I only had one glass of champagne before we came back here.
I cover my mouth to yawn and respond without thinking. “I told you my parents aren’t around anymore. My mamá died when I was little.”
At that, Joaquin pauses his maniacal kissing spree and peers at me with an expression I can’t decipher.
“Oh. Yeah,” he says with an odd tone that I can’t decipher either. Quickly switching gears, he plants a hard kiss on my mouth and gives me a firm tug to pull me off the mattress and make me stand up. “Well, now my mamá is your mamá, and you can count on her to say all that silly mamá stuff.” He swats my ass, and I jump, my head spinning harder now that I’m upright. “Now, let’s get you dressed so I can feed you and we can get a jump on the day, yeah?”
Joaquin tugs my hands, and I stagger to follow him into the bathroom, but panic suddenly surges through me as I recall all the shit I was supposed to do last night and this morning before anyone woke up.
I don’t remember searching the house after Joaquin fell asleep, so it probably didn’t happen. I also don’t remember checking in with Xavier. And if Joaquin is alreadyup and at ‘emthis morning with a day full of plans for us, I don’t know when I’m going to be able to check the secret phone stowed under the mattress. So, Xavier isdefinitelypissed at me right now, and I’mdefinitelygoing to pay for it with another visit from one of his cronies.
I fuckinghateXavier.
Someone should fucking killhim.
Maybe I will one day.
Of course,thatwould be a last resort. It wouldn’t just be killinghim, rather I’d have to figure out how to take out basically the whole cartel or prepare to disappear from the face of the earth.
So, I can’t do that. Notyet. But maybe one day.
Right now, my job is to find the other laptop, figure out how to gain access to Ernesto’s financials, and then kill his son, who is nowin lovewith me. The past two weeks have been nothing but Joaquin’s kindness, consideration, and deliriously good sex, all of which have nurtured my initial physical attraction to him and caused it to grow into something that Icannotallow—an emotional connection.
I don’t need the emotional turmoil that would come from me carrying out this task after I fell in love with my target. I also don’t need anything, love or otherwise, preventing me from doing my job.
Because if I suddenly fail at my job for the first time ever, Xavier will make me pay for it with consequences worse than death, and then death itself.
THE CONDO I’M PRETTY sure Joaquin is about to buy isabsurd.It looks exactly like some of the fancy, newer hotels in Las Vegas, except that people actuallylive here.
I’ve obviously never been to New York before this marriage, but almost every single famous building I’ve heard of is visible from where this condo is perched on the fortieth floor of the ninety-story skyscraper. The master bedroom looks out over the Chrysler and Empire State Buildings through windows that are basically just walls made entirely of glass. You could fit the entire crack house in this one space, and there are three other bedrooms that are almost as big. The living room also features the same ridiculous window-walls, but that view looks out overCentral freaking Park.
Are these people—Joaquin included—fuckingserious?
“You okay, Natalia?” Lili, who accompanied us on this shopping trip, asks while nudging her elbow into my side.
I blink away from the expansive view of the city to look at her. “Of course. Why?”
She laughs and gives me a friendly shake, then tosses her cascades of ebony curls over her slender shoulder. “You look kind of annoyed at the view.”
“Oh.” I match her laugh and shrug. “No, it’s just a little mind-boggling.” I turn to Joaquin, who’s leaning one hip casually against a wide, marble, L-shaped bar across the living room and wearing an easy smile. “Cariño,I hope you don’t feel like weneedto live somewhere this extravagant.”
“Aw,babe,” he gushes through a chuckle as he pushes away from the bar to slowly approach me. He raises his arms in a grand gesture at the cavernous, open-concept unit. “Ofcoursewe need to live somewhere this extravagant.” He stops in front of me, clasps my arms, and then plants a long, deep kiss on my mouth. “Only the best for my pretty, little wifey.”
The urge to cringe mingles with a concerning swell of what isdefinitelythe beginning of feelings I have no business possessing, but I keep my expression neutral. “It’s threemilliondollars, Joaquin.”
“And?” He shrugs, his large shoulder muscles hitching and stretching the fabric of his well-fitted suit jacket. Raking one hand through his jet-black hair, he wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me close so he can spin me around like we’re starring in a damn Disney movie. “That’s pretty much chump change!” He pulls me to a stop and frames my face with his palms. His features harden into an uncharacteristic serious expression, and he raises his eyebrows. “How much money does Papá have, Natalia?”
It seems like a rhetorical question, but he pauses like he expects me to answer. My eyes shift in bewilderment, and he cocks his head.
“Natalia,” he prompts me. “How much money does he have?”
I knowexactlyhow much money Ernesto Reyes has, but Joaquin doesn’t have any clue that I do. I’m not sure what he expects me to say.
“I… uh…” The bewilderment causes me to stammer. “I have no idea,cariño.I know he’s very wealthy, but I don’t remember you telling me how much it is. I don’t think we talked about it.”
His large palms are still braced on my cheeks, and he narrows his mahogany brown eyes. The typical playfulness in them is suddenly gone, and I have no idea what’s going on right now.
Joaquin says nothing, so I add, “Did we? I have no idea,amor. I’m sorry if you told me and I forgot. I wouldn’t want to disrespect you or him that way.”
