Chapter Nine
Two days later, Leanna and Axe got off the airplane to a steam bath of high temperature and humidity. Monterey Mexico was hot year-round, but in June, it was unbearable.
“You’re going to melt in that leather jacket.” Leanna elbowed Axe as they waited at the taxi line with their survival backpacks and luggage—minus the guns which they couldn’t bring into the country legally.
Her brainstorm of pretending they were going to Mexico as tourists was a perfect cover for whichever crazies Axe claimed were watching her. The only problem was if Axe was one of the bad guys. Then she’d be giving him a front row seat to stop her from finding Carmelita—if that was his goal.
But then, Papa always said to keep friends close and enemies closer. Friend or foe, Mr. Salvadori’s muscles and street smarts would come in handy—and the bonus was, she didn’t even have to pay. Still, she had to be ready in case he wanted to hurt Carmelita—except if he’d wanted to, wouldn’t he have done it already without contacting her? If she truly existed?
Leanna had gone over every scenario on the airplane while pretending to sleep. It hadn’t been easy to brainstorm or map out the possibilities with Axe sitting next to her, taking up more than his fair share of the seat.
“You might just get me out of the leather,” he said, removing the jacket and draping it over her bare shoulders. It covered her bright-yellow ruffled sundress. “You’re drawing too much attention.”
“How about taking off those sunglasses so I can see your eyes?”
He sliced his head once to the left, which was another one of his ways of saying “no.”
“Okay, so no eyes. I’m mapping the directions to Ana’s place. It’s in the Real Cumbras neighborhood about forty-five minutes out.”
“I already have the address,” Axe said, checking his watch. “What bothers me is that Ana’s not answering the phone.”
“No one is answering. Not Eduardo, not his brother, no one,” Leanna said. She flung Axe’s heavy jacket at him. “I’m not your mule. Carry this yourself.”
“If I’m your boyfriend, you’d gladly wear my jacket.” He caught the jacket and slung it over his shoulder while roping her in with his other arm. He gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Remember the act. The last thing you want is for Ana and Eduardo to think you’re going to run off with their daughter. Our story is that we came to find her and persuade her to go back to them.”
“What if she wants to go with us?”
Axe’s sunglasses slipped down his nose, and he skewered Leanna with his lionlike eyes. “You’re going to do this thing my way. Keep your emotions out of this.”
“I can’t.” She shuddered, hating herself for being so transparent and volatile. “Half of me is afraid it’s really her. It would be simpler if this was a hoax and I’m out ten thousand dollars. But what if she was alive all these years? And I didn’t know?”
“Then we’re dealing with people who lied to you all these years. Even more reason to simmer down.”
“They went as far as to send me a box of ashes.” Despite the muggy heat, a web of chills prickled Leanna’s scalp. Axe was right, of course, but still, it bugged her how he acted as if he was in control of this mission.
“Right. If your daughter lives, then we’re not dealing with an ordinary schoolteacher and engineer living in a middle-class neighborhood.”
Leanna had nothing to say. She thought she knew Ana who had spent a summer in San Francisco helping her mother with the bakery. The two of them had bonded over rock bands, the hunky delivery guy with the tattoos and gold hoop earrings, and working on their bikini tans on the rooftop of the bakery. The following year, Leanna found herself pregnant.
Ana, a newlywed, was seven years older and diagnosed with premature ovarian failure. It had seemed like the perfect solution—until now.
A taxicab pulled up in front of the curb. Axe handed the luggage to the driver and opened the door for Leanna.
Her impressionable heart did a dance when he helped her in, acting as familiar as a real boyfriend.
She had to keep her emotions in check. Eduardo and Ana Bandera weren’t the only people who could stab her heart and hang it out to dry. This man, Axe Salvadori, was the greater danger. He not only could mince her heart into fine pieces, but he was perfectly capable of grinding the fragments into the parched earth under his feet.
How many days and nights had she fantasized about the nightclub owner? How many times had she gone to Club Rachelle with her friends and instead of flirting and dancing with the patrons, she focused on Axe’s back?
A week ago, being the center of his attention would have felt like hitting a mega lottery jackpot. Now? She couldn’t shake the heebie-jeebies. Why would a successful nightclub owner drop everything to escort her to Mexico?
“Why are you helping me again?” She lightly dug an elbow into that side of beef.
No answer. The dude never answered when he didn’t want to. He simply pushed his sunglasses higher and gave an address to the driver.
Leanna shrugged. Since she was pressed against him, she could feel him chuckling under his breath. Did it matter why he was helping her? She might as well help herself to his boyfriendly attentions. That self-defense kiss was the hottest, most romantic and passionate kiss she’d ever tasted—until he cut it off.
His “no” rebounded in her mind. It was mortifying, but at the same time, he wasn’t going to get the last word. Not if she could help it.
