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My heart soared. I would be allowed to go wherever I wanted without a guard from now on. He trusted me, just as I trusted him.
“Yes,” I promised. “Thank you.”
He tipped his head in acknowledgement and accompanied me to the nearest home décor shop in companionable silence. He dropped a swift, fierce kiss on my lips before leaving, imprinting his heat on my skin, so I’d feel him long after he walked away.
I smiled to myself and focused my attention on an array of paint samples and wallpaper swatches, envisioning the new design of the master bedroom. We would share it one day. I’d convince Sebastián that I could never be afraid of him; he could never hurt me. And if he had nightmares, I wanted to hold him through them. He didn’t have to be alone with the darkness of his past anymore, just as he’d shown me that I didn’t have to be alone.
“Isabel.”
My stomach flipped at the terribly familiar voice, and dread made my feet heavy as I forced myself to turn and face Francisco Morales. Had the cop still been patrolling near my house to try to catch me on my own in public again? I hadn’t even thought about him in weeks.
I straightened my shoulders and tried to imitate my mother’s frostiest tone. “I’m sorry, but I can’t talk to you.”
Morales’ eyes narrowed, and his lips thinned beneath his patchy moustache. “You wanted to talk to me before. You told me that you’re involved with the cartel. I could take you in for questioning if you don’t want to talk willingly.”
I ignored the ice that slid down my spine and maintained my composed, imperious demeanor. “You know the charges against Raúl Guerrero disappeared.” Stefano had bribed the chief of police to make the investigation go away after I made my initial report to Morales. “The same thing will happen if you try to come after me.”
He stepped closer, and I summoned all my courage to resist the urge to shrink back. Morales was lanky, but he was still taller than me. And Sebastián wasn’t here to protect me right now. I would have to protect myself.
And it wasn’t as though the officer would actually hurt me, no matter how ferociously he was scowling at me. He didn’t have anything to charge me with.
I lifted my chin, meeting his scowl with a raised brow. “I haven’t committed any crimes,” I reminded him.
“But you know about them,” he seethed. “The last time we met, I thought you were too scared to talk. But you’re not scared of them. You’re protecting those bastards.”
My spine stiffened at the insult to my husband. At some point, I’d come to terms with the fact that I was married to a criminal. It didn’t matter to me anymore. Sebastián was all that mattered, and I accepted him for everything that he was.
I tried to walk away, but Morales’ fingers locked around my upper arm. “You’re making a mistake,” he warned. “You don’t want me as your enemy, Isabel.”
I glanced down at his hand on my arm and then speared him with my iciest stare. “Let me go, or I’ll speak to your superiors about how you’re harassing me. You want to talk to me because you think you’ll get a big promotion out of it. Well, I promise you that you will be fired if you bother me again.”
“Get your hands off my wife.”
My heart skipped a beat. “Sebastián,” I gasped, relief washing over me.
My husband thundered toward us, menace rolling off him in waves. Morales immediately released me and backed away.
Before he could attack the policeman, I stepped between them and placed my hand on Sebastián’s chest.
“Don’t,” I said softly, knowing that he’d get into trouble if he beat up a cop.
Judging by the rage that glittered in his black eyes, Sebastián would do a lot worse than simply beating him up. The last time a man had dared to touch me, he’d ended up with a broken jaw. And the time before that, Carlos had ended up with a snapped neck.
My husband would definitely be arrested if he killed a police officer with his bare hands.
“I handled it,” I assured him quietly. “Thank you for coming to get me.”
Those burning eyes snapped to mine, staring straight into my soul. His heart hammered beneath my palm, pulsing with barely suppressed violent energy.
“I’m okay,” I promised. “Take me home, please.”
“Anything for you, tesoro.” He lifted my hand from his chest and brushed a kiss over my knuckles. Then, he shot one last warning glower at Morales before wrapping his arm around me and guiding me out of the shop, making sure to keep his massive body between me and the cop.
I drew in a shaky breath when we stepped outside, and a tremor raced through me in the aftermath of the tense confrontation. His muscles flexed around me, and his head whipped back in the direction of the cop.
