Santiago stepped forward and surveyed the room with a wry curl of his lip.“Had we known you were busy, we would have waited an hour.Smells like a damn sex den in here.”
“Shut it,” Enrique snapped and stalked over to Lourdes in the sitting area.He gently pried the poker from her hands and set it back in its stand.Why he always let Santiago get under his skin, he’d never know.
“Enrique,” Lourdes entreated with a breathy voice.“What should we do?”
He pulled her against him.“Stay calm.My men were just leaving.”
“Not without you two.Boss’s orders,” Santiago countered and sheathed his weapon.He strode toward them.“Give me any reason to throw down again, Ricky.Just one.Do you even know the size of the shitstorm you’ve stirred up?Not only did we”—he swiped his hand between himself and the others—“have to travel to the fucking backwoods of Chihuahua in the middle of the goddamn night, Zayas is calling for your head on a platter.”
Snorting, Enrique rubbed the back of his suddenly aching neck.
“Have you heard from my father?”Lourdes asked, clinging to the back of Enrique’s jeans like she needed an anchor.
“Watch how you speak to her,” Enrique warned as Santiago opened his mouth.Of all the men here, he was the one Enrique didn’t trust not to get his teeth kicked in for spouting off.
“Screw you.The ladies love me for a reason.”Santiago turned his thousand-watt smile on the only lady in the room and swept his gaze in a slow perusal down her body before he winked at her.“Señora Villegas, it’s a pleasure to see you again.Do you mind if I call you Lourdes?”
“Get on with it,” Enrique bit out.Though Lourdes had met Santiago and Domingo before, he couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen them.
“That’s fine,” she replied, steel deepening her tone, “but I prefer señorita.I’m no longer married, though that will change soon enough.”She met Enrique’s gaze on that last part.
Santiago’s lips twisted as though her announcement stumped him.“Well, Lourdes, wehaveheard from the Villegas jefe.His tech whiz is shit compared to Domingo, but the man eventually found a traffic cam feed that caught lover boy hightailing it out of Durango with you slumped over beside him.Rubén had no choice but to admit he knew Ricky took you.If you marry Zayas, there’s peace, but Enrique has to make amends.Somehow.”
“What does Rubén say?”Enrique demanded.
“You’ll have to ask him,” Santiago hedged and shifted his feet.
Lourdes dragged in a chest-shuddering breath and tightened her grip on him.
“Easy, princess.”He faced her and clasped her flushed cheek.“I’ll talk to Rubén and your father.We’ll work this out.”
“If I have to marry Diego, I will.I’ll make it a condition of everyone leaving you alone.”
Enrique growled.“We’ve been through this, Lourdes.You’re going to marryme.That hasn’t changed just because my friends crashed our retreat.”
She side-eyed his men before notching her chin at him.“Introductions, if you please.I know Santiago and Domingo, but not what they do for the Lozanos.All Jacobo ever said was that Rubén’s friends were users, sidling up to the cartel prince.”
Santiago balked at that as Domingo frowned.“Users?”Santiago snapped.“That prick.”
Enrique glared at each of the four men.“Santi is a senior capo and runs the hospitality and nightclub sector; D is our tech guru.They’re both part of Rubén’s council, same as me.”He’d befriended them years earlier when they were in training together.Though he trusted Muniz and Rascón, he would never hold them to the same bar.The wall of propriety between boss and subordinates must be kept—Rubén had taught him that.He nodded first at his short, muscled lieutenant, then at the wiry, tattooed guard.“Lieutenant Muniz, my second-in-command.Rascón, one of my best enforcers.”
She offered his friends a small smile, then faced the others.“Nice to meet you.”
Enrique rolled his eyes.Nicewasn’t the word he’d use.He paced behind the sofa, frustration roiling in his chest.He’d poured everything into planning this escape, into giving Lourdes a chance to see him as the lesser of two evils.He stood to lose everything if Rubén sided with the Villegas jefe.If only he could’ve gotten that marriage certificate signed and certified.Just one more day.Twenty-four hours.That was all he’d needed.Now, his plan was over.Blown to hell.His comrades hadn’t just found him—they outplayed him.Violated his private place.The world just had to claw its way back in before he was ready.
The clock on the mantel struck five, driving his frustration home.He turned to Domingo.“How did you get past my perimeter sensors?You only tripped one of them.”
A multitude of alarms should’ve blared long before the intruders reached the cabin.
“Don’t remind me.”Domingo grunted and pushed up his glasses.“I piggybacked off a local signal and disabled your motion alerts from the access point.The outer security recognized my credentials and stayed silent, except for that one damn sensor.”
Enrique flashed the hacker a shit-eating grin.Ego always got in the way—Enrique knew that better than most.He scowled at his computer, now in hibernation mode.“So much for my fortress.This retrieval mission was below your pay grade,” he snapped the last at Santiago.
“I volunteered,” Santiago drawled, ever smug.“I had to see it for myself.Enrique Briceño, by-the-book cartel golden boy, going rogue for some woman.Incredible.”
“Watch it,” Domingo murmured, more warning than joke.
Enrique exhaled sharply and dragged Lourdes closer.
