by Shaw, LK
Manuel greeted us as we approached his patrol car. “I did a quick scan around the perimeter to check for any weak points of entry. Everything seemed secure from the outside.”
He and Victor shook hands. “Thanks.”
“If you’re okay with it, I’m going to grab my equipment and start going through the place,” Manuel asked me.
“Of course, do whatever you need to do.”
He nodded and headed back to his car while Victor and I went inside. At an initial glance everything seemed in order. I cringed a little at the dust swirling in the rays of sunshine that filtered through the mini blinds. There was also a thin layer of it on my entertainment center and coffee table. I dumped my bag on the side table.
“Things seem a little less strained between you and your brother today.''
He glanced over at me from his position he’d taken near the fireplace.
“Yeah, I took your advice. Talked to him about everything.”
I moved next to where he stood. The urge to be close to him grew more every day. I intertwined my fingers with his. They were strong and warm. “You don’t know how happy that makes me. Do you feel better having gotten it off your chest?”
“I do actually. We haven’t acknowledged it really, but he’s definitely been making a concerted effort to treat me differently and thinks before he speaks to me. We’re working on it.”
I was glad. Manuel stepped back into the house. His eyes darted to Victor and me holding hands, but he didn’t comment.
“I’m going to start in here and then make my way to each room in the house. Shouldn’t take me longer than fifteen or twenty minutes.”
I smiled at him. “Thanks so much for doing this. It probably won’t lead to anything, but it does make me feel a little safer.”
He nodded. “It’s no big deal. You’re probably right about not finding anything, but I know none of us, Victor especially,” —he gestured in his brother’s direction— “wants anything to happen to you.”
I loved this family. They were the kind of family a lot of people, me included, wished they grew up with.
“Thank you, Manny. I really appreciate it.”
Victor tugged my hand. “Come on, let’s go in the kitchen and let him work.”
He directed me to the table, sat, and pulled me onto his lap. I didn’t even hesitate or try to rise. This was exactly where I wanted to be. In Victor’s arms. Instead, I settled in and laid my head on his shoulder.
“Are you glad to be home?” His breath ghosted across my cheek.
I nodded. “I’ve missed this place. Having my things near. Sleeping in my own bed.”
“My bed already misses you.”
I raised my head to meet his smiling eyes. Always the flirt. Time for some turnabout. Leaning close, I whispered in his ear. “Maybe we can use mine instead.”
Victor groaned and his grip tightened on my hip. “Don’t tease me like that, woman.”
“Who said anything about teasing?” I wiggled my butt a little, torturing us both in the process. Especially with Manuel being only a room away. He was liable to walk in here any minute to continue his inspection of the house. I knew I was playing with fire, but I wanted to feel the burn.
“Oh, shit, sorry. Didn’t mean to interrupt.”
We both jumped guiltily at Manuel’s apology. I rose up off Victor’s lap, smoothing my pants, trying to act nonchalant. He stood as well but stayed pressed against me.
“You didn’t interrupt much. Estelle was just whispering sweet nothings in my ear.”
“I really was actually,” I confessed.
Manuel laughed while Victor choked behind me. That’ll teach him, I smiled to myself.
“Oh, seeing you two together is going to be even more fun now. Brother, you better watch your step around her. She is a spunky one.”
Victor pulled me tighter against him. “You know she’s never let me get away with anything. I don’t expect it to start now.”
His brother chuckled. “You’re probably right.”
Manuel went to work in the kitchen using some type of intermittent beeping wand to scan surfaces, including under the table, inside the light fixtures, and around picture frames on the wall. While he did his thing, I scrounged around in the freezer trying to find something to fix for dinner. Tomorrow would be soon enough to clean out the fridge. I didn’t want to throw already spoiled stuff in the trash for it to stink. Victor leaned back against the counter staying out of the way.
“I’m finished in here. I’ll go check the rest of the house. You two kids behave while I’m gone.” He smirked and shook his head as he disappeared out the entryway.
“Are you planning on staying for dinner?” I poked my head around the freezer door to look at Victor. There weren’t a lot of options in here, and if he was staying I needed to figure something out.
“That depends.”
“On?”
“Are you on the menu?” He waggled his eyebrows and I choked out a laugh.
The heat rose from my chest up through my cheeks. My fault for walking right into that one. An evil thought drifted through my brain. I closed the freezer door and stalked toward him, praying Manuel stayed busy a few more minutes. Victor tracked my every move until I pressed myself against him. My hand traveled from his chest down past his stomach. His eyes grew heated and his breathing shallow. I dipped my hand inside his jeans and stopped at the root of his cock. His nostrils flared and his eyelids drooped shut. The groan he let out rumbled through me.
“Only if you’re dessert.” I gave a little squeeze and removed my hand before turning around and heading back to the freezer. I happened a glance over my shoulder in time to see him adjusting the impressive bulge straining against his zipper.
“Dammit woman. Now I’m going to have to try and get rid of this damn hard-on before Manuel gets back.”
I blew Victor a kiss. “Sorry.”
I wasn’t.
In the end, I grabbed a frozen pizza. It was too late to try and thaw anything out anyway.
