Drug Lord: A Bad Boy Baby Romance (6 page)

I
let
out a breath that I didn’t know I was holding. I knew that she was headstrong, and she might be too stubborn to let me protect her.

If anything convinced me of her innocence, it was her bewilderment when we were arrested. If I’d set it up myself, I couldn’t have hoped for a better result.

If she had been part of the CIA, she would’ve told them who she was when we were arrested, unless she was ordered to go in deep.

I considered the idea that she’d been sent as a spy…or she had planted the cocaine herself.

I snorted and shook my head at such a preposterous thought. If she’d been sent to Ecuador as a spy, she’d done a shoddy job of it. In the time that we’d been together, I hadn’t seen her send so much as a text message. And a secret agent would have immediately gotten out of cuffs and run for it. An incarcerated CIA agent in Ecuador wouldn’t be in a very good position. There had been enough trouble when WikiLeaks had publicized the US ambassador’s candid critique of the president — I couldn’t imagine the media blowout if Ecuador was lucky enough to catch a CIA agent spying here.

I’d put her in the government’s hands myself. Nothing I’d do to her would equal what they’d do to her.

But now I was going to take her home, and I was going to get to the bottom of whomever had sent Aguilera to search my jet.

I was lucky that Ortiz was there, but I certainly paid him enough to look after my affairs. If he hadn’t prevented it before it happened, it meant that it had been enacted at the last minute. I’d only filed the flight plan a little bit before we took off.

Heads were going to roll.

I looked at Naelle’s beautiful profile.

There was something in her beautiful dark eyes — was it fear? anxiety — which awoke my protective instincts.

I was mostly sure that she wasn’t sent to take me down, and I would protect her while I could get to the bottom of this. It could be a ploy to gain my trust, but I highly doubted it.

I hailed the closest taxi. I didn’t normally use them, but we had unusual circumstances. I needed to get away from the police station before that asshole Aguilera even noticed that I was gone.

“North of La Carolina,” I told him.

He easily slid into traffic like a seasoned Quito driver. I told him where to turn, and soon we were at my house.

T
he impact
of his home diminished as I got used to it. He paid the cab driver and stepped out, putting a possessive arm around my shoulders. I didn’t know if I liked it. One, he was warm and solid. Two, he was awfully presumptuous for a guy I’d slept with just one night and who had proceeded to nearly kidnap me and force me to go back to the United States.

Too much had happened in the last day. I was dead on my feet.

“Hungry?” he asked me.

“No,” I said, covering my mouth as I yawned.

“Let me take you upstairs to a bedroom, okay? You’re sleepy.”

I was too tired to think about anything, like getting my luggage. I’d figure it out when I woke up.

When I moved to go upstairs, I tripped on the first step of the staircase.

I found myself whisked off of my feet.

“Put me down?” I didn’t sound very sure of myself.

“You’re so tired that you can barely stand. Just let me take you upstairs and tuck you in.”

I stared into his face. I could see clear affection and caring. It was totally at odds with the scary man who’d been borderline threatening when I’d gone into his secret cabin high in the mountains next to Quito.

But then I rested my head on his shoulder. I’d unravel the mystery of Emilio later. For now, I was mostly asleep.

I felt him push open a door and lean down to put me down on a soft bed.

“Stay with me.” I tightened my arms around his body.

Where had that come from?

He lay next to me on the soft bed, our arms around each other.

“I was really scared today,” I told him softly.

“You’re safe now,” he reassured me. “I’ll stay here until you fall asleep, okay?”

My eyes were closed as I accepted the embrace of this gentle monster.

I
must have fallen
asleep when I’d held Naelle in my arms, because the first thing that I felt when I woke up was her warm body still in my arms.

My hands trailed slowly down her back. I loved feeling her curvy figure.

As I opened my eyes, she was staring right at me, her mouth a hairsbreadth from mine.

I captured her mouth with mine, slowly sliding my tongue into her mouth, stroking her softly, and then withdrawing before doing it all over again.

She was whimpering softly as I pushed her onto her back and kissed her delicate neck.

