Enrique stepped away from the cop as Rascón escorted Lourdes over.
Her wide-eyed gaze zeroed in on the soon-to-be dead man, then narrowed on Enrique and the weapons strapped to his body.She bit her lip and blinked rapidly to school her features.
His chest tightened.Torn between consoling and spanking her, he turned away as the call connected.He smashed the button for the speakerphone.
“Ibarra,” the detective said, his rough voice carrying in the confines of the open space.The hard clacking of a keyboard reverberated through the line.“I heard what happened.Things are in an uproar at the precinct.Is Sanchez dead?”
“You do not ask questions,” Enrique lashed out.“Why did you assign an honest fucking cop to the escort?”
“I didn’t.Alonzo Sanchez never should’ve been there.Alanzo Sanchez, whose first name is spelled with two A’s instead of O’s, the one I wanted, just left my office.He never got the assignment.Somewhere along the chain of command, someone got the two men confused.They have nearly identical names.The wrong one got the assignment.”
Enrique muttered a curse.“A cop is going to die because of this fuckup.”
“He’s not dead yet?Thank the saints.Release him to my custody, Briceño.I’ll make sure he stays quiet.”
“Not happening.He’s too far gone and will bleed out any minute.”
“Cristo.”Ibarra sighed heavily.“I never meant for any of this.The ambush should’ve been easy.The officers on the scene reported that half-a-dozen masked assailants held them hostage while they ransacked the evidence van.With the equipment gone, the chief will get a judge to drop the case.It’s an embarrassment to the department.But Sanchez, his death will be harder to ignore.”
“Deal with it.”Enrique ended the call and shoved the phone into his pants pocket.He faced Muniz.“Does the jefe know about this?”
“No.I thought you would rather tell him,” Muniz replied.“Shall I do it?”
“I will.Later.”Rubén would blow up over this.Best Enrique be the bearer of bad news than Muniz.He strode up to Sanchez.“You hear that?You’re going to die because your superiors cannot keep their records straight.”
Sanchez snarled his bloodstained teeth.“I d-die with my c-conscious clear.Unlike you.Unlikeher.”He shot his gaze toward Lourdes.“Only a whore w-would marry a monster.”
Enrique stilled as a shocked gasp parted Lourdes’s lips.That motherfucker.He hauled back and punched the cop in the stomach.
“Ahh!”Sanchez screamed and swung backward as the bandage taped to his middle tore off.Blood pulsed in a strong, scarlet stream and splattered on the floor.Death rattles seized him.He bled out, and his head slumped to the side.
Seething, Enrique gnashed his teeth.The hair on his nape prickled as the air shifted behind him.Lourdes’s floral scent enveloped him.Her hand encircled his forearm, the heat of her touch burning through the sleeve of his button-down.He skewered the dead man with a glare that would’ve killed him if the blood loss hadn’t.
Because of Sanchez, Lourdes had witnessed his darker half.The monster beneath his veneer.She would condemn him.Hate him.Blame him for not rushing the cop to the emergency room.And though she’d claimed to hate him earlier, it was her frustration talking.The same with him—he was more than fond of her.He fucking loved her.Now, she might very well despise him.If only Muniz hadn’t fired his gun, but as his lieutenant said—it was kill or be killed.
With a deep breath, he faced his wife.The coolness in her eyes tightened his throat.
“Officer Sanchez accepted a hefty bribe from the Lozanos,” Lourdes started, “then betrayed them when he fired those shots.He’s a victim of cartel retribution.That’s the story you give Ibarra.That’s the story everyone will know.The police, the city, no one will care if one less dirty cop is off the street.”She nodded toward Enrique’s gawking soldiers.“Hide a bag of cash in his home.Once Ibarra launches an internal investigation, someone will find the money.The case of a dirty cop will overshadow the theft.With enough pressure, bribes, or blackmail, you can get the police chief and the media to back off.”
Lourdes’s cold, steady words scorched Enrique from the inside out.Her plan was cruel, smart, and so damn perfect.Shewas perfect.Maybe he could trust her with the darker side of his life, his job.If she could handle an innocent man’s death and voice a way to ruin his reputation, then she truly was worthy of being a cartel princess.He’d underestimated her just as everyone else had in her life.
He gently squeezed her chin with his thumb and forefinger, then flinched at the smeared blood on his hand.He drew back, not willing to spoil her silken skin, only to freeze as she gripped his hand and licked the blood from his finger.A sharp breath strangled him.Her gaze never left his face as she closed her sultry lips around his thumb and cleaned away the sin with her hot, wet tongue.His cock pressed against his zipper, desperate for her kiss.
Moaning, she freed his thumb with apop.“I’m with you, Enrique.My husband.Danger, threats, police prosecution.Plausible deniability can suck it for all I care.”
Her crudity undid him.His love and pride for her carved him into raw, bloody chunks that only she could fit back together.“Princess, you will have whatever you want.”
He addressed his men.“Gentlemen, I want you to meet my wife, Lourdes Villegas.Cartel princess, and my queen.”
“Whoo!”Rascón hooted and smirked.
Muniz chuckled while the others bobbed their heads in greeting.In respect.
“Lieutenant, get rid of the body and clean up,” Enrique instructed.“Rascón, find out where Sanchez lived.Once it’s dark, take twenty thousand pesos to his home.I’ll get you the money before I leave.”The safe in the office was always equipped with emergency cash, so he might as well make use of it.“The rest of you, assist Muniz in whatever he needs.”
As the men got to work, he steered Lourdes toward the office.“Normally, those who betray the cartel go missing unless we decide to make an example of them.With Sanchez, I want everything wrapped up as soon as possible.No one will ever find his body.”
“I think that’s wise.The less evidence the police have, the better.”She stopped him in the middle of the gun-metal gray hall and wrapped her arms around him.“I love you, Enrique.”
