Well, not in the way I knew she was determined I’d done.
“I can stand here all night enjoying the company of a beautiful woman if necessary. However, my guess is you would prefer I know why you want me dead. That will allow a woman of obvious integrity to feel no regret after ending my life. Talk to me.” I added gruffness to my voice, but she wasn’t backing down.
I squeezed my fingers, momentarily cutting off her air supply. From behind me, I heard at least two of my men finally recovering. It had taken them long enough.
Her face remained pensive, her expression riddled with complicated emotions.
“Boss?” Silvio hissed.
“Let me handle this,” I snapped, suddenly angry that he was thwarting my attempts at figuring out what the hell was going on. “You have one chance to tell me what you’re talking about.”
“Or what?”
She posed an excellent question. If I was in Barcelona, I’d simply toss her in the back of my vehicle and take her back to my house for a more thorough interrogation. But I was in Mexico handling a situation for the Torres Druglord and my friend, Jago Torres. Since his cousin, the notorious Mexican Cartel leader had been shot and was currently in the hospital, there was no one to keep opposing crime syndicates from taking over his territory.
The man had warehouses full of product ready to be distributed. Currently, a significant number of Eduardo’s soldiers were actively keeping guard on the locations. With news that Eduardo had almost met his maker, sharks were swimming in the murky waters. I’d come to the club to ensure his one legal venture also hadn’t been targeted.
The time spent plus being attacked by a woman with wild accusations didn’t place me in the best of moods. Her actions reeked of a setup, although it would appear the lovely lady was working alone. Coincidence? Maybe.
I couldn’t shake the feeling that we’d met before.
Babysitting wasn’t the only reason I’d agreed to wasting my time by leaving Barcelona. For a brief time, we’d thought Jamal Fassi’s death had put an end to things. Unfortunately, his son Farid had righted the ship with incredible speed. Probing attacks had restarted within a month. If we ever met face to face I’d tear him apart, but I had to respect the bastard. It would seem he was determined to continue his acts of retaliation against anyone working with or protecting Jago. Even Eduardo wasn’t immune to Farid Fassi’s acts of violence. The Moroccan was having a field day playing cat and mouse.
At least with the information provided by the informant I’d met with only moments before, a sighting of several of the Moroccan’s soldiers had been confirmed within fifty miles. I’d also learned Eduardo had likely made a bad business decision, potentially providing Farid’s men with an opportunity to raid one of his warehouses in the cartel leader’s absence.
What pissed me off even more was that Eduardo’s men were not only useless in my mind, but they were also potential turncoats. I’d seen it with my own eyes.
At this point, I needed to concentrate on business, including locating Fassi’s soldiers. Not determining the future of a stunning yet irritating woman with blood in her eyes.
I was cranky from being a babysitter, which wasn’t in my job description.
Killing Fassi was absolutely vital and the only way of hunting down the pig was taking one of his men alive.
However, I couldn’t do that if I was being chased by a lovely but smart-mouthed woman who had it in for me.
If she wanted a taste of punishment, then that’s exactly what she was going to get.
CHAPTER 4
Navarro
How long had it been since I’d disciplined a woman?
Was I a sadistic man who enjoyed various acts of kink? Yes. Without a doubt. Yet punishing a woman for an egregious act wasn’t something I was used to doing.
Maybe because I’d never been placed in a position of needing to.
There was a first time for everything.
Her glare remained harsh, daring me to try to control her.
My balls tightened from the thought.
I didn’t answer her directly, instead yanking her away from the wall toward one of the tables.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she hissed.
“You should be much nicer to the man who’s now controlling you.”
