AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My eyebrows shoot up in the air.Fluffy?
“Seriously? You named that devil mutt Fluffy?” I ask.
“I have a shotgun aimed at your temple and you call my dog a mutt? How fucking dumb are you?”
“He has a point,” Isabelle says beside me.
Jesus.
“Put the damn gun down and let that poor girl come inside,” the woman says.
“Dammit, Ana,” Javier growls, but his gun dips. “Would you mind your business and go back inside.”
Then the brave woman brushes past him and the gun is pretty much out of the equation now. I slide mine into the back of my jeans. We’re down in the shadows still, and I doubt he saw it.
But he would know I’m armed. Especially as he’s acknowledged me as a cartel member. A senior one if he knows who I am.
As Ana takes Isabelle out of my arms and the two women walk up the stairs, I follow them slowly and come face to face with Javier.
“You are a dead man walking,” he says.
I was right. The word is out. I was known as one of Pablo’s senior cartel members. Now I’m a wanted man.
“I have an offer for you. Ten millionpesos.” I lay my cards on the table because money talks with these people, and it’s the only way he won’t shoot me on the spot when I tell him what I want.
“For?”
I see the glint of interest. That’s a fuck ton of money for any Mexican - over half a million U.S. dollars. It would be hard for anyone to turn down that kind of money, especially someone living in poor conditions with a family.
“First, we go inside.” I’m not happy Isabelle is out of my sight, even though I know Ara won’t hurt her.
Call it instinct.
He hesitates for a moment and then nods, pushing up the sleeves of his white shirt and stepping aside so I can pass.
“Your car marked?”
“No, it’s borrowed,” I reply. Javier knows what that means.
“Good.”
Inside Javier’s home, it’s an entirely different environment than outside. It’s still a complete dump, but there is a meal being prepared by three women. Colorful drapes hang over the road-facing windows and a fan blows loudly, attempting to disperse the humid air.
It's not working.
Isabelle stands with her back to it, and I can see a sheen of sweat on her chest as she waves her hand in front of her face. The T-shirt she’s wearing is thin and finishes an inch from the top of her denim shorts.
She’s so fucking gorgeous.
It hits me how much I felt her absence in just those few brief minutes. Like, I’m a horny teen.
Only it wasn’t just her body I felt the absence of, it was all of her. The feeling is so unfamiliar to me that I don’t know what to do with it. All at once, I feel annoyed and curious.
When her eyes lift to mine, I can’t look away. I want to walk across the room, toss all my fucking money at Javier, and scoop her up into my arms. Then fly to goddamn Australia or somewhere where I’ll spend forever convincing her to make love to me.
Notlove, love. Justsexlove.
Right?
