His Kind of Trouble

by Samantha Hunter

  He’d rejected her, and she’d left to work in the jungles and small villages of Central America.

  She thought when she’d come home that it would have gone away, that she would have grown out of her desire for Marco.

  But she’d been relieved when Ana said she wasn’t marrying him, and thrilled by his response to her last night.

  Pushing up from the table, she couldn’t just let him leave. She wanted to see his face in the daylight, to acknowledge what had happened between them, at least for a moment, before he left.

  “Marco, wait,” she called from the doorway, catching him before he reached his truck.

  He did wait, but she saw his back stiffen, and he turned around, but looked so serious.

  “You left this morning without so much as a goodbye,” she said softly, reaching out to touch his chest lightly with her forefinger. He stepped back slightly, looking past her shoulder.

  “Lucia, someone might wonder,” he cautioned, and she laughed forcefully to cover the pain his withdrawl caused.

  “Wonder at what? Two old friends talking?” she asked but was unable to keep the edge from her tone.

  “Lucia, last night...”

  “I know,” she said, looking down to garner the courage. “I’m not a fool. I know you only came to me because you were hurt by Ana, and I know you want her and not me.”

  “It’s not that. I did want you, in case you couldn’t tell,” he said, his face warming, if only slightly.

  Just enough to give her hope.

  “I didn’t care if you were thinking of her,” Lucia said, her cheeks burning at the admission. “Maybe in time, you could grow to love me.”

  The question hung between them, and Marco blew out a breath.

  “Lucia, I don’t love Ana, and I wasn’t hurt by her. I was...upset because I need to be here. Stay close. And her rejection makes that impossible,” he said, dragging a hand over his face, sounding as if every word was being torn from him. “As for learning to love you, I think that’s a lesson that would come easily. But this is not the time, not the place. I’m not sure there ever will be, either.”

  Lucia shook her head. “What are you talking about? You’re not making any sense. I don’t understand. Wouldn’t your family be as happy to have me as her? Is that your worry?”

  His eyes burned down into hers, and for one unguarded moment, she saw the desire in his face, the unvarnished need. For her.

  Her heart couldn’t take it.

  “Tell your mother you’re going to the store, and I will give you a ride,” he said.

  Still confused, she nodded, willing to go anywhere with him. She ran to the house, moving quickly, afraid that he might actually leave before she returned. But no, he waited, sitting in his truck as she climbed up beside him.

  “What’s that?” he asked, looking at the paper she held.

  “She gave me a list,” Lucia said, smiling. “So I guess I really do need to go to the store. But why did you want me to tell her that?”

  “I need to talk to you where no one else will hear us,” he said mysteriously as the truck rumbled down the main road, then he took a quick left down an old jungle trail that she knew led to a deserted beach. They’d often played there as children. It was too off the beaten path for tourists, and no one would be there at this time of the morning.

  Coming to a break in the trees, the crystal green-blue waters stretched out before them, and Marco cut the engine.

  “Let’s walk.”

  Sliding from the truck, Lucia fell into step at his side, taking in the beautiful view. She’d seen many like it through her entire life, but she never tired of it. She’d visited Ana once, in the States, and it was exciting, but she had been happy to come back to Mexico. This was her home.

  “Marco, what is this all about?”

  Away from the truck, shaded by tall palms and rain-forest trees, Marco didn’t say a word but pulled her into his arms and captured her mouth with a passion that left her breathless.

  When he pulled away, he had her face framed in his hands, his eyes steady on hers, though his voice trembled slightly, as moved by the passion between them as she was.

  “Do you remember when you came to me when you were eighteen? When you wanted me to make love to you? To be your first?”

  Her face burned under his hands, and she nodded. She wanted to look away, that rejection still smarting, but he held her fast.

  “I wanted nothing more. I wanted to take you that night and make you mine for the nights afterward. When you left...it was good, and it was terrible,”

  he said.

  The words shocked her, and thrilled her. And confused her.

  “Then why... I don’t understand,” Lucia said, pulling away, unsure how to read all of the mixed messages he was sending her way. Was he just trying to make her believe that all of these years he had really wanted her?

  “At the time, I was young, too, and I took my family’s promise seriously. I felt like I could not be with you without shaming them,” he said, shaking his head. “Such outdated, old customs. Even my grandfather laughs about it now, though it’s not really funny, because it cost me you.”

  Lucia looked at him, stunned. “Wait—Marco, what are you saying? That your grandfather no longer holds you to your father’s promise? So why all of this, last night, with Ana, your message?”

  He took a deep breath, looked out to sea, away from her. Lucia’s heart thudded hard in her chest.

  “I had no intention of marrying Ana. But...I needed to be around her, to stay close. Closer than a friend of the family would be allowed to stay.”

  “Why?”

  His face changed, becoming serious, the light in his eyes flattening in a way that sent a shiver down her spine.

  “No one knows this, cara. If I tell you, you literally would hold my life in your hands, and this puts you in danger, as well.”

  “Tell me, Marco.”

