I nod.
He narrows his eyes. “Can I trust you,Wesley?”
It’s an interesting conundrum of a question. A smart man never asks something when he won’t trust the answer, and I do believe Felix is a smart man. In fact, he’d be smarternotto trust me.
But I can recognize the potential here. We might need him yet, and if he’s on Madison’s side, then he’s on my side, as far as I’m concerned. I’d wager he feels the same.
“I would do anything to keep her safe. Whatever it takes,” I promise.
“Oh yeah? You’d die for her?” he challenges.
But I don’t hesitate. I don’t need to. “She’s mine to protect. I would give my life for hers.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I see her turn to look at me, but it’s the wide grin on Felix’s face that grabs my attention. “Yours, huh?” He flicks his eyes back and forth between us a few times, then shakes his head, chuckling. “Good fuckin’luck with that.”
“Benice,” she hisses, reaching across me and punching him in the arm.
He laughs, rubbing the spot. Just before we leave, Felix lays a heavy hand on my shoulder. “If you hurt her, I’ll feed you your owncajones, sabes?”
The implication makes me see red. I take a step towards him, fists clenching, but Madison effortlessly dispels the tension once again. “Oh, stop. If he hurts me, not only can I feed him his balls myself, but I’ll be genuinely pissed at you if you deprive me of the right.”
28
Madison
Restriction and protection aren’t the same thing.
Well, that was… a lot.
A $10 million bounty on my head and a hitman free-for-all.
Tío Felix having a history withmySpyderMan, and being involved in a kidnapping plot.
Wesley jumping between me and a gun… telling mytíohe’d die for me.
Diefor me?
I shiver and glance over at him, and find him squeezing the steering wheel so tightly that the leather creaks under his hands.
What a mind-fuck. We’ve both been stuck in this loop of disbelief and trying to process ever since we left Mama B’s. We went back to the hotel, but we only stayed long enough to load my suitcase and cat into a surveillance van that’s jam-packed with so much tech and equipment I nearly creamed myself. And now we’re on our way out to the ‘burbs.
It’s kind of funny, but of all the things that have happened in the past few days, it’s the fact that we’re on our way to Mansion Row that feels the most unreal.
Streets widen, trees appear, and suddenly there’s room to breathe. It’s flatter out here, with parking lots instead of rows of two-story buildings right against the sidewalk. People have yards, and homes are set back off the street.
Wesley turns into a neighborhood, and I am momentarily stunned by the sight of homes bigger than entire apartment complexes near where I live. We drive past plots of land that are probably calledestatesor some shit. One has its own tennis court. One has a series of buildings—I bet the help lives in one.
And Wesley liveshere? Shit, I’ve been in the wrong business…
We pull up to a huge iron gate and I watch, completely awestruck, as he inputs hisfingerprintand the gate slowly swings open for us.
Now that we’re here, I realize we made the entire journey in silence. I wonder where his head’s at, because mine is spinning. “Dios, you weren’t kidding, huh?” I joke, trying to break the spell. “This place really is a fortress.”
He looks over suddenly, eyes wide with surprise, like he’s just remembering I’m here. His expression shifts quickly through contrition, then relief, and I watch as his body language completely changes. As the gates close behind us, the rigidity in his posture melts away, and he reaches for my knee.
When he rubs his thumb along my inner thigh, the gentle touch sends a spark up to my core that makes me shift in my seat.Put it away, Madison—this isn’t the time.
My stomach starts twisting into excited knots as we head up a driveway so long I wonder if it has a street sign. We pull up to an eight-car garage, and the door rolls up silently, apparently motion or weight activated. The van fits in a spot between a big, shiny SUV and a Mustang. The cars keep going down the row, with a silver Mini Cooper and blue sedan that’s the most normal of the bunch.
