“Wait!” I yell and he must hear me because he doesn’t cut the call. “Are you okay?”
“I’m good. The other guy, not so much.” He smiles. “Today is not the day you get rid of me, mi alma.”
“I’ll keep praying then.” I smile and hang up. Myheart is beating out of my chest. He could have been shot. We were just talking on the phone, and he could have been killed.
My hands shake as I stand and walk back over to the bank of elevators. “Are you okay, ma’am?” a man in a black-on-black suit asks me.
“I’m okay. Thank you.” I smile at him politely. I’ve come to learn that Emmanuel’s men only come out of hiding when they think they need to be seen. They’re also always polite to me.
It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask him if he knows what his boss is doing, if he’s going to be okay. I don’t. It’s not like they’d tell me anything anyway. And Emmanuel is fine. He didn’t get shot.
Paz is waiting by a car at the casino entrance. Emmanuel mentioned that he’d sent a car for me. He didn’t say he’d sent Paz.
I smile. “You got stuck being my babysitter?”
“I’ve had worse jobs, Miss Carter,” he says, opening the back door.
“Rach, I’ll be right back. Wait in the car for me,” I tell my friend, who is looking at me as if I’ve grown two heads. “Please.”
She nods but I know I’ll hear about it later.
“Paz, follow me.” I walk out of earshot of Rachel, before I spin around. “Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be with Emmanuel? You know, making sure he doesn’t get himself killed.”
“Miss Carter, I assure you, Jefe is very capable of making sure he doesn’t get himself killed.”
“What happened last night?” I ask.
Paz grins. “I’m not sure what you’re referring to.”
“I’m referring to when I was on the phone with him and gunshots started going off in the background. What happened? You really should go back. He needs you more than I do,” I say in one, long, frustrated breath.
“Unfortunately, he’s the boss, ma’am. I’m following orders. And right now, he can’t do his job if he’s worried about you, which is why he sent me.”
“He’s worried about me?” I stop pacing. I didn’t even realize I was doing it. “Really?”
Paz appears to consider his response before saying, “He’s never had anyone like you in his life before. He doesn’t want to lose you.”
I blink, words escaping me. “We should go.”
“He really is okay,” Paz adds as we make our way back to the car.
I slide in beside Rachel, who gives me another look. This one letting me know the inquisition is going to start as soon as we’re alone.
Chapter Fourteen
There are parts of the job I love and others I can’t fucking stand. Right now, this is the part I love. Usually, it would bring me a kind of satisfaction most people could never understand. It’s not doing that for me, which only pisses me off more.
I want to be back in the States. With her. I want to look at Evie’s face. Hear her laughter—or her anger—directed at me. I’ll take whateverI can get from her. I’m addicted. I’ve spoken to her every day either through text messages or phone calls. It’s not enough. I need to get to the bottom of the rot within my organization so I can get back to her.
I walk around the limp body that’s being held up only by the rope wrapped around its torso, securing it to a wooden chair. Taking a fistful of hair, I pull her head backwards. “Jenna, Jenna, Jenna, you know I didn’t want to do this. But you left me no choice.”
It’s the truth. I hate hurting women. That said, when it’s a woman who’s been working for me for the past ten years and I’ve just discovered she’s crossed me, I don’t see sex. All I see is the betrayal.
“Jefe, please…” she rasps out through a pair of swollen lips. One eye blinks open. The other is swollen shut already.
Ignoring the tearing pain in my shoulder, I yank on her hair again, forcing her face upwards. “You want this to end. I want to not be shot by my own fucking people. We don’t all get what we want, now do we?” I lean closer to her ear and whisper, “Tell me what I want to know.”
“I… I can’t,” she whimpers.
