“You’ve chosen an unfortunate moment to be romantic.”
“Speaking of romantic, did you find a wedding dress?”
“Yes, I did. But getting married is moot now, isn’t it?”
“Only for the time being. Unless…you’ve changed your mind and don’t want to marry me at all.”
She heard the disappointment in his voice, and her breath hitched. “No, no. I haven’t changed my mind.”
Miguel nuzzled her neck. “Good, because I did my own shopping today and chose our wedding venue, if you’re amenable to it.”
Now her breath quickened. “You did? What’s it like?”
Miguel opened his mouth to tell her, but Alfredo twisted around in his seat and demanded, “What are you whispering?”
Julia started to reply, but Miguel laid a hand on her leg. “We’re planning how we’re going to fucking kill Axis and Axalia, then you and your amigo.”
Alfredo let out a strangled cry of outrage. Something occurred to him, and he shouted, “Give me that pocketknife and your cell phone, Julia!”
“Why don’t you come back here and take them from me?” she flung. “Listen,cousin, you’re not calling the shots anymore. Don’t think for one minute that Brielle and I couldn’t have taken you down. She’s SWAT, and Justice taught her martial arts moves you can only dream about. Gramps and his psycho sidekicks fell right into our trap. So, shut up and enjoy the ride.”
Alfredo’s fury rolled off him in waves, but he turned around and ignored them.
“Badass,” Miguel murmured. “I’m so hot right now I wish we were alone. I’d take you hard and fast.”
Julia’s core curled with long pent-up desire. She lifted her mouth, and they risked a hard and fast kiss as the van traveled south into Mexico.
TIJUANA
JUST OVER THE BORDER
When the vanslowed down to a crawl, Miguel glanced at his watch. “We’re in Tijuana.” He reached into his back pocket, found his wallet, and hid it inside one of his shoes. “Julia, do you have identification on you?”
“No. Just my cell phone.” She checked it for service and saw a text from Tex. “Tex says not to panic. He’s tracking us. He also said that Justice and Wolf, whoever that is, have already mobilized a rescue team. They’re on standby. Wow. That was quick.”
“SEALs don’t mess around.”
Outside the van, a cacophony of horns blaring and racing motorcycle engines rose in volume. Miguel shot Julia a look of concern. He scooted toward the opening between the driver’s and passenger’s seats to check out the situation through the windshield.
“Oh, shit,” he said in a low voice. “Alfredo, are these your men?”
“No.”
“Do you recognize them?”
“Sí. The Jalisco gang.”
“A rival cartel?”
“Sí. They’ve been trying to destroy the Escobars ever since the Jaliscos gained a foothold in the drug business.”
Julia saw what concerned Miguel. The motorcycle gang had surrounded the van and were forcing it to go where they wanted. Sweat ran down Juan’s face. He gripped the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
“Listen, Alfredo, Julia and I can get us out of this situation, but you have to trust us. Do you have any more guns?”
“Why should I trust you? You threatened to kill me and Juan. And besides, I’ve dealt with this kind of thing in the past.”
“For fuck’s sake. If I wanted you dead, I would have slit your throat already with Julia’s Swiss army knife.”
