“But I didn’t ask for any of this.”
“Oh, I see, we’re back to the whole ‘it’s not fair’ thing. Me vuelves loca.” He pinches the bridge of his nose, then steps forward and pull me against him. “I almost find it amusing how naive you are. Almost. If seeing a well full of dead bodies didn’t give you a dose of reality, nothing will. That’s where I come in. You. Don’t. Have. A. Fucking. Choice.”
“Yeah, you’re right, because you took that away when you sent for me.”
“No, I offered you a job and you agreed. Santiago’s the one who fucked things up, not me.”
“So you’re telling me you wouldn’t have made me stay if my life wasn’t in danger?”
“I have no way of knowing that, Brook. We never know what we’ll do until we’re faced with a situation. What I can tell you is I could never live with myself if I had let you go and something happened to you.” He gives me an almost painfully hard squeeze, saying, “Without you, I couldn’t live. Period.”
I struggle to stand on suddenly weak knees, but manage to follow behind him at a leisurely pace. With no warning, as soon as my feet cross the threshold, he has me pinned against the wall. He buries his face in my hair and whispers in my ear, “I nearly fucked you on the hood of my car just now, you make me so crazy. You act like a spoiled little girl when you get mad.”
“You act like a bully all the time.” I try to jerk my head away but his hand slides around my throat with lightning speed. He nuzzles my neck and bites my ear lobe, hard, making me yelp in pain. This obviously pleases him because his hard length is suddenly pressing against my hip.
“This is foreplay to me, Brook. Now, I can throw you down on the floor and fuck your brains out or we can look at the house—but keep fighting me like this and the tour is over.”
I deliberately relax my body.
“I thought so.” He smirks. “I bet if I slid my hand down the front of those sexy panties, I’d find you’re soaking wet.”
My face heats up with embarrassment at the truth of his words. Guilty as charged.
“Oh, I do love putting you on the spot.”
With that, he turns and begins the tour like he didn’t just open me up and look inside me. He takes my hand as if we’re on a Sunday afternoon stroll through the park. The expansive, open floor plan could be out of a Hollywood movie. There are windows everywhere and I can’t help but wonder why he would choose to live in a glass house.
“A glass house, Diego? Is that even safe?”
“It’s an illusion, that’s what I like about it. Well, one of many things I like about it. First of all, the glass is bulletproof and when I do this”—he picks up a remote, pushes a button, and the windows tint—“you can’t see in.” He pushes another button that brings blinds down over one of the large, floor-to-ceiling windows.
“Typical cartel,” I chuckle. “Give the world the illusion that your life is an open book, that everything is normal. All the better to keep all your secrets.”
He turns, looking into my eyes with an earnestness I’ve never seen before in him. “The house, the windows, all of this, don’t matter. With you, I have no secrets. What you see is what you get.”
“I like what I see. Very much.”
He approaches me slowly, as if he’s on the hunt and I’m a tasty morsel. “Woman, you are seriously interfering with my tour when you say things like that.” He rubs his hands up and down my upper arms. “I need you, Brook. I need to know you’ve got my back. I need to know I can trust you with things I can’t trust others with. You aren’t the only one who is giving their life away here. You must forgive me if I hold on too tightly. This is the first time I’ve ever wanted to hold on to something that mattered."
He cups my face in his hands and kisses away all the anger, the fear, and the rebellion I felt toward him just moments ago. I don’t know why this enigma of a man fascinates me so, but every time I think I have him figured out he does something unexpected. There are more layers to Diego Dias than I ever could have imagined.
“I know. I do,” I assure him. “But it’s still a glass house, Diego. You need security.” He leans his head back and laughs and I like the sound of it.
“I’m serious, Diego…Bulletproof glass or not, people who live in glass houses shouldn’t be without high-tech security.”
“Come with me.” He leads me up a winding staircase to an office. Tones of red, white, and black fill the room that holds a high-tech security system. He pushes several buttons that bring the system to life, enabling us to observe every inch of the property on a wall of TV screens.
“By the way, the woods are booby-trapped so I wouldn’t recommend going on a hike without me.”
“Duly noted.”
Diego
I can tell she likes the house. It pleases me more than I expected it to. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the simple pleasure of pleasing this woman. I enjoy watching her go from window to window, commenting on small details and noticing everything.
“Look at that infinity pool. Oh, it’s so beautiful. I’ve never seen anything like this except on TV. And a spa…this is amazing, Diego. I still can’t believe you bought this place and decorated it but you’ve never lived here.”
“I didn’t want to stay in this big-ass house alone.” I walk over to her and pull her tightly against me. “I do, however, want to live here with you—my partner in crime. So, what do you say?”
