by Reina Torres
“Can we get past this?”
Her eyes widened as she dropped her chin to stare back at him. “Past ‘this’?” She gestured at his half-clothed body. “You mean to tell me that you slept with the woman you’re protecting, and you think we’re not going to talk about it?”
“Talking is one thing,” he reached up a hand an pushed his fingers through his hair hoping to settle it down a bit. The thick strands curled if they weren’t combed into place moments after waking up, he knew what he must look like. “I’m not ready for you to grill me, Pilar.”
“You don’t think this is a problem you need to deal with?”
He took the tray out of her hand and set it on the coffee table and then took the paper bag from the crook of her arm and set it down too. Taking Pilar by the upper arms, he led her over to the sofa and set her down. Looking her straight in the eyes. “You need to leave this alone.”
“She’s your job, ‘Cente. She’s your protective detail! What were you thinking?”
Vicente shook his head. “I’m not going to explain this to you, Pilar.”
“Well you’re going to have to explain it at some point, Vicente, because the two of you bleed chemistry all over each other. Someone’s going to notice and it’s going to be bad.”
“I’d rather not think about bleeding.” Sloane’s voice reached him from the hallway and he had a moment to prepare himself before she stepped into view, her sable hair tumbled about her shoulders. She looked well and truly tumbled and the flush on her cheeks spoke volumes. “Pilar. I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you come in.”
Vicente turned to look at his sister and hopefully give her a look to convince her to leave it alone. After all, what she was feeling had to do with him, not Sloane.
Pulling free of his restraining hand, Pilar stood, with Vicente less than a second behind her. “Hey, Sloane, sorry to bother. I thought you two… I mean, I thought you’d be up for some company.”
Brushing some of her hair back from her face, Sloane flickered a glance at him and he could tell she was worried.
Giving Pilar a pointed look, he walked toward Sloane. “Let’s go and talk for a minute, Pilar can wait for us.”
It killed him to see Sloane look as if she had done something wrong and was waiting to have Pilar rip into her the way her uncle had done just a few hours ago.
Sloane was an amazing woman, but she’d received too little support from her family.
When he reached her, he set his hand on the small of her back, feeling the silk of her robe warm under his hand as he moved her back into the bedroom.
He knew how right he was about her worries when she stopped short as he closed the door.
Taking a step away from him, she smoothed her hands down over her robe. “Why is your sister here?”
He opened his mouth to answer and she rushed right on.
“Does she know?” Sloane looked up into his eyes and a moment later she flinched and shivered. “She does, doesn’t she?”
She looked at him, noticing, perhaps for the first time that he was bare chested, and that made her eyes widen as her mouth dropped open.
“I can’t believe this.”
She must have been more than a little tired and confused, because a moment after she’d been upset about his sister learning that they’d been intimate with each other, she dropped her robe on the floor and walked across the hall and into her bathroom with a stack of clothes under her arm.
Needing to talk to her, Vicente followed Sloane in and closed the door behind him with a quiet but definite click of the lock. “It’s going to be okay.”
“I don’t see how it’s going to be okay.” Shaking her head as she dropped her clothes on the closed toilet seat lid, Sloane swung open the door to her shower and reached in to turn on the water. The shower head erupted with a steady spray and using her bare wrist she tested the heat. “Your sister knows we slept together. I don’t know how we’re going to get past this. She’s going to hate me.
“And I know how close your family is, so they’re going to hate me. Not to mention that they’ll never respect me after this.” She turned to look at him and then turned away to step inside the shower. “And really, what does it matter. It’s not like you’re going to have anything to do with me after this… this job is over.”
“Sloane-”
“I get it,” she assured him as she picked up her bottle of body wash and splashed some of it on her scrub, “this morning was all kinds of nuts. We’d been to the party and then a crime scene. I blubbered all over you and then jumped on you like a crazy woman. Go ahead and put it all on me, Vicente. I can take it. I don’t mind that she’ll think I’m a-”
He pulled the shower door open and stepped inside with her.
The look on her face was simple to understand, but she said the words anyway. “You’re insane!”
Vicente shrugged and pulled her closer, his hands on her hips. “You’re gorgeous.”
Her cheeks were nearly red, a combination of the heat in the shower and his touch. If she was anything like him she was remembering the feel of his hands on her hips the second time he’d brought her to orgasm underneath him. “You make me do crazy things, Vicente.”
Ignoring her look of warning, he pulled her out from under the shower spray and flush against his body. He sealed her lips with a kiss before she could say a word, both soothing and inflaming her with his tongue dragging against hers. When he heard the soft slap of her scrub hitting the tiles at their feet he pulled back.
Her eyes lifted to see the thin rivulets of water coursing down his forehead and over his cheeks. “And maybe I make you do some crazy things too.”
The smile he felt on his lips was as satisfying as it was easy, as if he’d worn it all his life. “I want you not to worry about Pilar. She’s mad at me. She’ll probably try to protect you from me and my wicked ways. So don’t worry about her saying anything bad about you, she knows where the blame is going to sit. Firmly on my shoulders.”
