by C. M. Steele
“But you’re a target.” The danger to his life was greater now more than ever before. He knew too much.
He cupped my chin and looked down at me with his brown eyes staring intently into mine. “I’m more worried about you being a target. You and our future family will always be my priority until the day I die.” His lips brushed mine, then he placed a soft kiss on my forehead.
“My dad left today,” I confessed.
“Yes, I know. Are you okay, love?”
“I suppose, but I’m worried about him. Once the cartel realizes that we came into your life at the same time, he’ll be a target.”
“He’ll be okay. I promise.” His arms encircled my waist and pulled me to his chest, hugging me tight. The conviction in his voice eased my concern.
“Fine. Let’s get out of here.”
“Where’s your bag?” I pointed to the counter, and he scooped it up. “Are you hungry?”
“Starving, actually. Can we order a pizza and watch a movie tonight?”
“We can do whatever you like.” He kissed my temple and led me outside where I locked up. On the short drive home, I laid my head on his shoulder.
The next thing I knew, I woke up on the sofa with a blanket over me. “Hey, baby.”
“Oh no. Ricardo, you’re not supposed to be carrying me,” I complained, sitting up straight. Dropping the blanket off my upper body, I realized that he’d changed my clothes too.
“Well, I couldn’t let my amazing woman walk when I love having her in my arms.”
“And my clothes?” I questioned, arching my brow.
“I’d never let you be uncomfortable, but it sure as hell made me a bit uncomfortable.” He adjusted his stiff cock. The man remained hard even after we fucked like bunnies three times a day. Who needed to hit the gym? My slit drenched my panties. The man always turned me on without even trying.
“I ordered the pizza. It should be here in ten minutes, and you can pick the movie.”
“Yay. I want to watch Face/Off. I haven’t seen it in forever, and I was just talking about it with Annelise today. She thought I was talking about some makeup television show, but I had to give her young butt a lesson.”
“You’re young too, love. Shit, isn’t she in her twenties as well?”
“Yes.” Then we’ll watch that. It’s one I actually own.” He gave me one of his sexy smiles before running around to his movie case and pulling out the Blu-ray. The pizza came and then we popped in the movie with some sodas and relaxed.
I knew it would be too good to last. Just as the movie ended, Ricardo got a call from his former boss. He put it on speaker because he didn’t want to leave me out.
“Yes?”
“Ferguson is dead.” I gasped.
“What the fuck do you mean, dead? As in ‘I’ was dead, or the son of a bitch ate a bullet?”
“More than that. He gave us his deposition today and then as we were putting him into the vehicle, a barrage of bullets lit it up from a good distance. Everyone took cover, but it was too late for him.”
“Fuck.”
“What does this mean?” I asked.
“It means that we’re going to have a hard time prosecuting the cartel members,” I told her.
“We have enough to start digging,” the director said.
“We do?”
“Yes. From what you gave me and the information Ferguson gave us, we were able to bust up two drug deals today. Shit, I forgot to tell you because this all happened at the same time, but they found a plane slammed into the mountains in Mexico that belonged to some Columbians. The bodies on board were too destroyed to be identified, but at least one had a bullet hole. The Mexican officials believed it was mules who might have fought and killed each other, making the plane crash.”
“Good. Less of those bastards the better. Anyone have a clue who was aboard? The manifests?”
“No, you know good corruption when you see it. Names all fake. Everyone aboard was Jose Hernandez. Unless they’re all family and like George Foreman, I doubt those were their real names.”
“Well, have you gotten to MacDowell?” Ricardo asked.
“No, he’s gone underground. He must know that we were onto him as soon as your resurrection made the news.”
“Are you using extra manpower to track him down? Tell me the agency isn’t sitting on this.”
“We’re not. We’ve arrested over twenty men. We need a little more, then we’ll have the leader of the Villanueva Cartel on charges of trafficking of drugs and humans as well as murder.”
“Let me know when you apprehend him. I want his head on a fucking spike. If they come after me, I won’t be responsible for what I do to them.”
“We understand. Keep yourself safe. We may need you to testify one day.”
“Bye.”
“This isn’t ever going to get better, is it?” I asked, tears filling my eyes.
“It will. I promise even if I have to destroy the cartel with my bare hands. I refuse to lose you.” He kissed me hard, then flipped me over his shoulder and carried me to our bedroom.
He plopped me on the bed and then sat next to me. “I’ve been thinking of ways to do this, but there never seems to be a right time. I love you so damn much, Grace. I live for you. Please marry me.” I gasped as I saw the open box in his hand holding a beautiful solitaire diamond with blue sapphires on the sides.
I nodded, crying as I choked out, “Yes.” I didn’t want to rush him because we hadn’t truly been together that long, but I’d waited for this moment since he told me I was his. He slid the ring onto my finger before intertwining our hands.
“I want to marry when your dad comes back.”
“Oh my. I have to tell him.”
“You can call him, angel, but I already asked for his permission.”
“You did? I’m a grown woman, you know?”
“I know, but he saved my life. I owed him the respect a father should receive from the man stealing his daughter away.” My heart melted even more with the fact that he did that.
