Page 69 of Colombian Chemistry

“You knew about this?” I asked Knox.

“No,” he defended. “I knew she wanted to come back here. I knew she begged me to turn the plane around. But I also thought we’d come to an agreement that it was in her best interests to get her ass back to the States and lay low for a while.”

Irene sucked her lip between her teeth. “Yeah. About that.”

“I like her,” Piper said decidedly. “Any girl who tells you both where to stick it to do her own thing is a girl I can get behind.”

“So hot,” Wesley said from the screen.

I warned Wesley with a look not to be thinking about Irene that way. He caught my meaning instantly and snapped his jaw shut.

“So, how can I help?” Irene asked as she sat next to me.

I pulled her hand into my lap, holding it tight, still struggling to comprehend she was real.

“You can’t,” I answered. “You’re just going to hang out in my hotel room until we get your father back on Wednesday.”

“Well, actually,” Piper said.

“Well, nothing,” I ground out.

Piper lifted her hands and tipped her head. “I’m just saying. If I’m going to get to the server in the compound, it would be helpful to have another female with me to occupy them while I sneak away.”

“Abso-fucking-lutely not,” I snapped.

“I’ll do it,” Irene said quickly.

“You will not!” I argued back. “You don’t even know what we’re talking about.”

“I don’t care what it is. If it helps free my father, I’ll do it.”

“You have to pretend to be a prostitute, flirt with the Jungle King lieutenants, and get invited into the compound for a ‘private party.’”

Her confidence faltered. “Oh.”

“You don’t have to, honey,” Piper said. “I can hire another local prostitute to come along. It won’t be as secure because she can’t be trusted to watch my back, but it’s better than nothing.”

“No,” Irene said softly. “I can do this. You just tell me what I need to do and consider it done.”

“Irene,” I started, but she stopped me with a raised hand.

“No, Marcus. I’m going to help out. If that means pretending to be a prostitute and flirting with cartel thugs, then that’s what I’ll do. I’m not sitting back while you do all the work. It’s decided.”

The thought of her in more danger... and the thought of those men leering at her—touching her—made my stomach churn.

“She’s got a point, Marcus,” Wesley said. “Irene can be the distraction while Piper gets to the server. Since she’ll know what Piper is up to, she can run interference if needed. We’ll get her out of there long before the shooting starts. I’ll be eyes in the sky the whole time and can alert them to any danger.”

“We’ll be right outside if shit goes sideways,” Knox said. “We won’t let anyone hurt her.”

“I’ll handle hair and makeup so she’ll be unrecognizable,” Piper said with confidence. And I believed her. She could transform herself into almost anyone, so no reason she couldn’t do the same for Irene.

“They won’t know it’s me,” Irene said. “And if for some reason they figure it out, they won’t hurt me. They need me alive, remember?”

I swallowed down my groan and closed my eyes for a beat. When I opened them, everyone was staring at me.

“I don’t like it, but I’m not going to stop Irene from doing what she wants. If this is what she wants, and she understands the danger, then so be it.”

Irene grinned and kissed my cheek. “Thank you.”