  “When you left, back then, I thought it would be easier, but it wasn’t. So I had to leave, too. I joined the local police, as you know,” he said.

  “And then quit when you went back to helping your family with the farm and the store.”

  “In a way. I quit because I was asked to join los federales and to work undercover.”

  Her brow furrowed deeply. “You worked for the PF?”

  There had never been a word about Marco working for policias federales. Of course, Lucia hadn’t been home much and didn’t always know what was happening here.

  “I work for them now. In fact, I have worked for them since I turned twenty-six. Seven long years of lying to everyone I know, since my work has always been undercover, unknown to anyone but my team and a few in the organization who monitor us and our assignments. We infiltrate cartels, local crime organizations, set up business arrangements with them, gather information. Every now and then, we get to take one of them down.”

  Lucia’s mind spun. How was it possible Marco had managed to have everyone think he simply managed his family business, when he was really an undercover agent?

  “No one knows, Lucia. No one. Just you now, and that’s breaking every rule I live by, but I couldn’t let you think that last night I was just using you. It was...impossible for me to say no to the woman I had dreamed about for years.”

  “Okay,” she said, trying to process everything he was saying, but falling short. “But what does this have to do with Ana?”

  “There have been some specific threats against her.”

  Lucia nodded. “Kidnapping? But they have done that ever since she has become famous. Nothing comes of it.”

  “This is different. She’s funneled so much money into the villages, funded the efforts to help local people undermine the organization’s influence in the local villages—and her wealth is growing. She’s inspired people, and they can’t allow that. Many of these villages block the paths to the coast, to the shipping routes. They think she’s a danger. The threat is real, and it’s worse than kidnappi
ng.”

  Lucia felt her stomach sink, her romantic worries set aside for now. “Ana is in serious danger?”

  “As serious as it gets. They don’t want to kidnap her—they want her dead. I don’t know that her pretty bodyguard is up to the task of keeping her safe,” he said, frowning. “I need to get close to her and stay that way until we can find out who it is and eliminate the threat. And get her back in the States.”

  “Bodyguard? Who?” Had she stepped through the looking glass? Nothing was real or clear anymore.

  “Chance. He’s not a friend from the States. Ana’s TV bosses were countering a threat there, as well. Someone was harassing Ana, and Berringer was hired to watch over her until she’s back to work. He’s adequate—he and his brothers have a good reputation—but he’s one man, and he has no idea of what he’s up against. He’s also distracted. He just let me walk out of the airport with her, and then, from his reaction to my overtures, I can only think that they are lovers, as well. He lost his temper with me, and that exposes both of them.”

  “Chance is a bodyguard,” Lucia repeated under her breath, absorbing it all. “I can’t believe this. So you were willing to lead Ana along, that you would marry her, to remain near her so that you could protect her?”

  Marco nodded. “You have to understand, corazon, I’ve done unsavory things in the course of my assignments. Many things that would make you realize I’m not the honorable man you think I am. I would have done whatever I needed to in order protect Ana, to make sure no one got to her.”

  Lucia understood exactly what he was saying—he would have slept with her sister, as well as promising to marry her, and anything else he needed to do. God knew what else he had done. They all knew the stories, and she’d seen up close what corruption and drug running had done to their country. Lucia knew it was a war, and the men and women fighting that war were asked, sometimes, to do anything, including laying their lives on the line.

  Marco was one of them. Like her, fighting to save their country, though in a different way. Her heart swelled with respect, admiration and more love than she would have thought possible.

  “Oh, Marco,” she said, holding him close. “You are the man I always thought you were, and more.”

  He stiffened in her embrace and then seemed to collapse into her, his arms coming around her with bruising intensity, burying his face in her hair.

  “You are so beautiful. Perfect,” he said against her neck, making her soar with need. “You know I kept tabs on you, too, as much as I could. Made sure that you were out of the path of danger. I knew what happened in Cartegena, and it scared the life out of me,” he whispered as he kissed her lips, her jaw. “You cannot go back there.”

  Lucia thrilled that he cared, that he had watched over her through the years. She was also deeply sad—how much they had wasted.

  Now was the time to make up for it, she thought, catching his lips with her own, teasing his tongue and drawing him deeper into her. For several long moments, all that existed were their hands, mouths and the sound of the waves crashing around them.

  “Marco, let me help,” she said against his lips.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You need to stay close to Ana, but she is with Chance. So...use me. Tell them I have accepted your proposal, and by being engaged to me, you can stay closer to her. And I can keep an eye out, as well, let you know if anything happens or is not right.”

  Marco grimaced. “No. Just telling you what I have jeopardizes you. I will not do that anymore. You cannot tell anyone what you know, and I cannot use you to do my job. I just...cannot,” he said, his eyes on her, revealing the depth of his conflict.

  “You can,” she said, feeling solid and sure. More so than she had in a while. “Ana is my sister. I want her safe. And I want to be with you. This can work.”