“I’ve checked the entire house and couldn’t find anything, so it looks like you’re in the clear.” Manuel wandered back into the kitchen. I reached up and kissed his cheek.
“Thank you for everything.”
“You’re welcome.” He clasped Victor’s hand and pulled him in for a brotherly hug. “Call me if you need anything else.”
“You got it. Thanks, bro.”
We followed Manuel out to the living room, and I locked the door behind him. No sooner did I turn around than Victor had me backed up against it, slamming his mouth down on mine. The kiss was possessive, reminding both of us that I was his. I loved the roughness behind it, especially when he tangled his fingers through my hair and gently tugged my head at an angle and deepened the contact.
My fingers clutched at his back and the fabric of his cotton shirt was soft to the touch. He continued his sensual assault as though imprinting his taste on my lips forever. Victor was owning me, and I was helpless to resist it. It was all consuming. His flavor was better than any mint chocolate chip ice cream. It was intoxicating and habit-forming. No intervention in the world would cure me from the addiction to it.
He pulled back and rested his forehead against mine, both of us gasping to catch our breath. My nipples were hard enough to ache, and if Victor touched me right now, he’d find me slick with wetness.
“I didn’t like you touching Manuel,” he growled, his eyes boring into mine.
“It was a tiny token of my gratitude. You know it didn’t mean anything. Besides, he’s married.” I was still breathless so it was difficult to get the words out.
“Don’t care.” His voice was rumbly.
“Is that why you went all caveman just now?” I didn’t want to admit that I liked it. A lot. Victor’s zealous reaction was hot as hell and totally turned me on. I never imagined I’d be aroused by that type of aggressiveness, but holy shit was I ever.
“No one touches you but me.” Hi
s grip tightened on my hips, and I bit back a moan.
“I don’t want anyone touching me, but you. I’m also a jealous girlfriend, so you better not be touching or even looking at another woman either.” Even now my blood pressure was rising, and I was feeling rage-y at the thought of him with another woman. My hands curled into fists against his waist.
Victor raised his head from mine and stared down at me with a peculiar expression. “Are you?”
“Am I what?” I asked, confused.
“My girlfriend?”
I blinked and recalled what I’d just said. Whoa. This was about the time my defenses usually rose back up. Normally, right about now I’d be stepping back and putting distance between us. The desire to do that was missing. I was actually really happy where I was. My eyes locked on Victor’s.
“Yes.” My answer was confident, strong, and left no doubts.
He sent me the half smile that I used to find cocky, but now found utterly endearing. “Good, because I don’t know if I can let you go.”
The longer I spent with him, the more I didn’t want him to let me go. And that scared the shit out of me.
Chapter 24
I’d tried calling Preston to let him know about Álvarez’s arrest and that we didn’t need to try and locate him anymore, but I hadn’t been able to reach him. I needed to talk to Brody though. I didn’t really know my sister’s boyfriend beyond the few things Ines had told me. He’d been there when our brother was killed by Paulo Hernandez. Brody had confessed to Ernie that he was a government agent. That’s how he’d discovered Ines’ identity. Our brother told him. Once he found out she was a cop, he’d done everything to protect her. I trusted him with her life. Which was why I was waiting for him to pick up the phone. Ines had mentioned he was going to try and reach out to his former handler. Maybe she’d found some answers.
“Hello?”
“It’s Victor.”
“Everything alright? It’s safe to talk?” I could hear the note of concern in his voice. Two calls in one week wasn’t protocol.
“All clear.”
“Okay, then. Talk to me. What’s going on?”
“Have you talked to your old handler yet?”
“I have a call into her, but it’s not that easy reaching someone when you’re supposed to be dead. Even within the organization there are only a few people who know I’m alive. Give me a couple more days to see if she calls.”
“If you talk to her, can you verify some information for me?”
“I can try. What do you got?”
“Apparently Álvarez has been caught and is on his way back to Chicago to stand trial.”
“What? Are you sure?”
“No, which is what I need you to check on for me.”
“Damn,” he said on an exhale. “Nothing’s been reported on the news. Of course, they don’t always.”
“I really need to see if she can confirm the intel.”
“I would have thought Landon would call if he had been apprehended, but I know things changed after I resigned. Either way, when she calls, I’ll see what intel she has.”
The wait was killing me. There was nothing I could do about it though. I’d debated on telling him about the car accident, but I held back. There was no doubt he’d tell Ines. She’d fret and worry, and I didn’t want that. Especially since it happened over a week ago and Estelle was fine. The two of them had enough on their plate to worry about without the added stress. There was one other thing I’d wanted to talk to Brody about.
“Did you hear Raúl Escobar is dead?”
“What? When?”
“Not sure when exactly, but rumor has it Álvarez did the honors.”
“Jesus. It doesn’t surprise me. I worked under him for five years. Studied him. I knew everything about him there was to know. Escobar teaming up with Alejandro to betray him was not an insult he could let pass. He’s killed men for less.”
“If and when you talk to your contact, see if she can find out who the new player might be. With Álvarez allegedly in custody, someone else is bound to take over. There’s been chatter that the Sinaloa Cartel is finally digging its tentacles into Chicago.”