I bit it.

She let out a small scream. I soothed the bite with my tongue, and her head turned to the side.

“I’m going to take off your clothes,” I promised her. “If you want me to stop, say so now.”

In response, she sat up and took off her own shirt. When she moved to take off her bra, I put my hand over hers.

“Stop,” I said before kissing the top of her soft breasts.

“I’m going to do it.”

I gently pulled her hand away from the front-clasp of her bra.

I unlatched it before freeing her breasts, then slid the straps down her arms, letting her bra fall off.

“You’re so beautiful,” I told her before sucking one dark nipple into my mouth.

I quickly unbuttoned her pants and slid them down her thick legs. I kissed my way down the center of her body and pushed her thighs apart.

And then I gently kissed her between her thighs. She gasped loudly and I pushed my tongue inside of her.

Her hips went wild. I held her in place with two hands on her hips as I drank her up.

She was yelling now, and I loved it, her body shuddering through a climax.

Then I turned her onto her stomach, her legs apart, and swiftly entered her.

“Oh!”

I pulled back and pushed right back in.

She pushed herself up on her hands and rocked back onto me, meeting me every time that I thrust into her body.

I prolonged the motion for as long as I could, but eventually I lost the battle and shoved as far inside of her as I could get before exploding.

I pulled out of her, turning her on her side, so that I could hold her in my arms as both of us recovered.

“That was incredible,” she whispered softly.

“You’re incredible,” I told her before biting her earlobe, making her cry out…maybe in shock, maybe with pleasure.

I trailed a hand down the curves of her body. She was everything that I wanted and hadn’t known I needed until I had her.

She yawned, and it was contagious. We’d just woken up, but I was pleasantly tired again.

“Go to sleep,” I told her, stroking the soft skin of her back. “And then we’ll go again.”

B
ut it never happened
. Instead, we were awoken by the ringing phone.

I grunted and tried to turn away from it. I didn’t want to be pulled out of bed by business concerns. I’d rather focus on the beautiful woman in my arms.

But the phone stopped ringing for only a moment before it started ringing again.

I cursed before I picked up.

“What?” I snarled.

“Cabrón,” my little brother shouted, “how dare you cut off my supply?”

I rubbed the bridge of my nose. I didn’t want to deal with Alejandro right now.

Noticing Naelle awake and looking at me, I got out of bed, totally naked, and walked out of the bedroom.

“Ale,” I said, “you know that you can’t erase all of your problems with cocaine.”

“I can try.”

My younger brother was a mess.

I tried to soften my tone.

“Hey. I know that Mom and Dad’s deaths were hard on you but…”

“Thanks for reminding me, asshole,” he said. “I’ve tried to forget every day.”

I was the oldest and far more independent than my little brother. He was their little baby. Even when we’d been forced to go into the cocaine business, Ale had been sheltered from the more gory aspects of it.

And now I wondered if my father’s decision was really the right one. If Ale saw what cocaine did to our buyers, the end consumers who bought it from our dealers, then maybe he wouldn’t be so fond of the white powder that had recreated our family fortune.

“I cut you off because you need to face reality. Get a job, Ale. I already offered you one in our organization, but…”

“I don’t need a job,” he sneered. “Stop trying to be Dad.”

Ugh. “Listen, Ale,” I started.

“No, you listen,” he snapped back. “If you won’t let your dealers give me any cocaine, I can buy it anywhere I want. I still have my trust fund.”

“You do what you want, Ale, but you know that whatever decisions you make will impact your daughter,” I said. I couldn’t stop him from going out on the street and destroying himself with the impure cocaine that made it to street level. At least when he took some of our inventory, I knew that he was getting pure cocaine. If he bought it, I couldn’t guarantee that he’d be okay.

But I was done babying my younger brother. He was a father now. He’d made the same threat every time, promising to slow down and clean up a little, but he always did it for a day or two before going right back into his normal routine.

He was as thin as a rail, and if I didn’t do something, he’d waste away. I knew that my dead parents must be turning over in their graves. My father could handle Ale, but he was gone now.