“I thought I didn’t have a choice.” She playfully cocks her head to the side, blue eyes twinkling up at me. Just that look she gives me reaches a corner of my heart that’s been walled off for years. This woman makes me happy.
“You don’t, but I’m a gentleman; I’d like to at least let you think you do. I’m not an evil villain who’s going to lock you away in a dungeon—unless you’d like that,” I purr in her ear.
“I would love nothing more than to live in your glass fortress with you. We can wreak havoc on the cartel world, then come home and hide from all the drama.” She bats her eyelashes up at me coquettishly. “It’s the life I’ve always dreamed of. Some girls dream of a knight in shining armor riding in on a white horse to save the day. Me? I’m the luckiest girl of all. I got a cartel boss riding up in a black SUV…to save me.”
Epilogue
“Stop tickling me before I pee on myself! I swear, Diego, no one would ever believe this if I told them.”
He’s got me pinned down on the bed, but he’s not fucking me. He’s wrestling with me like a big kid.
“Damn straight. I need some fun in my life and so do you.” He waggles his eyebrows at me and I can’t help but laugh. Eventually, I catch my breath and gaze up at my magnificent man.
“You’re my best friend, Diego.”
“Aww, that’s sweet, we get to be besties and I get to fuck your brains out.” I punch his arm and he rises onto his knees, sitting back on his heels as he scowls down at me. An instant later, he’s grinning as he raises his fists and flexes his biceps in a blatant attempt to show off.
“I’m impressed. It’s so big,” I coo sweetly, batting my eyelashes up at him. He frowns when he sees that I’m teasing him.
“That isn’t the only big thing I have, you know,” he growls, lowering himself onto me again. He braces his weight on his forearms and slides down the length of my body until we’re face to face.
His hands gently stroke my hair and I can tell he’s still fascinated by the silky feel of it now that I wear it natural for him all the time. Just like he still sports that gorgeous stubble along his jaw, the way I like. For the first time in my life I feel loved. I am loved.
“Every day,” he rasps, “you embed yourself deeper and deeper into my soul.” He rolls his hips against me and my legs open, welcoming him. He bites his lip with a groan as he pushes inside. As always, I savor that first bite of delicious pain as he enters me, meeting my snug resistance with that impressive girth, filling me to capacity and then some. When he’s fully seated inside me, I release the
breath I hadn’t realized I had been holding.
“God, I love that,” I whisper.
“What’s that…” he murmurs with a grin as he abruptly slams into me with a fierce thrust that steals my breath.
“The way you take me. Every time you take me, it’s so good.”
“You like the way I fuck you, hmm?” he rasps on another powerful stroke that sends me reeling.
“Yes,” I gasp, “Yes, I do.”
“Hmm. How about I make love to you instead?” His hands are gentle as his hips slow down to move in a steady, smooth rhythm. He takes my mouth in a searing kiss, swallowing my cries as the pleasure builds to a crescendo and the orgasm sets me free.
Whether he’s fucking me rough or making love to me like he is now—we connect. We just make sense in bed, on jobs, and in everyday life.
But I know the risks all too well, although we don’t talk about them very much. Sometimes I wonder what will happen if one of us gets killed. How could either of us exist without the other, without wanting to die too? I pray I never find out.
When he rolls onto his back, he takes me with him, holding me close as I look down at him.
“Where do you think he is, Diego? He’s out there somewhere, like a ghost in the night. When is he going to come back and turn our lives upside down?”
He’s quiet for a long moment before answering me. His eyes settle on me softly as he speaks. “I don’t think he’s going to come after you…”
“…because he’s coming for Caden.” It isn’t a question, it’s a stark realization that lodges in my chest and interferes with my breathing.
“Don’t get me wrong, if he has the chance to kill you, he will.” His stare ices over and I see the killer that still lives within him rising from the ashes. “It will be over my dead body that he ever gets his hands on you. He’s driven by machismo when it concerns you. You hurt his pride. He can’t let a woman get away with shooting him. When it comes to Caden, he’s driven by obsession. And a consuming obsession like his? Now that’s when things get bloody. He won’t stop seeking her out until he’s got her or he’s six feet under.”
“You’re scaring me, Diego. Do you think Tony can protect her?”
“Can and will. He’ll gut Santiago over that girl.”
“Do you think he has it in him? He seems so quiet and disciplined.”
He laughs but not like something’s funny. It makes me wonder what he knows about Tony Ramirez that I don’t.
“In this life, you live day to day. Tomorrow isn’t promised. Can I have your today, cara mia?”
“Yes. Can I have yours?”
“Absolutely. Today. Every day. Forever. I love you, Brook.