“I don’t doubt it. They’d been trying to move into Juárez Cartel territory before shit went down. That was the whole reason Alejandro formed a coup. He didn’t think his uncle was doing enough to stop them. If Escobar is dead, that means Álvarez has found someone bigger and better to supply him his drugs.”
Which meant more of a nightmare for our city. More drugs. More death. Fuck.
“All right. I better go, but if you get a call from your handler, see if she’ll reach out to me.”
“I can’t make any promises, but I’ll see what I can do.”
That last didn’t make me happy, but there wasn’t anything to do about it. The federal government had their own agenda, and if it didn’t align with the local’s, then we were shit out of luck.
I disconnected the call and leaned back in my chair thinking on my options. Right now, I was stuck. A position I wasn’t too fond of.
Chapter 25
Victor was spending more and more time over here. He’d actually slept over the last couple nights, but tonight he had to work a double so I wouldn’t see him until tomorrow morning. Earlier, while I’d sat alone on my couch eating Japanese hibachi I’d ordered in, I was struck by how quiet it was in here. How lonely. He’d only been gone from the house for a few hours, and I already missed him. The way he made me laugh. All the tiny things he did like help me make dinner, clean up the kitchen.
The way Victor held me tight while we snuggled on the couch and watched a movie. How he laid on my side of the bed while I was in the bathroom so it was partly warm for me from his body heat before I climbed in beside him. Even the dumbest things like putting the toilet seat down without me having to ask him to. I’m sure that was Ines’ doing, but it still meant so much.
I don’t know why I continued fighting love. The emotion had dug its way into my heart, probably starting the night of what we still referred to as the “dinner disaster”. I hadn’t stuck around to hear everything Victor had said to my parents, but the savagery he displayed toward them before I rushed away was what I always pictured love to be. Even if I hadn’t truly believe in it.
It seemed almost ironic that it was that night that I changed my mind about it existing. Not only had I started believing in it, but I was sure I’d starting falling in love. The night of my birthday love crashed into me head on.
I’d never minded, before tonight, the solitude of my house. In fact, I actually enjoyed it. The quiet nights sitting in front of my fire, drinking a glass of wine, and feeling at peace. Now that Victor had been here and now that he was gone, even for a few short hours, I’d never felt so alone before. His absence was tangible.
I wanted him here, with me. To spend our evenings together. And our mornings. And every hour in between. My body trembled with realization. I’d asked him to teach me that falling in love was possible. He’d done that and more. The bed felt big and empty. I was so screwed. I drifted off to that thought when a noise startled me. Was that a door opening? With a racing heart, I jolted upright. I sat there for a few seconds straining, listening for any more sounds. I dove off the bed at the sound of footsteps and grabbed the baseball bat that leaned against my nightstand. It was something Ines suggested when I’d told her I wasn’t comfortable having a gun.
I’d tried going to the shooting range with her a few times, but the firearm always felt clunky in my hands. My palms refused to grip it well, and it made me nervous. So, I’d settled for the Louisville Slugger. I moved as quietly as possible and positioned myself behind the door. If it opened, I’d be hidden behind it. My breath caught in my lungs I was that afraid to move.
The quiet continued. Had it just been my imagination? I relaxed the white-knuckled grip I maintained on the wooden bat. The air I’d been holding in escaped with an audible sound. A sound echoed by more footsteps that grew loude
r with each step. Shit. Someone was in my house. My grip tightened again and within seconds, the doorknob turned.
Slowly, the door opened with a slight creak from the hinges that needed oiled. There was a pause. I inched forward, bat raised. The light sifting through the slats of the mini blinds shone enough that I could make out the barrel of the gun and the hand encased in a black leather glove attached to it. I didn’t wait another second.
With every ounce of strength, I slammed the bat down on the forearm of the intruder. A masculine scream tore through the air, and the gun fell to the ground. I moved around the half open door and swung the wooden weapon straight at the head of the masked man standing there. Both my arms shook with the reverberation of wood hitting skull. The loud thud echoed when his body collided with the door. Another wail of pain followed and he clutched his head.
I attempted to swing again, but the man dressed entirely in black gained his bearings and tore off down the hallway stumbling along the way. The front door slammed closed. I didn’t waste another second. I grabbed my phone from next to my bed.
“9-1-1, what’s your emergency?”
“Someone just broke into my house.” My voice was shaky. I raced to the front door. With the bat still gripped in my fist and my phone between my ear and shoulder, I jerked the lock in place with my free hand.
“Are they still inside?”
“No. He ran out the front door when I hit him with a baseball bat. There’s a gun on my bedroom floor that he had.”
“What’s your name and address?
I gave her my information and could hear click-clacking in the background like fingernails over a keyboard.
“Okay, I’ve got a patrol car on their way. Are you in a safe place?”
“I’m in my living room. The front door is locked now.” My knees felt weak, and I thought I needed to sit, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the door in front of me. What if he tried to get back in? So I stood there, frozen, staring at the brass knob, watching for it to move.