He leaned in closer when her body’s tense posture eased a little and her breathing slowed into a gentle rhythm. Placing a soft kiss on her lips he gave her hips a little comforting squeeze. “Now, finish your shower. I’m going to change my clothes and then we’re going to see what Pilar wants.”
Stepping away, he nudged the door open with his elbow and watched her back up under the rush of water.
“I’d love to join you, but I think that would test my sister’s patience too much, or she’d end up coming in here and kicking my ass for taking advantage of you.”
He shook his head when she opened her mouth to argue with him.
“Don’t worry. Just don’t take too long or she’ll think you’re in here crying and then she’ll really kill me.”
When he shut the door to the bathroom and started to cross the hall, he caught a reflection of his sister’s wide-eyed shock in a picture frame on the wall.
Giving her a half wave and a smile, he disappeared back into Sloane’s bedroom to look for a change of clothes.
When Sloane joined the Bravo siblings in her living room she paused just outside of the seating area, waiting as if she was worried that she’d overstep her bounds.
It was silly, she knew, but there was something odd going on between the siblings. She’d had the same uncomfortable energy between herself and Kimberly too many times to count.
And for that moment, as she hovered just outside their hushed conversation, Sloane wished that her sister was there to talk to, even if they would have devolved things into a heated argument, because at least that meant her sister was alive.
“Sloane?”
Shaking herself free of her reverie, she turned to look at Pilar. The younger woman’s eyes were full of concern.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” The words tumbled out right on time with her usual carefree shrug. “Thanks.”
The two Bravo siblings shared a look and then Pilar moved over, patting the seat between her and
Vicente. “Have a seat.”
When Sloane didn’t move she saw Pilar’s expression soften as if it was a conscious effort to put her at ease.
It worked.
“I’m not going to bite.”
More tension fell away from Sloane’s shoulders and she offered the deputy a smile of her own.
“Besides,” Pilar continued with the corners of her mouth turning up into little points, “I see you took a bite or two out of my brother before I got here.”
Before Sloane could tense up, Vicente threw an accent pillow at his sister and Pilar managed to duck the fringed projectile without even looking to see where he’d aimed it.
Obviously brother and sister were old hats at pillow fighting, but she had a feeling they were hamming it up for her benefit. It brought a slight smile to her lips.
“Seriously, Sloane,” Pilar gave the empty seat another pat, “I’m not going to jump on you or ask any specifics, because you and the Virgin Mary should know that I have no interest in learning about my brother’s supposed prowess in bed. That,” she said with assurance, “would make my therapist a rich woman… and then some.”
“Well I know a thing or two about that.” Skirting between Pilar’s knees and the coffee table, Sloane eased past the officer and sat on the empty cushion. “After my parents died, Kimberly and I had a couple of therapists each, and then when we lost Kimberly it seemed like I had a staff of them, all eager to help me work through the issue.”
Vicente’s hand was warm on her knee. “Did they help?”
“One, and I kept her after I realized that the others were just gathering information for a future ‘tell all’ book about the sad little heiress. I had other coping mechanisms that worked better than talking anyway, so I kept Dr. Chambers and spent the time and money that was going to the others to do some riding and of course, start my foundation.” Sloane leaned on the back of the sofa and looked at Pilar, speaking as if they were old friends. “After a while the foundation consumed almost all of my time, but I’ve never looked back, not when I’m doing something that feels so good and means so much to the people we’ve helped over the years.”
With a sigh, Sloane shook her head.
“I just hope we can get this over and done with so things can get back to normal. Our community outreach is suffering.”
“That’s why I’m here.” Pilar shifted beside her, turning slightly so she could look Sloane in the eye. “I think what you said is true for most of us working on the case. We all feel like we’re just waiting for something to happen.
“I came over today with some news.” She gave her brother a pointed look. “We found one of the men who ran from the accident.”
Sloane saw Vicente shift in his chair and pull out his phone, likely looking for a message or a text.
“I don’t see anything.”
“I told Cruz that I’d let you know.”
He gave his sister a withering stare. “That’s Special Agent Livingston to you, Deputy Bravo.”
She waved off his order. “I’ve known him since before I had my first bra, he’s Cruz when I’m not in uniform.”
Sloane couldn’t quite hide her smile at the antics of the siblings.
“Anyway,” Pilar cleared her throat, “before I was so rudely interrupted by Special Agent Bravo, I was going to tell you both that when we found him he had a nasty infection. A cut he sustained in the crash was infected and by the time he went through the process of having the infected flesh excised and cleaned, he was put under to give his body a chance to fight off the infection.”
“They should have called me in,” Vicente’s free hand was fisted in frustration and Sloane felt the hand he had on her go hot with his emotions. “What did the doctors say?”
Sloane moved her arm until she took his hand in hers.
He gave her a soft smile as his sister started to answer him.
“He should be awake in a few hours. If you want me to stay with Sloane while you go down to the hospital, I’m here.”
