Page 44 of Violent Delights

He looks me over again, measuring me. “You really in this? All the way?”

“I’m already past the point of no return.”

He claps a hand on my shoulder, grip strong. “Then let’s make sure it ends how she wants.”

I nod. “We bring her out. We burn the past behind her.”

Guillermo grins, just a flicker of teeth. “You and your cousins better not screw this up. Because if you do, I’ll be the one digging your grave.”

“Fair enough.”

We both turn toward the villa—its white walls catching the silvery glimmer from the moon. So pristine, so silent. It won’t stay that way for long.

She wants it in ashes.

I’m going to give it to her.

I don’t hearthe door until it clicks shut behind me.

Too late.

I freeze, fingers still pressed to the underside of Ignacio’s desk drawer where I just felt the hollow space. My heart kicks once, hard against my ribs, and I know I’ve been caught. I didn’t think anyone would be up and about this late into the night, but before me, I see the man who watches me like a hawk. I slide my hand out slowly, smooth my expression, and turn.

Marco leans against the doorframe, arms crossed in front of his chest, and his eyes are sharp as he watches me. “Didn’t expect to find the bodyguard in the Boss’s chair.”

He’s not smiling.

I match his look with one of my own, relaxed but not casual. “Didn’t expect the Boss to leave his office unlocked.” I shrug it off, but the tension in the room is thick and heavy.

Marco walks in, slow and deliberate, like he’s stepping into a crime scene. “You lost, Nico?”

“Just waiting for Ignacio. He told me to meet him here at midnight. Thought he wanted to speak privately without anyone eavesdropping. Said he had a change in security protocol for the wedding. Thought I’d wait inside.”

“Uh-huh.” He glances at the desk. “And the drawers?”

I shrug, chuckle, hoping it sounds nonchalant, and say, “I got bored.”

He doesn’t laugh. He walks behind me, casually, like a shark circling a swimmer. “You’ve been with Lia a lot lately.”

“She’s my assignment.”

“She’s also notyours,” he adds after I look at him. The man is wary. I don’t blame him, but I also want him gone. I’ll gladly end him here right now, but that will only raise more eyebrows. I have to play my role too.

I tilt my head slightly, just enough to keep him in my periphery. “Funny. She doesn’t seem to think she belongs to anyone.”

That earns me a pause.

He stops beside the window, backlit by moonlight, watching me like he’s waiting for something to crack. I don’t move. Don’t blink.

“Where are you from again?” he asks suddenly.

I give him a look. “New York.”

“Yeah, I remember. But where exactly?”

Shaking my head, I smile before looking at the floor, then up at him once more. He’s fishing for answers, for information, but he won’t get it from me. “Near Brooklyn.”

He squints as he assesses me. “You ever work in Long Island?”

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