  “You don’t understand, Lucia. When this is over, when Ana is safe and she returns to the States, I will go back to my work. I work with very dangerous people. I cannot afford to ever have them know about the people I love. They would use any of you to get to me, and that means I cannot be with you. Not the way I would want to. Maybe someday, but not now. Maybe not ever.”

  Lucia felt his pain as her own, and while it hurt, what he was saying, knowing he felt it, too, made it more tolerable.

  “I understand, Marco. But if we can have just this, now, this fantasy, why not? It will hurt to part later, but it will hurt to part now, too. And then, maybe someday, when you are done with your work... I will wait for you.”

  The raw emotion in his face nearly made her knees give out, but Lucia meant every word that she said. She wanted to be with Marco more than she wanted her next breath. If she could have him now, and help keep her sister safe in the process, then she could live with whatever came later.

  “If you are sure, Lucia. If you are sure,” he said, weakening, his hands on her, slipping under the material of her loose shift, making her heart slam against her ribs, her bones melt with wanting.

  “I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life,” she said, giving herself up to him and losing herself in their embrace since it was likely all that they would have.

  * * *

  ANA WAS HAPPY TO GET AWAY from the house. She lifted her face to the sunshine filtering down through the thick vegetation as she paused to take in the sky. The spot where she was leading Chance had to be approached on foot, and they’d left his Jeep back near the road.

  “I love this,” she said on a sigh, reaching out to touch a vibrant, hot-pink bloom at the end of a bushy plant. “I’ve forgotten, especially in recent years, how fecund everything is here. How dense and lovely.”

  A cool bit of air reached them through the trees. The coast was less than a mile away, and Ana had a very special treat for Chance. She knew it would appeal to his adventurous spirit.

  “It is gorgeous. I’ve spent some time in the jungles farther south, in Argentina and Brazil, but not as much here. This is different,” he observed.

  “You’ll love where we’re going. The entire Yucatán has rugged landscapes, more so than you might guess from the cities and villages. There are a lot of surprises in the jungles and along the coast,” she said, wanting to entice him.

  And wanting to be alone with him. The place they were going would be secluded—special and used only by locals—not swarmed with holiday tourists.

  “I’ve read a bit about it. About cenotes, in particular. And caves. I wouldn’t have thought there would be so many caves, but I suppose it makes sense, given the water surrounding the peninsula and the areas. Like Florida, with all of the sinkholes.”

  “Except that ancient Mayan civilizations often were located on ours,” she said with a smile. “And people tend not to build their houses on them.”

  Chance laughed. “So where are you taking me? To a famous cenote?”

  “You’ll see,” Ana said mischievously. “Catch me if you can,” she added and took off running.

  Chance was startled for a second, and she laughed as she heard him yell her name behind her, but she knew these paths and lands like the back of her hand, even after all of these years. The jungle, the ocean...they were still in her blood, and her pulse raced as she sped away, looking back to see Chance in close pursuit.

  She was almost there, and for fun, she ducked behind the thick trunk of a wide old mahogany tree. Ana held her breath, staying still as she heard Chance approach and then stop.

  “Ana?”

  She heard him step forward, slowly, cautiously. He was only feet from where she hid.

  “Ana?”

  This time his voice was more worried, and he walked faster.

  Ana jumped out in front of him, making a face and a noise as she did so, and laughed hysterically as he jumped back, completely taken off guard.

  As she laughed, he regarded her with his hands on his hips, trying to look stern. She could see, however, that he was having a difficult time of it.

  “Not funny, Ana. I thought
you might have been hurt or lost. Or something bad.”

  She shook her head, still laughing. “Oh, please. Lost? I played in these jungles when I was a girl. You would be the one to get lost, not me,” she charged, catching her breath. “You should have seen your face. Did you think I was something dangerous? A wildcat? A jaguar?” She teased, making a purring noise low in her throat that finally cracked him up.

  They both stood laughing for a few more minutes and then stopped. Chance came forward, drawing her into his arms.

  “It’s not often someone can surprise me, but you seem to do it every other moment,” he said, kissing the top of her head in an endearing way that made her gasp. Passion, she understood with him; but affection, that hit a different note in her heart.

  “I have more surprises for you,” she said, tilting her face up and planting a light kiss on his lips. “Come on, you’ll see,” she said, grasping his hand and pulling him forward.

  He let her tug him along, and minutes later, as they found themselves standing on the edge of a high bluff, she heard his whispered exclamation as he looked out over the view.

  “This is amazing. It’s like a...like another world.”

  She felt a surge of pleasure at his response and the excited light in his eyes.

  “This is a sacred place to our village. Our ancestors worshipped and conducted much of their ceremonial life among these ruins,” she explained. “Once, it was a place we came as children to play and explore, but now, as we grow older, it’s also a way of connecting with our past. Real people who shared our bloodlines lived here. It still leaves me in awe to think that they built all of this, even when only these broken parts remain,” she said reverently.

  Chance put his hands on her shoulders as they stood taking it in. A lush waterfall burst through the jungle on the other side of the glen, pouring down into a dark green pool formed by the cenote. It was surrounded by steep walls and worn-down ruins blanketed by lush vegetation.