“I love you, Rick,” I said, throwing my arms around him. It was the first time I called him that.
Quickly, I found myself pinned to the mattress with his body over mine and his hands holding mine above my head. “Fuck, hearing you call me that got me hard as hell. You’re going to be in for a rough one tonight,” he growled against my ear. I giggled and let him prove it all night long.
Chapter 18
Ghost
I had a week until the wedding, and I felt better than ever. It had been a month since Ferguson’s death, and several of the jefes were arrested.
The tape of Ferguson’s death made the news, YouTube, and every other social media site around. I clicked on it while Grace was still at work.
In a fit of curiosity, the station had been swarmed with reporters from every major news affiliate and vloggers as well. They brought him down the steps in cuffs after he’d given his deposition to the judge, when out of nowhere one shot rang out, hitting Ferguson in the head. Screaming and running were all that was left to the camera. Apparently, the cameraman freaked out and dropped it. It took until everything settled down before he picked it back up and his anchorwoman jumped in to explain what had happened as if she’d not been in the middle of an assassination.
Three days after Ferguson’s death, MacDowell’s body had been dumped off onto the ATF’s front steps via drone. There was no mistaking the bastard was dead. For the first fucking time in a long time, I relaxed. I knew this shit wasn’t over, but soon the trial would start. Luckily, the director and his team had acquired the tape of my attempted murder and it would be admissible in trial against the remaining fools who weren’t already dead.
The cartel’s leader escaped the authorities on a technicality. There were too many fucking people being paid under the table, and that included judges. The charges that didn’t have shit to do with me had been dropped. They couldn’t charge him for my own injuries because there was no pr
oof that he ordered my execution.
A message arrived via UPS from the Villanueva leader himself. “Call this number to talk.” I rushed over to Boomer for his take.
After reading the simple letter, he said, “Call. We don’t want that kind of trouble, and honestly with one cartel on our backs, another is too damn much. If they bring trouble, I’ll ride and kill every single one of them. My wife is way too damn important to me to lose.”
“Understood.”
We sat in Boomer’s office and made the call on a secured line.
“Hola,” a woman answered.
“Hola. Puedes hablar con El Jefe?”
“Quien llamada?”
“Ricardo Martinez.”
“Esperate.” Her voice faltered and then she let out a moan. “Hector. Telephono.” Her words were a struggle to get out, and I realized I’d caught them in the middle of fucking.
“Martinez. This line is secure. Who is with you?”
“My associate. Who is with you?”
“Mi reina.”
“Pues. What did you need to discuss? As far as I’m concerned, the only thing we have to say is that there’s a truce.”
“There is. I don’t want trouble. I’m the new head of the Villanueva family. My father met his fate this morning. So we were in the middle of a celebration.”
“So you don’t want a war? Revenge?”
“No. You got your revenge. MacDowell was a present for you all. Things are going to be changing. There is a lot of infighting between my people. I don’t need a fight with anyone else, including a squad of soldiers with more skills than my entire army put together. Let us be square. My people won’t go into your territory anymore, and I expect the same.”
“You got that. I can agree to that.”
“Bueno. Adios, Martinez.” He ended the call, and Boomer looked at me with a smile.
“We’ll still be on high alert, but look.” He turned his phone to me, and there it was. The head of the Villanueva family had died of a heart attack this morning. “Somehow I don’t buy the heart attack.”
“Poison?”
“Yep. We’ll keep our guard up, but I trust we’re out of the thick of it.”
“What about the Cortes Cartel?”
He rubbed his hand over his face. “At this point they are still very much a problem, but they’re having their own infighting so while they dick off, let’s focus on the good shit we have here.”
“I’ve got to go. Crystal’s due any day now.”
“Good. Take care of her. I’m hoping I’ll get that news very soon.”
“I hope you do, brother.” He gave me a hug and then we both left his office. Grace was at the clinic today and I didn’t work until tonight, so I jumped on my Harley for a ride. The day remained perfect with just a slight overcast, keeping the sun out of my eyes. I stopped into Wrench’s shop, but it was closed for the day. I didn’t trust that shit, so I looked through the garage door, then turned quickly on my heels out of the lot.
I laughed because I didn’t need to see Wrench’s bare ass as he fucked some woman. Luckily he had her covered or I’d get my ass kicked by him and Grace. I laughed all the way back into town and stopped at the grocery store to get some flowers for my woman and then check out Morgan’s coffee shop. I hadn’t been there since this shit went down. So much had happened in the past year: a new bakery, bookstore, and a damn coffee shop. Most of this had gotten started before I left, but the final result had made the town look good.
I pulled up to At A Sip, parked my bike, and then stepped inside the cute place. Morgan smiled up at me, getting Mick to turn around. “Oh, hey, brother. How the hell are you?” He gave me a tight, one-armed hug. We’d both been on the brink of death, sharing a bond we didn’t wish on anyone else.
“I’m good. I was killing some time with a ride, and I realized I’d never been here before.” I scanned my eyes around the room, only to find that Morgan moved around Mick and her belly looked like it was going to burst. A hint of envy struck me again. I couldn’t wait until Grace told me she was giving me a baby.
