“There was no need to break in,” Lourdes admonished the intruders.“You found us.Good for you.But you should’ve knocked on the door.Not barge in, guns drawn.Despite everything, Enrique is your superior and deserves your respect.I sure as hell do as well.”
As Domingo ducked his gaze, Santiago smirked at her.“Damn.I don’t remember you being this mouthy.”
“Bastard.”Enrique stomped two feet toward Santiago before Lourdes clutched his arm and pulled him back.He glowered at the grinning idiot.“Things have changed.”
“Obviously.You—”
“We knew you’d be armed,” Muniz cut in, stopping Santiago from jamming his foot deeper in his mouth.The lieutenant’s gravelly voice bore the scars of chain-smoking and a botched throat-slitting.The permanent whitish-brown crease on his neck deepened in the low light.He stepped forward with his arms loose at his sides.“Anyone who came through that door—you would attack first, question later.Zayas and Villegas both have teams looking, and for all we knew, they were already in here, holding you hostage.Though we didn’t see anyone on our way in.”
“We’ve got more men outside,” Rascón added from the doorway.“Cabin’s surrounded.We’re secure for now.”
Enrique grumbled a curse.Boxed in and protected all at once.Figures.“We were leaving in the morning anyway,” he gritted out.
“Not fast enough.Boss wants a status report.”Santiago pulled his phone from his inner jacket pocket and flicked his hand at the others.“Come on, guys.Let’s give the lovebirds privacy to pack.We leave in ten.”He led the way outside, the others in pursuit.
Breathing easier, Enrique brushed his hand down Lourdes’s arm and pressed a kiss to her temple.“Our plan hasn’t changed.We’re still getting married.”
She rested her hands on his bare chest.“I’m sorry about panicking.I’m just worried.Reality is closing in and suffocating us.”
“Then we fight it.Together, Lourdes.If we fail, so be it.”
Chapter Ten
“Here we go,” Lourdesmuttered and sank into the passenger seat of Enrique’s SUV.
The sprawling wrought iron gates of the Lozano estate opened with a piercing metallic creak that would send rats scurrying for cover.Where the sunlight failed to penetrate, shadows loomed down the tree- and shrub-lined driveway as though to swallow her whole.She dragged air into her straining lungs as her grim lover hunched over the wheel and followed the lead vehicle in their armed escort up the long, winding asphalt.Two other vehicles boxed them in from behind, a surefire deterrent to an escape attempt.
She huffed.Escape, right.She’d tried to convince Enrique to do just that before they reached the Sonora-Chihuahua border, but he stayed the course.The heavy weight of darkness clenched her chest.Within the hour, she could be in her father’s custody on her way back to Durango to marry a man she did not love.A man she despised.She clutched the warm leather cushion beneath her to steady her trembling hands.
Enrique lightly squeezed her arm from across the gearbox.“Keep your head up.Let no one intimidate you.Whatever happens, I will have your back.”
“I know you will.”She forced a smile.The worry he tried so hard to hide from her flashed in his creased, bloodshot eyes before he faced the driveway.
The trees cleared and revealed the heart of the Lozano empire—a sprawling two-story hacienda atop a mini mountain in the northern outskirts of Hermosillo.Nothing had changed about the glittering fortress.Not its white adobe walls, arched windows, or terracotta roof.Nor the cameras and floodlights lining the structure.
The SUV ahead of them stalled, then Santiago climbed out of the driver’s seat.
