I look over to find that there are now several more men in the hangar and Shade and Mav have more than one automatic weapon trained on them.
The man looks down at Lu and me.
‘Which one’s your sister?’ he asks Andy.
‘Step,’ Andy snarls. ‘The one in the dress.’
His eyes move over me. ‘Too bad,’ he murmurs.
He looks over at Lu. ‘But I’m still gonna have some fun with you later. Ready to join the Mile High Club, baby?’
‘Fuck you, asshole.’
He chuckles and hits Lu across the face with the butt of his gun.
I let out a cry, but Lu just sits back up, smiles at him with blood dripping down her chin, and then spits at him.
He starts forward like he’s going to grab her, but an older woman in a long dress enters the hangar.
‘Enough, Eduardo,’ her authoritative voice booms. ‘Business first, pleasure later.’
‘Yes, Señora Reyes.’
Eduardo backs off, but he gives Lu a wink. She bares her bloody teeth at him but stays quiet for now.
Andy comes over and hauls me to my feet. He puts his gun back in his waistband.
‘I brought Marguerite Evans here so you can see I wasn’t lying.’
‘Andrew,’ the woman says with a small smile. ‘Introductions first, no?’
‘Of course, Mariana,’ Andy replies.
I stare at Andy. How the fuck does a rich boy like Andy Novelle know this woman well enough to be on a first-name basis?
I glance back at Blake who’s looking just as surprised. Eduardo still has a gun trained on him.
I need to do something. But what?
‘What the fuck is this, Andy?’ Shade grates out. ‘You in bed with these people?’
‘Mariana, allow me to introduce my brother, Jack. His two friends, Eric Blake, who you know of course, and Mav Shaw, and this is my stepsister, Marguerite, the answer to all of our problems.’
‘AndPopgot in bed with these people.’ He sneers at Shade. ‘He borrowed money. I’m just fixing what he broke.’
The cartelqueen smiles.
‘And the loan period is up. Very soon.’
‘I’ll have it,’ Andy promises adamantly. ‘That’s why I’m here. I’ve brought Marguerite, so you can see her, so you know I’m telling you the truth.’
He pushes me forward.
‘She’ll be married soon, and her inheritance will come to me.’
‘How soon?’
‘Later today. But the money will take a few days.’
