I didn’t have the heart to tell them the wedding had been called off—Dario didn’t even know it yet. When radio silence came from Brando, it came from them all. Dario only had himself and that wench Abree to blame for that.
“Perhaps I can make the time easier?”
The three of us turned to José, who had been pestering me for the last thirty minutes tobailar conmigo—dance with him. Gabriel had brought us to this place, and it wasn’t a place he had ever been to. Only the who’s who got in. The place was loaded with security. Gabriel thought the extra help wouldn’t go amiss.
After all, the plague was slippery.
José Emilio Conde was a famous and handsometoreroin Spain. He didn’t seem to mind a challenge or even the dangers that lurked around it. I think he sensed it on me, like he sensed a good show in the ring. Nothing daunted the man—especially the word no.
“How do you say no in Spanish?” Gabriel directed this question at José and then took a slow drink of his beer.
José’s looks could kill. He was sharp of feature and dark, dark, dark. He had the face of a rogue model, the body of a well-trained athlete, and the spirit of his chosen profession. When he smiled, his upper lip curled up.
“No,” José said, falling right into Gabriel’s trap.
“Then there should be no misunderstandings, aye? No is no in all languages. The woman has said it enough.”
Gabriel hadn’t said much, since José hadn’t been disrespectful or made a move to touch me, but I could tell the man’s insistence grated on his nerves.
“It is a shame to allow such beauty to go to waste. You are the most beautiful woman in the room. I can tell you like to dance and be free.” His intense eyes attempted to bore into mine, but I wasn’t much daunted either. I knew what it was like to be utterly lost to the world in between stares—and he could never take me there.
I sat up straighter on my stool, suddenly hit by a strike of lightning, swapping out legs to cross to ease some of the tension. Most of my leg was revealed from the dangerous slit.
The entire room seemed to fade, even the music, in light of the humming that started to rush through my blood, setting it on an intense race to my heart. A surge of giddiness overtook me, sending me higher than the sangria could.
“The woman is married.” The most beautiful man I had ever seen sauntered up to the bar. He spoke to the bartender, ordered Fireball, and then looked at my glass before his stare settled on me. “Sangria.”
I nodded, unable to speak. Tall, dark, and with more than a natural reserve of handsome, he was an angel incarnate. He smelled of my dreams and hopes, past and future.
The bartender delivered our drinks. I lifted mine in toast to his. José seemed offended that I had allowed the newcomer to buy me a drink after I had refused his offer earlier.
The beautiful man drank his whiskey, the liquid glowing like amber against his smoldering eyes. “At least, that’s what the ring on her finger tells me.” He lifted his finger, requesting another shot. “Let’s not assume though. It’s fucking presumptuous. Are you married, beautiful?”
“Sí.”
“Only a fool would leave a woman like this alone.” José seemed affronted on my behalf.
“Yeah,” the beautiful man said, his face a mask of seriousness. “Only a fool would.”
A leggy Latin beauty sashayed up to the bar, next to the beautiful man, her friend following not long after. They ordered drinks, but not before waiting a beat to see if any of the men would buy it for them first. They seemed like the type to have drinks delivered to them for free. Seeing as no one offered, they started moving closer to the beautiful man, tittering and flirting with eyes and hand gestures. One of them said something to him in Spanish, but his eyes held mine, and he replied with a smooth“sono sposato.”I’m married.
A looked passed between the two Latin beauties and they shook their heads, as though to wake up. I saw their eyes dart between Gabriel andJosé. Thetorerowas more than willing to mingle, but Eva shot them a look that was clear enough.He’s mine.I loved how she did that.
With a nod at me, José led the two women away to his private table.
“This place is full ofGanadería Miura,”the beautiful man said, coming a little closer. “A woman such as yourself should be careful. It’s a dangerous world. And in that scarlet dress…” He allowed his words to linger, his breath caressing my cheek. “…you attract it.”
“Danger is my companion,” I said, taking a drink of sangria, allowing the honey tones, mixed with just enough tartness from the red wine, to linger on my tongue, to flow down my throat. “Sembra seguirmi come un geloso marito. Vestire o meno.”It seems to follow me, like a jealous husband.Dress or not.
He grinned into his glass, so wicked with the dangerous glint in his eyes. He threw the shot back with a satisfiedahh. Standing taller, he took a good look at the dance floor, and then his attention came back to me. “Dance with me, dangerous woman.”
Not a question. No. It never was.
I pushed the glass forward, playing with the stem. I sighed. “I can’t. My husband has forbidden me to dance if he’s not around. Because, as you can so clearly sense, I’m dangerous.”
“I’m even more dangerous.” He lifted a dark eyebrow. “So that should be a yes.”
I shook my head.Not a good idea.
