“It’s not like the cartel to wander so far over the bridge,” I smile back.
He turns to glance out the window at the beckoning Brooklyn lights. “Sometimes it’s nice to get a little perspective. Everything the lights touch, and all.” He turns back to me. “I’m Luis.”
“Isabella,” I offer back.
He smirks. “Isabella.”His tongue wraps around the wrong vowel in a way that I think most women would find quite tantalizing.
But I know what he’s doing. He's just playing with his food.
And I need him to try and take a bite.
“Luis,” I purr right back. “I’m looking for something a little drunk and dangerous. Do you think you could help me out?”
He chuckles. “In that case, you’re going to need more than a Martini.”
He turns to flag down the bartender, and before I know it, we’re doing shots of tequila and carrying a tray of a dozen more to a table in the corner.
Perched around it are more cartel members. Many are as large and as intimidating as Luis, softened only by the haze of drugs and alcohol that clouds their eyes.
I don’t falter, allowing them to squeeze me in at the table and I clink my shot glass with theirs as we enjoy another round.
I’m not the only woman there, and I even share a grin with a particularly intoxicated girl across from me when we both grimace at the aftertaste of the tequila.
She shouts something at me, something about liking my dress, I think. But I can’t really hear her over the music.
I don’t have a chance to follow up before a leather-clad arm finds itself over my shoulders.
“So,Isabella,what brings you here?” Luis’ lips almost touch my ear he’s so close.
I click my tongue. “I have people I needed to get away from. Just for a little while.”
“And you thought this would be the best place to hide?”
“Something like that. I have a bit of a stalker, actually.” I shoot him a smirk before helping myself to another shot. “Still up for the task?”
He returns the smile dangerously. “I know a few places to hide a body.”
I don’t let the cool trickle of fear that drips down my spine unnerve me. I’ve been around my fair share of criminals, after all. These people are no different.
“Well, aren’t you just my knight in shining armor?”
You’re playing with fire.
“You should know I don’t do anything for free.”
It’s not Luis who places his hand on my thigh. It’s the guy on my other side. Warning bells immediately start to sound off in my mind, but I sit back and pretend it doesn’t bother me.
“Now, now,” I scold the new guy. “There’s plenty of me to go around. At least, there will be when I’m less sober.”
I throw Luis a meaningful glance, and he thankfully seems to be taking the hint. “I’ll be right back,” he says before darting back over to the bar.
The new guy keeps his hand on my thigh, though, now thumbing the bare skin there clumsily.
You need to be more careful…I could have fucked you right there under the table.Teo’s words come back to me along with an involuntary shudder.
I swallow hard before looking up at the new guy. He’s decisively less handsome than Luis, with a scratchy-looking mustache hugging his upper lip.
“You know, it’s polite to ask first,” I begin, intent on charming him off me.
