise that there was unrest within our ranks and he wanted out. He dangled valuable secrets, trying to lure the group that turned Gerardo.”

  “I bet your enemies crawled all over themselves trying to recruit him.”

  “Of course. But only one cartel could confirm their involvement with Gerardo.” Matias drummed his fingers on the steering wheel.

  “Los Córdoba?”

  He nodded. “They know things only Gerardo knew.”

  “That’s the group you set up to ambush you?” Her voice pitched with disbelief. “Why the hell would you do that?”

  “Oiga,” Nico said. “He’s getting to the good part.”

  “Chispa made a deal with Los Córdoba.” Matias veered onto another dirt road. The lights of the nearest town glimmered on the horizon, but he made another turn, driving away from it and into the darkness of barren landscape. “In exchange for their protection, Chispa gave them the names of our liaisons and security details on the narcotics business we run through our El Paso compound. He gave them everything they need to steal that operation from us.”

  “What?” She gasped. “You forfeited your entire El Paso division?”

  “To convince them to trust Chispa.” Matias shrugged. “The Feds are days from taking it anyway. Los Córdoba doesn’t know that. Besides, someone suggested we start looking at new smuggling routes like Australia.”

  She flopped against the seat back and groaned. “Me and my fucking mouth.”

  “Love fucking your mouth, mi vida.” He held her gaze in the mirror.

  Nico cleared his throat. “Turn right at the fork up ahead.”

  “I’m still waiting to hear about this ambush.” She raised her brows.

  “Mm.” Matias squinted at the road, watching for the turn off. “Chispa contacted Los Córdoba when we left him at the helicopter. Told them where he was and that Nico Restrepo would be returning soon. Perfect set up for them to trap us. I’d be really surprised if the Córdoba capo isn’t there just to watch Nico get killed.”

  Her gaze darted to Nico, her mouth hanging open. “Okay, we’re obviously not returning to the helicopter.” She looked back at the mirror. “When you don’t show, they’ll know Chispa set them up.” She narrowed her eyes with suspicion. “You did something, didn’t you? Did you assemble your own surprise attack on them?”

  “Love the way your mind works.” He grinned.

  “I have a contact on the Colombian police force,” Nico said.

  “Not an ally.” Matias spotted the fork and turned off. “Just a guy Nico makes deals with.”

  “Oh my fuck.” Camila touched her throat, her gaze flickering between him and Nico. “You sent the police to ambush them? What about Chispa? Won’t they take him into custody?”

  Nico powered down the tablet. “I negotiated the release of Chispa and Don—the pilot—in exchange for the location of this ambush.”

  “But the police are keeping my fucking helicopter.” Matias gritted his teeth.

  “I should be getting a call anytime from my police contact,” Nico said. “Hopefully, they’ll have Álvarez”—a glance at Camila—“he’s the capo, in custody and put this headache behind us. Los Córdoba won’t survive without him.”

  “Jesus.” She slumped in the seat. “What if Álvarez isn’t there?”

  “Then he got a very strong message from us.” Matias spied a helicopter-sized blob in the field up ahead.

  “Don’t fuck with the Restrepo cartel?” she breathed.

  “Exactly.” Nico removed his seatbelt and leaned forward to speak low in Matias’ ear. “You’re out of time, parce. You need to tell her.”

  “Tell me what?” She unlatched her belt, her gaze skittering over the field and landing on the helicopter.

  The moment Matias parked beside the twin-engine, Nico swung open his door and stepped out.

  “Camila.” Matias shut off the motor. “This is the helicopter I keep in Bogota. I had one of my guys fly it here along with someone—”

  “Oh my God.” She stared out the passenger window, breaths quickening as her hands fumbled with the door latch. “Is that…?”

  He followed her gaze to the man hopping out of the aircraft. Muscled physique, dark blond hair, arm sleeved in ink. Yep. “Tate Vades.”

  She flung her door open and ran. Had they been on a busy street, she probably would’ve leapt over cars in her urgency to reach the bastard. Matias rubbed the bridge of his nose and followed her.

  With her arms wrapped around Tate’s shoulders, she lifted on tiptoes and pressed her cheek against his neck. “What’re you doing here?”

  Matias flexed his fingers and forced his feet to remain planted a couple yards behind her.

  Tate met his eyes, expression tight. “You didn’t tell her?”

  Expecting the piercing anger in the question, Matias lifted a shoulder. “I ran out of time.”

  She stepped back, staring at Tate then glaring at Matias. “Why is he here?”

  “You had three weeks!” Tate threw his arms up.

  “I’ve been wooing her.” Matias straightened, clasping his hands behind his back.

  It’d been critical that she didn’t know about Tate’s role until she’d given herself to Matias fully and completely. That hadn’t happened until she knelt for him and told him she loved him on the other helicopter only a couple hours earlier.


  “Wooing? Is that what you call it?” Camila held his gaze as she stabbed a finger toward Tate. “Explain this.”

  The pilot started up the helicopter with a squealing whine of the engines. The tail rotor and blades turned, spinning faster and ruffling her long hair.

  “Hash it out in the air,” Nico shouted as he strode by with his nose buried in his phone. “We need to go.”

  Matias and Nico quickly changed into the clean clothes the pilot had been instructed to bring, and twenty minutes later, the helicopter reached coasting altitude.

  The cabin was comparable in size to the other one and refurbished to enable passengers to talk without headsets. But it was older and made for wear, reminding Matias of the interior of a commercial airliner. That was fine since it was primarily used by his lieutenants and hitmen.

  Nico and Tate sat with their backs to the cockpit, facing the bench seat Matias shared with Camila.

  “They got Álvarez and most of his top men.” Nico held up a text message on his phone, grinning. “Chispa and Don are going to lay low for a few days before we send for them.”

  Los Córdoba is finished. Now Camila could safely wander the estate as his equal.

  Matias closed his eyes in relief and reached over to clasp her hand. When her soft fingers closed around his, he knew that everything would be okay. They were headed home, and while she was probably ready to chew him a new asshole over Tate, she was here, holding his hand, her thumb stroking his. Because she loved him. Best fucking feeling in the world.

  “Are we worried about being tracked again?” she asked.

  “Not till we get closer to home.” He took in the beauty of her profile—long lashes, high cheekbones, supple lips—and drew a deep breath. “I met Tate four years ago.”

  She glanced at Tate, who nodded.

  Her eyes closed. “I assume that wasn’t coincidental.” She cast a sideways glare at Matias. “How did you find us?”

  For the next few minutes, he explained how he’d arrived to collect Van Quiso’s body the day Liv Reed shot him, and how Van, bleeding and barely alive, led him to Liv, who unknowingly took him right to Camila.

  She tipped her head as she listened, and when he fell quiet, she didn’t blow up or rush him with questions. She simply waited.