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He rounded on me, and his intense gaze punched the air from my chest. Striations of golden fire threaded through his pale blue irises, making them burn like twin flames.
“Go back to your friend,” he rumbled, a deep command that rolled through my body.
I finally placed his accent: Italian. What was he doing here in Mexico City? Was he a tourist? I’d seen him in the market, and now he’d showed up in the same bar as me.
It was strange, but not beyond reason that he might visit both locations; the bar was in the same neighborhood as the market. There were probably many people who frequented them, but I’d only taken notice of this particularly beautiful, imposing man.
He captured my full attention so completely that I didn’t notice the small crowd that’d parted around us: people giving the broken glass and dangerous man a wide berth.
“Go on,” he prompted when I didn’t move.
He wrenched his arm away, and my fingers tingled in the seconds after he broke contact.
“Your fiancé is waiting for you.” He said the last through gritted teeth, anvil-hard jaw tight.
I blinked. How did he know about George?
Oh. I’d told the creep who’d tried to drug me that I was here with my fiancé. My savior must’ve overheard.
“I…” I swallowed down the lump of guilt that suddenly clogged my throat. George was just across the bar, hidden by the crowd on the dance floor. I’d been staring at another man, touching him…
“Thank you,” I murmured, turning quickly and scurrying away from his alluring, powerful presence.
I hurried back to George, allowing the revelers to form a barrier between me and the gorgeous stranger. Just before I reached my fiancé, I schooled my features into a pleasant smile. I didn’t dare rush up to him and confess what’d just happened. Guilt still churned in my gut.
Besides, George would be upset if he learned that I’d been harassed. He’d warned me not to leave his sight, and I’d broken my promise.
I went to his side and brushed a kiss over his cheek: a silent, secret apology for my transgressions. He placed a warm hand on my lower back in acknowledgement, but he didn’t break his conversation with his boss.
I hid my disquiet well. This social time was important to George, for our future. I had no business thinking about another man, no matter how remarkable his eyes were. No matter the fact that he’d defended me.
No matter that when we’d touched, I’d felt a physical connection I’d never known before.
I leaned closer into George’s hand. I belonged to him and no one else.
Chapter 9
Massimo
My forearm still burned with her touch, as though the delicate beauty had branded me when she’d stayed my hand. She hadn’t wanted me to make that fucker pay for trying to drug her. He’d intended to violate her, but she had saved him from my retribution.
She was gone now, returned to the safety of the crowd of DEA agents. Crawford might be a corrupt piece of shit—his selfish actions put her in danger of becoming collateral damage—but no one would dare to assault her while she was surrounded by law enforcement.
I took a moment to catch one more glimpse of her gleaming, white-blonde hair, ensuring that she was safely back with the group of agents. She brushed a kiss over that motherfucker’s cheek, and the bastard all but ignored her.
She hadn’t run up to him to tell him about the danger she’d been in. She didn’t cry and throw herself into the false protection of his arms.
No, Evelyn was too strong for that. She would shoulder the burden of what’d just happened, and she wouldn’t say a word of complaint. I’d seen her strength in her silent tears when she’d hidden her nightmare from him; she’d quietly snuggled into his embrace in the bed they shared. She hid her distress so that she wouldn’t disturb him. In her own soft way, she was protective of the man she’d pledged to spend the rest of her life with. She might not be strong enough to defend him physically, but it was obvious that she protected his black heart.
I gnashed my teeth. That callous fucker didn’t deserve her.
I would eliminate him from her life soon enough, but I wouldn’t get an opening tonight. Not when she was by his side, and he was surrounded by feds.
There was an outlet for my rage, though: the man who’d tried to assault her. He couldn’t have gotten far, and I was good at hunting down my enemies.
It didn’t take long to find the predatory fucker. I’d prevented him from victimizing Evelyn, but he hadn’t given up for the night. He hadn’t even bothered to slink more than two blocks away; I found him in the third dive bar I searched.
I hung back, allowing the increasingly drunken revelers on the dance floor to separate us. The bastard was too busy eyeing up the single women in the bar to take notice of me.