She gave me a gentle hug to the side because her belly was in the way, and Mick growled as I expected. “It’s so good to see you, Ghost. I think your new name is pretty cool. So what can I get you?”
“Should you still be on your feet?” I gave her a questioning glare. Mick scoffed.
She swatted him. “Oh hush.” She turned back to me and said, “I’m almost ready to pop, but I’m okay. Ewan makes me rest a lot.” At that last bit, she smiled. They’d loved each other for so long that it made me happy to see.
“As he should. So I’ll try one of your fancy cappuccinos.”
“Great. I have some cupcakes from Penny’s bakery here,” she said as she scurried over to the large coffee machine with a thousand handles and buttons.
“I remember how good they were before.” I rubbed my stomach, and then my chest hurt. It had been the day I’d informed Boomer that I was leaving.
“We didn’t have a party yet to celebrate your return from the dead,” she added, walking toward us.
Mick took it from her and walked the rest of the way back to me and said, “Shit, we haven’t, have we?”
“Well, we’ve all had a ton of shit going on. Besides, Grace and I are getting married in a week, and we’ll all be partying at the clubhouse.”
Morgan rubbed her hands together with the smile I still remember from when she was a little girl. “Penny is so excited to do the cake. It’s going to be fabulous.”
“I’m just looking forward to the priest announcing us husband and wife. Everything else is secondary.”
“Ain’t that the truth,” Mick agreed.
I took a sip and fell in love with this drink. “Damn, this is really good. I’m surprised there’s not a line out the door for these.”
“Oh, there will be. Every morning and evening she has this place packed. It’s early afternoon, so soon it’ll be packed.”
“Congrats.” I stayed in the shop, bullshitting with Mick while Morgan went to work on some paperwork. Her employees assisted other customers.
“So I need a tattoo soon. I want one for my Grace.”
“Let me know. I can do some mockups for you. Just let me know when you’re ready.” Mick could draw anything, and I had done several of my pieces, but I had a feeling that my sister and brother would be pissed if they didn’t get a chance to do it.
“I will. So how are my brother and sister doing at the shop?” I questioned.
“Killing it, as always. With me out of the way most of the time, they’ve grown a lot.”
“I’m about to stop over there.” I tipped my cup to see it was almost empty. A motherfucker could get addicted to these.
“Good. I’ve got to go check in anyways. Let me say goodbye to my wife.” He got up and ran to the back while I finished up my cupcake and my fancy coffee.
We entered the tattoo parlor ten minutes later, even though it was across the street. Mick quietly dicked his woman before going. I left the cashier a nice tip and set my dishes on the counter. “A bunch of horny bastards in this place,” I teased as we exited the shop.
The bell on the parlor dinged, causing Demi to lift her head with a wide grin. “To what do I owe this surprise?”
“I just came to check on you two. I haven’t seen you in a week.”
“Sorry. It’s been pretty busy in the shop. Asher’s working with a client right now.” As she said that, the buzzing from the machine stopped. She hugged me tightly. “How’s my future sister-in-law doing?”
“She’s good. The patients are really liking her, which I had no doubt about.”
“I can’t wait until next week. I’m so excited and happy that she let me be her maid of honor.”
“She’s getting a wonderful sister and an okay brother.”
“Hey, you’re just lucky she met you first. I’m the better-looking one,” Asher grumbled, walking out of the backroom with a client. The guy cracked up
and adjusted his shirt. Something about the way he looked at Demi surprised me, but I let it go. My sister was beautiful; no one could deny it. He paid for the tattoo and left. I gave Asher a look that meant we had to talk about that later. Demi seemed oblivious to it because her eyes had been focused on the man’s chest.
After he left, I made my exit as well. I had to see my woman and make sure there were no other fucks looking at my woman like that.
Chapter 19
Grace
“My wedding day,” I sighed, stepping into my long, strapless white dress with an outer layer of pearl-beaded tulle on the skirt.
“And you look amazing,” Demi said, wiping tears from her eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m not the one who should be crying, but I couldn’t have asked for a better woman for him.”
“Thank you, Demi.” We hugged for the tenth time today before she turned me around to zip me up. I stared into the mirror and watched how the strapless gown amplified the curve of my breasts and the hollow of my neck. I looked like a dream and suddenly, I wished my mother could have been here. She wanted me to marry David, but she would have loved Rick.
My wedding would be the talk of the town because last week, the weather and Crystal took us by surprise. We were hit with a tornado just outside of town, while Crystal went into labor on the side of the road.
Morgan and Penny were due very soon. I had a wedding gift for my handsome man today that I knew he’d been waiting for. I saw the longing in his eyes when the guys mentioned becoming fathers. It wasn’t like we waited. He knocked me up from the first day. I tested myself two weeks ago just to be sure, but my tender breasts and missed period already gave me the heads up.
Thankfully, I’d only started getting morning sickness two days ago, which he missed. I’d barely brushed my teeth when he’d gotten home from his patrol.
“I can’t believe I’m getting married to Ricardo. I love your brother so much. He makes me feel so wonderful.” The door opened with Sophia and Annelise walking in.
“Girl, you look fabulous. Guess who arrived.” They moved, and my father stood right there.
