Page 67 of Vow

As she headed that way, she asked, “Don’t you have an office for that?”

“I thought a change in scenery might be nice.” Andino was close enough behind her that Haven could feel the heat of his body. And yet, he didn’t reach out to touch her or anything of the sort. She wasn’t sure which pissed her off more—that she wanted him to do exactly that, or that he didn’t do it at all. She really was a sad state of a mess. “And also because my cousin mentioned he’d missed the last few episodes of his favorite show, and wanted me to fill him in.”

“John, you mean?”

That was the only cousin Andino ever really talked about.

“John,” he agreed as he dropped down on the couch. Haven stayed standing even when Andino glanced up, and quirked a brow. “Do you just want to stand, or …?”

“I don’t plan on staying.”

“Shame.”

The word came out of his mouth like a soft murmur. Whispering to her in all the wrong and far too right ways.

Haven knew it then … she was going to be fucked—probably in more ways than one—before this night was over.

ELEVEN

Andino wasn’t sure what Haven reminded him more of in those moments as she stood just a couple of feet away from where he sat on the couch. Like maybe a skittish deer that was ready to bolt away from the thing that terrified her … or a woman ready to jump his bones.

It was amusing … and sad, too.

“Sit,” he said again. “You have questions, right?”

“Maybe,” she countered, “but how many of them do you plan on answering?”

Andino smiled.

Smart woman.

“As many as I know the answers to, Haven. I promise.” She still hesitated to move, and kept an even tighter grip on that file. Guessing by the way the spine of the folder had been cracked again and again, Andino figured she had looked through the contents more than a few times. And because she was a smart woman, he knew she would have done her own research, too. Or, as much as she could by way of an internet search, probably. “I’m not going to bite you—you can sit, baby.”

Haven gave him a slightly bitter smile. “Not unless I ask, right?”

Well …

“You said it, not me.”

The slight shake of her head was all he got in response before Haven moved to sit on the couch beside him. She still kept an inch or two of space between them even as she opened the folder on her lap, and stared down at the contents. Andino leaned forward, and rested his clasped hands over his knees.

“There’s rumors that her father was arrested because he wouldn’t allow the cartel to buy his loyalty. I don’t understand.”

“He’s … or was, because he’s dead—”

“Like her mom, too,” Haven said softly.

Andino nodded. “Her mom was killed in what looked to be a car accident less than thirty days before she married the son. Her sister was killed after she took off, it seems.”

“I noticed that. And her dad was killed within a month after being married.”

“Being a politician in Mexico is a dangerous endeavor but especially when there’s major cartels who control everything. And I mean everything, Haven. That’s how cartels work. They integrate into every aspect of their country or territory that they can to control their business, and the business of those around them. Police. Government. The coffee shop down the street.”

“So, they wanted to control her father, and he wouldn’t take their … bribes?”

Andino made a noise under his breath. “I don’t think bribe would be the right word when it comes to cartels. More like … look at her mom who was killed and then shortly after, she married. Coercion and violence. Threats. That’s how they work.”

He could see that statement clearly made Haven uncomfortable, but she simply stared down at the file again and kept talking.