“Ale,” I said softly. “I love you. I want to see you get better. Cocaine is fine as a recreational habit, like alcohol. But you have become a real cocadero. If you were an alcoholic, I’d be checking you into rehab.”

“I don’t have a problem,” he shouted. “All my problems would go away if you’d just let me into your supply.”

“I already set up a spot in a rehab program, Ale,” I murmured. “I’d like for you to go there. I’ll talk to our lawyers about cutting down your access to your trust fund. I don’t think that you’re competent right now.”

“Fuck you,” he said, hanging up on me.

“
W
ho was that
?”

Emilio just shook his head.

“My little brother. He has no idea how to take care of himself. I’m figuring it out, though.”

“You said something about rehab?”

Emilio shook his head again.

“He has some problems.”

He abruptly changed the subject. “Would you like me to take you to the G Spot?”

I choked when I started giggling.

“Is that a weird Ecuadorian way to ask if I want to go again? Because I do.”

“No,” he said, kissing my neck and pinning me to the bed with his big body.

“Although I’m not going to say no to another round, I’m pretty hungry. While I’d like to keep you in my bedroom for a little longer, you should explore Quito while we’re stuck here.”

I was still.

“We’re stuck?”

“There’s something going on, Naelle. We’re going to stay in Ecuador while we figure out what’s happening with the Omegas. They’re out to get me.”

“The Omegas? Who are they?”

“Rival business empire,” he growled. “And they don’t want me in their territory, even though it was mine first.”

His face lost all of his anger and I saw the passionate lover who had rocked my world. He crawled towards me and pulled me into his lap before kissing me deeply.

I couldn’t resist kissing him back. He tasted sweet like candy.

“If I don’t stop now, we’re going to end up in this bed all day.”

“I’m okay with that.” My eyes glazed over a little bit as I thought about spending a day in bed with him. Mmmm…

He smacked my butt with an open palm, enough to make me yelp but not enough to hurt.

“Get out of this bed before I change my mind.”

He got out of bed while I was still in his arms, setting me on my feet inside of the closet.

I saw that someone had already brought my luggage into the closet. I knelt and opened it up. It seemed to be unharmed by the craziness.

I unpacked a dress, bra, and undies and put them on. I still felt sticky between my thighs, but I liked keeping him right there. I loved the idea that I would secretly smell like him, just a secret between the two of us.

He got dressed, too. When we were done, he put his big hands on my waist and drew me against his body.

“You’re so beautiful,” he said, light shining in his eyes. “Maybe it’s a good thing that I get to keep you for a little while longer.”

I put my hand on the back of his head and drew him a few inches downward to give him a kiss.

Suddenly his hands were on my waist, pulling me off the ground. I wrapped my legs around him and gave him a deep kiss.

He pulled me away and put me on my feet.

“We better get going,” he said, his regret clear. “I’m going to take you to a restaurant and then swing by my brother’s place. He called me, and he’s mad.”

“Sounds fine.”

A
car was waiting
for us outside of Emilio’s home. We got in and headed to the G Spot.

As he said, there really was a restaurant called the G Spot. It served unremarkable fare, featuring greasy and salty food, but it would make a good story later on.

When we were done, he paid for our meal.

As we left the restaurant, he took my hand in his, which felt twice the size of mine.

I didn’t see his car waiting for us.

“How far away does your brother live?”

“Not very.”

He let go of my hand to put his hand on my waist, bringing me close. He smelled fresh and clean. He was warm in the cool air of Quito. We walked at a leisurely pace on the sidewalk.

Then we were in front of a fancy hotel.

“He lives here?” I knew that Emilio was wealthy, but living in a hotel seemed like a strange choice.

“Why doesn’t he live with you?”

Emilio pressed his lips together. We were quiet for a few seconds.

“We don’t really get along,” he admitted finally.

“I can’t wait to meet him.”

I wondered if he looked like Emilio — the same dark hair, dark eyes, and killer cheekbones — or if he looked like their other parent.