“I love you, Diego.”
The End…
Excerpt: A sneak peek at Inevitable
My father’s massive frame fills the doorway. The fact that he’s dressed in full military gear makes him seem more dangerous than usual. Of course, his cold black eyes and the scar that runs down his cheek don’t hurt either.
“Anything yet?” he asks impatiently.
“No, not yet,” I reply smoothly, “but she’s only been here one day. We just rescued her from a deranged serial killer; it’s not unexpected that it would take time to find out what she knows. I’m making progress, but I’m not entirely convinced that she knows where he’s headed next.”
I’m sitting at the desk in the spare office of the Ramirez brother’s compound. The Ramirez brothers are my father, Ricardo and my uncle, Antonio Wayne. I’ve been going over notes from today’s deprogramming session with Caden, which yielded more insight into Santiago’s obsession with her but no leads on his whereabouts. I’m betting he’s disappeared into the jungles of Colombia; it’s the most obvious option that he would choose. Of course, it’s also the most difficult locale for us to contend with if we want to track him down.
The only thing keeping me from feeling confident that Caden has indeed told me everything she knows, is Caden herself. The bastard really did a number on her, messed with her head. I hate how protective she still is of him, even after everything he put her through: kidnapping her and holding her against her will, slipping her drugs, and leaving her an emotional wreck. As far as I’m concerned, Santiago Sanchez is nothing more than a serial killer dressed in cartel clothing. And, yeah, he needs to die.
“How sweet,” my father drawls. “What are you going to do? Woo her with champagne and flowers? Your sweet disposition is going to get her killed. Let me make myself clear. You wanted to come home and join the fold, earn your place in the cartel, yes?”
“You know I do. I’ve told you that.”
“Then do your job. Put your military training to work. Deprogram this woman thoroughly so that she abandons her irrational concern for that Sinaloan animal, and get her to tell you what she knows about his plans. Achieve your objectives or I will relieve you and let Antonio Wayne finish what you’ve started. He’ll find out what she knows, but she’ll likely be dead when he’s done.”
I stand and take a step toward him, fists clenched at my sides as his threats ring in my ears.
“That got your attention. Good. This woman matters to you. For now, I think your interest in her welfare works to the cartel’s advantage. But you’re running out of time, hijo. Cartel first, always. Do what needs doing.”
With that he turns and heads out the door, leaving me reeling from the implications of his threats.
Caden hasn’t accepted it yet, but she’s mine now. Nobody threatens her on my watch, not even my father – even if he just happens to be the Colombian cartel boss. Nobody touches this woman except me.
I met Caden on my first night back home from my second tour of duty in the Middle East. She works at The Club as a stripper for a business associate of my father’s. She stepped onto the stage and I was done. No other women for me. I had found The One. Santiago occupied her time that night so I didn’t speak to her. In fact, we’ve never actually met, at least not in person. Caden also manages The Club’s website and social media, so I decided stealth was the way to go. I contacted her online with some stupid question about The Club and struck up an online friendship of sorts with her through texts and emails. For two people who had never met, we got to be pretty close.
She only learned who I am last night, after we rescued her from one of Santiago’s warehouses. She’s still in shock, taking it all in. But I’ve known from the moment I saw her that there will be no other woman for me. However, recent events have forced me to step things up and do what I should have done months ago: stake my claim.
The cartel’s interest in Santiago’s whereabouts have thrown a wrench into my plans. Santiago has gone underground. My father’s convinced that Caden not only has information on his location, but that Santiago is coming back for her.
Caden is the Colombian cartel’s ticket to finding Santiago, or so my father thinks. To me, she’s just Caden Campbell—a flesh and blood woman, not just a means to an end. But try telling Ricardo Ramirez that. If she is going to stand a chance of coming out of this ordeal alive, it’s up to me to persuade her to cooperate. And I can be very persuasive, in ways far more pleasurable than what the cartel has planned.
Karma really is a bitch. My whole life, I did everything I could to avoid joining the cartel. But after my second tour of duty in the Middle East, I came home a changed man and told my father I was ready. I wanted in.
I saw things and did things overseas that really fucked with my head. I’ve never been a big believer in karma, but I sure as hell am now. In fact, when I think of the darkness and personal demons I brought home with me from the desert, I’m not surprised that I’ve got a fight on my hands now. To claim my one shot at happiness with the only woman I’ve ever wanted, I may have to face off against everything and everyone I hold dear. More and more, it looks like it’s going to be Inevitable…
Coming 2017: Tony and Caden’s story.
Pimp (Colombian Cartel Book 2)
The Pimp (Colombian Cartel Book 2) Page 23
