“So you’re going to go up against me in order to keep her safe, are you?” Dante asked.
“Yes, I am.”
Addie scrambled out of his hold. She must have caught him by surprise, because he let her go. She stood in front of Cash with her arms spread wide. “I won’t let you hurt him. If you’re going to hurt anyone, hurt me.”
Dante caught her in his gaze again. Jesus. It took every ounce of willpower she had to stand her ground. Why were his eyes so dark? So soulless?
What was she thinking? Oh, yeah, she was thinking that she needed to protect Cash.
Dante stared at her without expression. Ralen seemed horrified. While Bonnie was just smiling.
“Oh, Addie. Love the outfit.”
Her outfit? She was wearing what they’d managed to find at a gift store on their way to the airport. So it was more Las Vegas tourist stuff.
“Addie, what do you think you’re doing?” Cash reached out, drawing her in behind him.
“You don’t need to hide her from me. I’m not going to harm her. I’m not actually in the business of harming innocent women.”
That didn’t mean that Cash was safe.
“So, it’s not just a fling then, huh? You really do care about each other,” Dante said. “You must, if you’re willing to go up against me to protect one another.”
Dante moved over to Ralen and took hold of his hand. Ralen gave him a shocked look as Dante drew him in, patting him on the back. The pat didn’t look gentle, and she winced, but Ralen didn’t show any sign of pain.
“Good to see you, Cousin.”
What was going on? She didn’t understand. Why did Dante now seem less cold and more relaxed?”
“That was a test?” Cash asked.
“I don’t want you just running off every time you see a girl whose skirt you want to chase,” Dante said. “I had to know that you actually cared about each other. That she best be worth what you risked. The fact that she was willing to get between the two of us shows some strength of character, and the depth of her feelings for you.”
So he’d been scary on purpose to see whether she really did love Cash?
“But don’t get the wrong idea. I’m still very unhappy. The two of you took your time looking for Ortega. And then when you did find him, you didn’t keep him with you. So I had to come here to try and talk some sense into my brother since all he sent me was a short message saying, ‘I’m fine.’”
Ralen sighed. “I told him to call you.”
“Well, Ortega doesn’t always do what other people want him to. You should have stayed with him.”
“He didn’t want us to stay with him,” Ralen told Dante. “There’s no way we could have kept him with us if he wanted to leave.”
Dante crossed his arms over his chest. “Then I get here and find the two of you gone without a word. So no, I’m definitely not happy.”
“We’ll take whatever punishment you deem is suitable,” Ralen told him.
“Good, because there’s going to be one. The two of you need to decide which one of you is coming back with me.”
“Back with you?” Cash asked. “To Mexico?”
“Yes, I need one of you back home with me. I managed to actually get Ortega to meet with me. Apparently, he wants to spend some time here in the States and he will be on call for Bonnie if she needs him.”
“Not that Bonnie needs looking after,” she said as she walked over to Addie, holding out a pink mug. She winked at Addie. “I put some special sauce in it.”
Special sauce?
What was that?