I was about to find out.

We walked up to the door of the hotel. The doorman didn’t even question Emilio’s presence.

He just nodded at us and opened the door.

“He knows you?”

“I don’t come here very often to see Alejandro, but I make a point to know anybody who might be important.” He took in a breath as if he were about to say something else, but he didn’t say anything.

Weird.

We got into a very pretty elevator with mahogany panels and gold-edged mirrors. I checked my hair. The plus side of being so high in the mountains was that the humidity didn’t make my hair frizzy. It was pretty dry up here.

Ding. The elevator had arrived.

Emilio held the door as I walked out of the elevator. The carpet was thick enough to make me sink a little bit into it. This hotel was pretty nice.

Emilio went up to a door and knocked on it.

“Who’s there?” His voice was higher than Emilio’s.

“Open up,” Emilio commanded.

“Joder,” I heard him say before the door opened.

He looked like Emilio, although he was much more slender and maybe a few inches shorter.

His eyes were bloodshot. “Come to lecture me, big brother?”

He let us in.

The hotel suite was clearly trashed. Yes, the furniture and fixtures were just as nice as you’d expect in a hotel, but they were covered in dirty dishes and what looked like flour.

“I thought that they cut you off. Who sold you? Who would dare?”

“None of your people,” Alejandro sneered. “I had to find another supplier.”

I saw little plastic baggies with a Greek omega symbol on them. Emilio looked at what I was looking at. He picked up one of the baggies and took the white powder out, rubbing it between his fingers.

“I can’t believe you,” Emilio spat. “I tried to clean you up and send you to rehab…”

“And I didn’t follow your orders. What a shock.”

He reached for one of the baggies, poured the white powder out, and sniffed it.

“Is that…cocaine?” I’d never seen anybody do it before.

“You get a point.” His brother’s sarcasm washed right over me. I didn’t care if I seemed dumb. I couldn’t believe that he was snorting cocaine right in front of us.

I needed to get out of here. My dad’s company was one of the major contractors for the DEA. My dad and his partner, Brayden’s dad, hired a lot of ex-military guys to hunt down dangerous criminals, the kind who preyed on innocent people, getting them addicted to drugs until they either wasted away or were put in jail for stealing.

Suddenly, I understood why Alejandro was more slender than Emilio.

What was I doing here, in a dirty, opulent hotel room with a cocaine addict?

I looked at the door.

“Don’t let us keep you, little girl.”

I looked at Emilio, and he must have seen the worry and discomfort in my eyes.

“Listen, Ale, you can’t keep living like this. You’re a father now.”

“Bitch only wanted a meal ticket. She was happy enough to ditch the baby.”

“Where is she?”

“No clue.”

Emilio banged his fist on the table.

“You don’t know where your daughter is?”

“No, I don’t know where my ex-girlfriend is. My daughter is at home.”

I looked around the hotel, but there wasn’t any evidence of a baby, which was good considering the fine film of cocaine everywhere.

“Not the Quito house.”

“The Cotacachi one.”

Something passed between the two brothers.

“She’s fine,” Alejandro mumbled. “Our nanny is taking care of her.”

“Chabe?”

“Yes.”

Emilio sighed.

“At least you can do that much.”

“Great,” Alejandro said with false cheer. “Now get the fuck out.”

“I’ll be back,” Emilio said. I didn’t know if it was a threat or promise. “And we’ll have a real talk.”

“Good luck with that,” Alejandro said, opening another baggie and doing another line.

I clenched my jaw. I really couldn’t be here. I knew that people did drugs, but I’d never been right next to someone doing them.

“Bye, Alejandro.”

He ignored me.

I walked out to the hallway and leaned against the wall. I had my arms wrapped around me.

I felt cold, very cold. Their air conditioning must be set to the coldest setting, because I was shivering.

Emilio came out only a few seconds after I did, closing the door with a quiet click.

He saw me leaning against the wall and braced his arm above my head. He brought his face close to mine.

“I’m sorry that you had to see that,” he whispered a half inch from my face.

“Can we go home?”