His touch felt like it belonged to me. It belongedonme. At all times.
“All is good with you?” His eyes caught mine for a brief second before he turned them forward.
“Yeah,” I breathed out. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“You are leaning into me more. Your steps are not as steady.”
“Just unsure…”
“I will take care of you.”
I only nodded, because my swaying steps had nothing to do with where we were, but my overactive heart.
Concentrate on where we’re going instead.
The airstrip was narrow and surrounded by what looked like a jungle on both sides. The vegetation was thick and rustling with the strong wind. It blew my hair into my face, plastering it there with rain. I kept having to move it to the side to see. My clothes were stuck to me, too, and I was glad I hadn’t decided on white again, or these men were going to get a show from my nipples.
I glanced at Naz. He didn’t seem like the kind of man who would appreciate that, even though there seemed to be nothing there for him but attraction. Still. I’d done enough research to know how far these men would go for honor. And if I was under his protection, or watch…this situation might get ugly.
After the airstrip, we walked along a crude road, still surrounded by flora, until it opened up, and the stone building I’d thought I’d seen came into view. On the left of it, a metal fence that had to be over twenty feet tall seemed to stretch beyond what my eye could see. I hadn’t noticed it before, so maybe it had been tucked further into the brush, or it blended better when it wasn’t so close.
A part of it opened, and a man stepped out. He was holding the leash of another sniffer dog. A Belgian Malinois that kept looking to him every few seconds for guidance. The men on the plane had the same breed of dog, but also German Shepherds.
Was this a military compound of some sort? The guards all wore similar uniforms, had working dogs that were known to be in the military, and…from what I could see when the fence slid up and allowed the guard out, there was another building in the background.
“Where do the dogs live?” I asked.
Naz’s grip on me tightened, and I had to stave off the impulse to step out of it.
The guard who seemed to be in charge blinked at me. From the time we’d started the walk, it had been quiet, only the sound of the wind, pelting rain, and a large body of water boiling around us filling the silence.
“Ah.With the men.” He swiped a hand down his face and sent water running down his slick skin.
There was a compound back there. Maybe barracks? The dogs and men lived together, which told me they saw them as soldiers or…guards, too.
Naz gave me a look. It seemed impressed, but it was hard to tell. Of course, I wasn’t going to just outright ask the guard of the layout of the land. What did Naz think? I wasn’t skilled at what I did?
Even though I’d gotten caught up a few times, I mostly had a clean and impressive record for out-maneuvering the most cunning and avoiding the law. This wasn’t my first time on the field. I’d asked the guard something that wouldn’t raise his hackles andgleaned the rest of the information from there.
This was a fucking development.
If the Fausti family had their own military…
A chill went through me at the news.
Naz noticed. He’d given me his jacket when I’d first stepped off the plane and he stopped to secure it.
If he only knew…he wouldn’t have that look in his eyes, like he was trying to protect me. He would know, instead, that I was frigging excited to be the first journalist to ever uncover this!
The Fausti family probably had their own army.
Shit.This was so huge!
“Slow your thoughts down, meddlesome little birdie.” He tightened the jacket around me and pulled me closer. He leaned down close to my ear and breathed, “This is probably not what you’re thinking it is.”
“How do you know I was thinking anything?” I whispered back.
“Your heart is about to beat out of your chest. You need to be careful of that. Tuck it deep inside. These men are skilled at stealing them.”
