Page 20 of Deadly Sights

“The package was delivered as requested,” Nadira says into her phone while I take the exit toward our hotel.

Of course, she learned we were staying at the same place when I took her keys after walking out of the reception—not that I needed them to get into her car. I took her mild growl of annoyance as progress, that she was growing to accept my presence in her life. Otherwise, she would have shed her heels and attacked me with gusto.

Although I can’t hear the other end of her current conversation, I can guess she’s talking to her version of my Jason. Her coded language is easy to understand.

“No,” she says, peeking at me from the corner of her eye. “There weren’t any problems I couldn’t handle… Okay.” When she hangs up, she removes the SIM card, snaps it, and throws it out the window.

“Do you have to return home immediately?”

Her gaze sharpens, prickling my skin. “Don’t you already know? You seem to have all the details about my life, like where I need to be and when.”

The grin that takes over my face is beyond my control. “I’ll take that as a no.” I let the silence drag, feeding her curiosity until she can’t help but blurt?—

“What does a no response mean?”

“That I get to take you on a proper date. Something with a smidge of romance that doesn’t include blood and murder.”

“Oh, is killing a cartel thief not romantic enough for you?”

I take my attention off the road to capture her gaze. “I’ve told you already, you’re all the romance I need. But you deserve more, and I’m more than willing to lay the world at your feet.”

She lowers her lashes and a ruddy tint tinges her cheeks. Like everything else about Nadira, her confidence, her courage, and her brilliant mind, her blush captivates me. I have to find more ways to draw out the bashful side of her. It’s new and causes a gentle warming in my chest.

Another exit approaches and I turn off, heading toward Seville. Since leaving the castle wedding, the sun has completely set and the moon begins its ascension into the sky.

“How far are we going for this date? I have to feed Leaper. She doesn’t do well when her schedule is disrupted.”

“There’s no need to worry about her. As you’ll learn, I know how to pamper a puss.”

“Ho-ho, big talk coming from you. You’ve done nothing to show that you aren’t just talk.”

“Nadira, don’t.” I slice a warning glance at her. “There’s a price that comes with our being intimate.”

“Like lady blue balls?” she grumbles and breaks off our stare to look out the window.

“Like trust. Yours. Without it, I refuse to be intimate with you. So, don’t belittle my abilities because I haven’t shown you the full gamut of what you’re missing out on. Once I’ve earned your trust, believe me when I say, you won’t be able to go a day without my kind of pampering.”

“Trust doesn’t come easy for me.”

“It rarely does for people in our profession.”

Although I can’t see her face clearly in the window’s reflection, a cloak of overwhelming sadness surrounds her.

When I glance in the rearview mirror, a vehicle catches my eye. I don’t make any surprise moves, but I keep the vehicle in my sights. We spend another two hours on the road, tailed by an unknown person. Are they following me or Nadira? I doubt I’m their target since this is Nadira’s car. Does she know? Nothing about her posture gives me a clue. I pull up to a newly constructed building in the Los Remedios neighborhood and lead Nadira inside.

My butler, Alastair, greets us. “I received your instructions and have laid everything out in readiness for your arrival. Also, your honored guest has eaten, and I believe she’s taking advantage of the view from the roof.”

Nadira glances at me with a question in her eyes. Although Alastair’s British accent is a surprise given where we are, I doubt that’s what’s driving her curiosity.

“Thank you.” I hand him the keys to the car and lead Nadira inside, knowing he’ll unload the automobile without my saying so.

“She?” she asks into the silence.

Her reluctant question causes a smile to twitch on my lips. I make a detour from my original destination to the rooftop. “Yes, you’ll be happy she’s here.”

When we get to the glass-enclosed roof, Nadira glares at me.

“Are you not happy to see Leaper?”

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