He took control, sliding one hand up into the nape of my neck, deepening the kiss. I couldn’t help but push back against him, seeking more from him. Right now, I’d take everything he’d give me.
Someone clearing their throat caused us to pull apart. Zachariah groaned out at having to do so and I felt my face instantly heat.
“Sorry to interrupt,” Carlos said amusedly. “But we do have a few things that need to be discussed.”
Zachariah gave me an apologetic smile before pulling away. As I expected, he took ahold of my hand, not ready to be apart from me. I felt the exact same way. We were in sync with one another, had been since we met.
Carlos looked like an older version of Zachariah, it was almost scary. He was an attractive man for his age, that was given. Matching dark hair and eyes, but he had a more gruff look about him. A look that meant he never took threats of any kind. His face was a bit longer compared to Zachariah’s.
Carlos had seen more horror and death than Zachariah had yet seen. Hopefully, neither of us would ever have to.
“There isn’t much we can do at this point,” Zachariah sighed out. “We know someone wants us dead, and most likely won’t stop until we make him stop, or he succeeds.”
“You’re hoping he’ll just show himself,” Carlos nearly laughed out. “If he did that, he’d die on sight. He doesn’t want to be caught with his hand in the cookie jar.”
“He senttwopeople to kill us both,” Zachariah seethed, glaring at his father. “Anyone can see that!”
“Any idea who?” I asked, meeting Carlos’ eyes. I wanted to know who wanted us dead, even if I was scared of what I would find out. I already knew that many people did, but what was the point in killing us both, or either of us? Would it really achieve anything? What would it achieve if they happened to complete the mission?
“Nope,” Carlos answered, folding his arms across his chest. “Whoever it is has covered their tracks extremely well. We did catch the fucker who shot you both, and his path is crossed into so many others that we have no leads to tie it down to just one man.” I heard the unsaid words. Whoever this man was, he was no longer living. I didn’t even have to assume that, not when it came to Carlos.
“Any chance it’s Cody?” I asked next. I wasn’t the only one that knew how much Cody detested not only me, but the entire Melendez family.
Cody had been my father, not biological, but my father all the same. He was a father to me in his own twisted, sick, and demented way. I could no longer call that man a father because he was no longer able to fill that role. Not after finding out that I was given to him and Lynn for safety reasons. Cody didn’t change in all the years I knew him unless you count being more controlling as I got older.
After I was kidnapped, he loathed the fact that I was returned alive. Still, I had no idea why he acted like he did after I came back home. Why wouldn’t he be thrilled I was able to come back home?
He wasn’t his normal self. He was worse.
It was even worse that he wanted to marry me off to some man to gain God knows what. He hadn’t come out and said why he wanted to marry me off to one of his friends. Cody only worked for his own benefits, so it was hard to tell what his plan was.
I know Lynn, my once so called mother who was still missing, had planned to have me kidnapped. It had been an accident on her part on letting me find out. I was worried about her, but she was nowhere to be found. I wasn’t even sure why I still worried about her wellbeing with what she tried to do.
But that was yet another worry I carried around upon my shoulders.
“I had thought of that,” Carlos answered. “But I don’t think so. He’s not the type to go about killing you off without us knowing for sure that he was behind it. He may have his own followers, but if you two were dead, he’d make no secret that he was capable of it. I’ve talked to him, and he had denied being behind the plot of it all.
“I know that Gem had been on his payroll to kidnap you, that he did confess after I threatened to shoot him,” Carlos went on like this was an everyday occurrence. “He wasn’t thrilled about the fact that he wasn’t contacted about the failed attempt until then.”
“He’s not the type to kill just because,” Zachariah stated, laying his arm across my shoulders and pulling me closer to his side. “He’d want us to know he was doing it, even if he hired men to do his dirty work.”
“He doesn’t even have money to hire men,” Carols added on. “He’s the last person at the moment that would do anything to end you both. He’d have nothing to gain right now from it. He’s always been about money.”
“We will find out who was behind it,” Carlos promised me. “They won’t be able to hide forever.”
I had no doubt that he would. It may take time, but this man before me would find out who was behind it all.