Looking at Pilar, Sloane didn’t see anything but an earnest offer of help and it went a long way to easing her worries.
Sloane turned her attention back to Vicente and saw the concern in his eyes. “I’m fine here. You go. You’ll feel better if you’re there for the questioning.”
She saw his smile and she gave him one right back.
“I know I’ll feel better if you’re there.”
He gave her hand a gentle squeeze, but a moment later, he turned to look at his sister. “Pilar?”
Sloane turned as well, splitting her attention between one sibling and then the other.
“Pilar?” Vicente asked again. “You’ve got something else in your head. You might as well spit it out before your head explodes and I have to tell your parents.”
“They’re your parents too, ‘Cente.” She rolled her eyes, a customary gesture that all younger siblings knew and used to their advantage. “I have an idea of what we can do after you get whatever information you can from the suspect.”
Silence settled amongst them for a moment before Vicente spoke. “You might as well say it, Pilar. We’re listening.”
Nodding, she looked at both of them and started to explain. “We can’t play this defensive tactic forever. If we want to find out who is coming after Sloane, we’re going to have to dive right in and stir up the waters.”
Sloane wasn’t exactly sure what Pilar was talking about, but the younger woman’s enthusiasm went a long way to helping sway Sloane to her argument before she’d even made her whole suggestion.
“We’re going to have to be more proactive and bring these people to us.”
“Pilar…”
Sloane could feel Vicente tense up through their joined hands.
“We can’t just wait for them to make a move, that would drag this out forever. What we need is to bring them to us so we end this once and for all.”
Sloane saw the narrow-eyed look that Vicente gave his sister, as if she’d said something she shouldn’t have, but she wasn’t going to let the opportunity go.
“I don’t see why we can’t hear her plan later. I don’t like having this target on my back. If we can find the men responsible this way, then let’s do it. I know,” she gave him a smile that she hoped looked easy and honest, “that you can’t wait to get off of babysitting duty and get back to your job.”
He gave her a slow nod as he watched her carefully. Straightening her spine, Sloane knew she had to show him that she wasn’t going to wilt when she was afraid.
“I have a few open cases that I need to finish .”
“See?” Sloane purposefully added a brighter tone to her voice. “Then it’s decided. You go to the hospital to help them question the suspect and when you come back, we’ll talk about Pilar’s plan.”
She stood up suddenly, almost falling over with the sudden change in position. Lord knows she hadn’t planned to do it.
But she needed to get out of the room before she made a liar out of herself.
“If you’ll both excuse me, I need to go to the restroom.”
She didn’t wait for anyone to say anything, she lifted her head and walked out of the room.
Chapter 11
When the on-call doctor made them leave the suspect’s hospital room, Cruz and Vicente didn’t go far, congregating on the other side of the hallway a few feet down. There were two uniformed officers on the door, but both agents kept throwing looks in that direction as they went over his answers.
Cruz leaned against the hallway wall. “You believe him?”
“Call me crazy, but yeah. I do.” Vicente pushed his fingers through his hair, rumpling the front. “They left him to die, Cruz. He may be an ass and a criminal, but he’s pissed. And he doesn’t like the idea of spending the rest of life in prison when they didn’t even pay him.”
A sardonic smile answered him. “No honor among thieves, as they say, but there’s a special kind of hell for men who sell people.”
“And go after people trying to help others?” Vicente felt the bitter taste of bile on the back of his tongue. “I can’t believe they’re saying that Sloane brought this on herself. What has she done but give? Instead of using her family’s fortune to live an easy life, she uses the money to help women and children in trouble.”
“It’s not fair, Vicente. None of this has anything to do about fairness.”
“Then it should be about justice.” He seethed with anger. “Criminals should suffer, but not her. Not like this. Good deeds should be rewarded.”
Cruz nodded. “The people behind this are like hundreds of others that we’ve hunted down. And you have to believe that we’re going to get these men and bring them to justice for what they’ve done. For what they’re trying to do.”
“How do you deal with all of this? I’m new to the task force, but you’ve been on it for a few months. How do you see the evil that these people are doing and not lose control?”
“Who says I do? Inside I rage and scream, but those moments are also the moments when I’m trying to comfort a child torn from its mother. Or a woman so bruised and battered she wants to die rather than go to a hospital for care.
“And women, torn from their families and sold to men who will pay thousands to own them, but don’t care for them at all. I hate every minute, but I know that we’re going to do good in this community. For the people we have a duty to protect.”
A momentary image of Sloane stuffed into the back of a van, bound and gagged, stabbed him in the heart. It was an irrational fear, but it was there all the same. “I want to get back to Sloane.”
Cruz looked up at him with a knowing grin. “Getting a little attached, are we?”
“No.” Vicente felt like he’d been doused with cold water. “That’s not why I want to get back. I don’t think I can do much more here. If the doctor keeps us out for much longer, I think we’re just wasting time. We have enough to go on for now.”
He waited for Cruz to say something, but the other man just folded his arms across his chest and focused his eyes on Vicente, narrowing them by degrees.
