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“I’m sorry to tell you, but the mask is going to have to go firmly back in place and stay there.” I force myself to loosen my hold on her and slide my hands along her spine. Massaging and kneading different places until a part of her relaxes and groans at the touch. “If we’re going to get through this, then I’ll have to continue to play the asshole for as long as it takes.”
“Tell me the truth—” she breaks off, sighing, when I find a particularly tense spot where her neck and shoulder meet. “You have feelings for me.”
I shake my head, swallowing, the knot in my stomach somehow rising startlingly fast to clench my heart. “There’s no way I’m admitting it to you,” I grumble.
“You just did.” Her smile is secretive now and she presses it to my mouth as though it will somehow transfer. “Give it time. One day, those three words aren’t going to be so hard to get out. I know it.”
Damn me straight to hell for this. I’ve tried to stay away, and it’s the most selfish thing to claim her, but she’s mine. Fuck if I let her go now. “I don’t deserve you.”
“Absolutely you do not, but I look forward to the way you’ll endeavor to try.”
“A diplomatic answer if I’ve ever heard one,” I say with another chuckle.
She tries to remove herself from my lap, but I capture her hand, kissing every one of her knuckles before letting her go. Her smile is back, and it’s breathtaking.
“I think the best thing for us to do at this point is to get it all out in the open.” She worries her lower lip, teeth flashing. “I think we’re in too deep to keep going it alone. If Drago wants the names of our middlemen and distributors…my family needs to know.”
My chest tightens hard enough to crack ribs. “I’m not sure it’s the best idea.” The thought of letting Carter and Mia, not to mention her parents, know what’s been going on in its entirety is enough to make me feel like I’ve swallowed a vial full of red ants. They’re all currently gnawing away at my insides.
Would it be wrong to lose it now?
Isabella pushes the door fully open with her knuckles, bright sunlight spearing the inside of the back seat and blinding me at the same time. “I know it’s going to be tough, but this is beyond what we’re equipped to handle on our own. There’s no way I’m prepared to hand over the information Drago wants, and without more muscle on our side, we’re out of time. That’s what I was going back to tell you. I was on my way to your place before you ran me off the road.”
“You weren’t going to tell me,” I insist ironically.
She shoots a heated look at me as she crawls out of the car, tapping her foot until I finally move. I hurry to tuck my dick back in my boxers, adjusting the zipper before I haul my ass out of the car.
“Of course I was. I just didn’t think it was something you’d want to discuss over the phone. Drago is serious about killing our families. And if I don’t deliver, then he won’t hesitate. Right now, I’m too close. I can’t think of a way to get out of this. Which is partially why I went over today and planted bugs in his house.”
I stop suddenly. My worry for her returns in full force. “You did what?”
“Bugs. Not many, I only had a handful with me, but I managed to get one in his office. Don’t worry. He’s never going to be able to see it. I made sure I hid it well while he was distracted.”
Pride and fear mingle together into a new sensation inside of me. “I can’t believe you did it,” I murmur.
Isabella angles her head and stares at me. “Why not?” she asks.
“No, not because I think you’re not capable of doing it. Because it takes a whole lot of guts to do what you did.” And if Drago ever suspects, if he finds even a hint of the bugs by doing a tech sweep, then we’re all out of luck. He won’t bother with subtlety anymore. He’ll come straight for us with all his guns blazing, and that is not a fight the families are prepared to tackle.
“Okay,” I say at last. “We tell them.” Isabella’s eyes light and I reach for her, absorbing her hug. “We tell them the truth. It’s time.”
“And it’s not because I think you’re not capable of doing this yourself, Ricardo. You have to know,” Isabella says, the words flowing out of her in a gush.
“Hush.” I capture another kiss. “Shut your pretty mouth, and we’ll figure this out. Okay? Now, get in the front seat. We’ve got to call a meeting.”
Fuck, I don’t even know where my cell is right now. For all I know, it’s on the ground outside, dropped in my rush to be inside of her.
And I’d taken her on the side of the road. She deserved some tenderness. Some sweetness, like the kind she’d given to me.
I’ll make it all up to her when we get out of this shit. Whatever she wants, I’ll give.
Isabella is silent for the first time as she makes herself comfortable at my side. The sun warmed the leather of both seats, and I take off, heading back to the main road. The mask might be in place for the remainder of the day, but the air has cleared between us, and it’s all I can ask for, especially with this newest hurdle looming ahead of us. We’re going to take Drago down no matter what else happens. No matter the cost.
A certain level of peace steals over me on the drive to her family’s compound. Not out of any small shred of hope dangled like a carrot in front of us, but by her presence. Being here with her in this moment of stolen safety while the rest of the world is doing what it does best: revolt. Violently revolt.
We pull up to the gatehouse, and Isabella shifts in the seat, reaching across with her palm open. I throw the car into park and wait for the guard before pressing my hand against hers.
“Together?” I question. “And don’t fuck with me this time.”
