Ortiz let loose a string of curse words in Spanish that made evenVince’sears turn red, which was impressive. “Who is it?”
“She doesn’t know. I’m going to take them to a friend to have them analyzed. I’ll send you everything I get. I have a feeling the source is there in Florida. I’d prefer to keep her away for now, until the threat is over.”
“Agreed. Thanks, brother.”
“There’s no thanks needed. You would do the same for me.”
“Keep me posted. I’ll be down here for a while anyway.” There was something about Ortiz’s tone that peaked his attention.
“For the threat?”
“Amongst other things, a situation has arisen that requires my attention and a lot of catching up on.”
“Oh no,” Fiona whispered in horror.
“You knew?” Ortiz shouted. “Did everyone know?”
“Know what?”Vincefelt lost.
There were muffled voices on the other end of the line. “I have to go.” Ortiz announced. “Guard her with your life and stay in touch.” With that, the line went dead.
“What was that about?”
“It’s not my place to say.” Fiona wouldn’t look at him. That couldn’t be good.
“He sounded really angry.”
“He has every right to be.Joaquínwas wronged, he is justly angry, but all will work itself out,” Fiona said confidently, which just seemed to confuse him more.
Chapter 5
For Ortiz to be angry about something had to be something major. Vincecould only count on one hand the number of times Ortiz had lost his shit over the years he had known him, and most of those timesconcerned his stupid, precious cookies. Tony learned the hard way not to come between that man and his cookies; it was like getting in between a grizzly bear and his meal. “I’ve never heard him this angry before.”
“He’ll calm down once the shock wears off.”
“Now you really have my curiosity.”
“Well, you can just keep on wondering because I would never betrayJoaquín’s confidence like that. If he wanted you to know, he would tell you. Just give him time.”
Vincewanted to press her but there was one thing he knew better than anyone. Loyalty. And he could never ask Fiona to break it. Not that she would. Family was very important to her.
Some other things had changed about her though. When she became such a confident woman, he didn’t know. It must have happened after the Congo because he had never noticed it before. That night, as she liked to refer to it, she was so young and innocent. He took notice of her the moment he saw her and knew she was off limits, but he couldn’t help but rise to the challenge. When someone told him no, he pursued it even more. Fiona had been everything he expected and more. Her innocence and excitement drove him mad. If reality hadn’t slapped him in the face that he was kissing his best friend’s sister, he would have slept with her and moved on. Ortiz would kill him if he ever found out they had kissed years ago at his family home.
The years had been kind to her. Her figure was lusher now. Her baby face was now more angular, harder from her time in the medical field and the Congo. It in no way made her less attractive. If anything, it made her more alluring, but she was still off limits. She was in danger and needed protection, not a roll in the bed.Nothing had changed between them. She was still too young for him despite her earlier speech about age just being a number. A casual fling with her would only end in disaster, if not put him in a body bag.
“You’ve gone suddenly quiet. Penny for your thoughts?”
Oh no, she did not want to know what he was thinking.
“I was wondering what your brother is hiding,” he said with an easy smile.
Fiona stared him straight in the eye with disbelief. He remembered once when he smiled at her like this she melted like butter. Now she looked at him with contempt. He shouldn’t be surprised; he had said some pretty awful things that night, which she obviouslyhadn’tforgotten. The woman had already hit him several times today. That would make this mission even easier. He would protect her and keep his hands to himself.No problem. There wasn’t a challenge yet he hadn’t won.
“So what’s your plan to help me?” She turned to look out the windshield.
Vincenoted her heavy breathing and arms crossed over her chest. As much as she wanted to hate him, she still wanted him.
Off limits, remember. She asked him a question, what was it again? Oh yeah, a plan.
