Intimate Enemies (13 page)

Logically, the comparison was irrational, she knew. But she also knew fear wasn’t about logic; it was about emotion.

She took a deep draw of air, forced the unfounded doubts to the background, and offered her hand. “I’m Cassie Christo.”

Nina and the man turned in unison with infatuation lingering in their eyes. The purity of their obvious affection, the simplicity of their circumstances made an unexpected envy stir. She could still taste Rio’s kiss, so very complicated, even tainted, with Saul’s presence.

The contractor took Cassie’s hand. His was large, warm, and rough with calluses. “Raymie Solana. I own Solana Construction.”

“Oh, really?” Cassie relaxed with the strength of his grip and the directness of his gaze. She grinned at Nina, who looked away and turned a deeper shade of red. “Nice to meet you,” she said to Raymie. “You’re doing a beautiful job on the clinic. Nina’s told me what a fantastic replacement you’ve been since we lost our other contractor.”

His smile was warm, teeth white, his forehead partially covered by a wave of dark hair. “We aim to please.”

His light Spanish accent and use of the idiom made her curious. “You sound American.”

“I’ve spent some time in the States.” He eyed the containers of food spread out on the plywood. “Hard to imagine you two are this hungry.”

“Cassie brought lunch for everyone. From Miguel’s.”

Raymie’s smile shifted from Nina to Cassie. “I think you’re my new favorite boss.”

“Hey.” Nina jabbed her knuckles into his shoulder with a playful warning look.

Raymie winced and laughed, rubbing the spot. “Just kidding,
chica.
No one could replace you.”

When Raymie disappeared into the last exam room, Cassie turned back to Nina. “What was that?”

Nina focused on lunch. “He’s a very hard worker. His crew has done twice as much work as the other contractor in the same amount of time. Sometimes he comes in on the weekends without his men, you know, to get things finished. He’s working off a bid, so he’s not getting paid any more to come in on his days off.”

“He obviously has
other
incentive.” Cassie purposely let the innuendo lie heavily in her voice.

Nina gasped and looked up. “Cassie.”

Cassie feigned playful shock and imitated her cousin’s chastising tone. “Nina.”

A smile teased Nina’s lips, and she lowered her voice when she warned, “Stop it.”

“Oh, look,” Cassie teased, “your cheeks completely skipped magenta and went straight to something that looks a lot like raspberry.”

“Cassie!”

Cassie laughed. It felt good. It felt light and normal and easy, the way life was supposed to be. But Cassie had definitely missed that memo. And while it seemed awfully late to be getting the message now, after all she’d been through, she knew, ultimately, that was what she wanted for her life.

“I’ve never seen you so shy,” she said.

Nina’s dark eyes challenged Cassie, but she couldn’t hold the serious expression and turned embarrassed again. “I’m not shy. I’m just…he’s so… I get so weird around him. My brain goes fuzzy, my tongue doesn’t work…”

Cassie’s smile softened, right along with her heart. How could she still be such a sucker for romance? Especially after what Rio had just pulled?

She drew a deep breath and reminded herself that Raymie was not Rio. “Crazy about him, huh?”

Nina lingered in denial a moment longer before her shoulders dropped and her face exploded into a giddy grin. “Really crazy.”

Eight

“She knows something.” Saul stood in front of the living room windows, a glass of whiskey in one hand, a stout cigar in the other, its endless toggle signaling his rising agitation.

Rio sank onto the leather sofa. Hell, yes, she knew something.
She knew how to kiss. She knew how to make him forget his own name. She knew how to make him contemplate—actually fucking
consider
—doing things he had no business even fantasizing about in this situation.

The sea outside had grown angry in the last few hours, and thick, gray clouds hung swollen over the steel water and gathering whitecaps, which went right along with Rio’s piss-poor mood.

“She doesn’t know anything,” Rio said. “She’s simply trying to find a way to irritate you. If you ignore her, she’ll get bored.”

“Sounds like something’s gotten under your skin today, amigo.” Saul took a long pull on the cigar. The gray tip flared to orange and reflected in the window like a beacon from a ship out at sea. “If it were any other woman, I’d agree, she’s playing games, but not this one. She wouldn’t have been down at the marina today unless she suspected.”

Rio had considered keeping Cassie’s trip to the docks from Saul, but if Rio hadn’t told him, someone else would have. Then his boss would have doubted Rio’s loyalty, and he couldn’t take that kind of risk.

“She doesn’t know anything, but she might if we continue with the transfers now. If we forget the women and delay the tangos—”

“No,” Saul cut in as he blew a ribbon of smoke, which coiled toward the cathedral ceiling. “We need to keep regular business steady. The
Muertos
are already suspicious. One change in our routine and they’ll be all over us. Suarez is watching too closely right now. She simply has to go.”

Rio’s stomach folded. The last time Saul had decided someone “had to go,” he’d slammed a bullet into the forehead of a smuggler who’d skimmed a few hundred dollars from the transportation fees. Rio could still see it—the realization and terror in the man’s face, the back of his head bursting like a watermelon. That cold, nasty grin curling Saul’s mouth as he’d stared down at the corpse.
“Don’t worry about the body,”
he’d said.
“The vultures will pick him clean by sundown.”

“If you mean she has to go back to San Diego, we’re on the same page.” He waited for Saul to slide a sidelong look his way, then gestured toward the expansive living room filled with antiques, fine furnishings, priceless artwork. “But if she
goes
, all this
goes
. Worse, it goes to those grubby little orphans in Mexico City.”

“I’ve been thinking about that.” Saul turned fully toward Rio. “I’m meeting with Munoz tomorrow. Don’t worry about going with me. You’ve got your hands full. I’ll drive myself.”

But that didn’t fit with Rio’s plan at all. He wanted to be the one to get the information from Saul’s attorney. That way, he could twist it before delivery, if needed.

“What are you expecting him to say?” Rio asked. “Three different
notarios
assured me Alejandra’s
fideicomiso
was completely legal. If you challenge it, you’ll only be wasting time and money and pissing her off.”

A strange twist lifted Saul’s mouth, but there was nothing warm in his expression. “Those are exactly the issues we’re going to discuss. Cassandra is simply an obstacle, Rio, and there are always ways around obstacles.”

“I’ll take care of it, Saul. There’s no point in you wasting your valuable time running errands.”

The front door opened, and the topic of conversation walked in. Rio’s heart rate jumped at the simple thought of her presence.

Saul’s demeanor clicked from black to white. His face brightened in a wide smile, and he let out a rolling laugh that grated over Rio’s nerves. “Cassandra. My dear, I think you have a penchant for dirt.”

Rio had to agree. Her legs were covered in dust, her shorts and tee stained. Her hair fell from her ponytail, trailing around her face. And damn, she looked gorgeous.

“It’s called hard work, Saul. Maybe you’ve heard of it?”

Her voice rolled over Rio, but different words and an entirely different tone floated through his head.

“Kiss me like you want to.”

Oh, but that sweetness hadn’t lasted long. No, he’d gone and fucked that up good. Now, she was still pissy, which meant he’d have to run interference between these two all night.

“Work.” Saul chuckled, his demeanor airy and light, as if he hadn’t just alluded to her murder. “I avoid it at all costs. Dinner in thirty minutes. I asked Marta to prepare your favorite—steak and lobster.”

“I’ll be ready in twenty.”

After she disappeared down the hall, Saul recoiled like a snake. “Snotty bitch.”

Rio kept his voice low. “We’ve got a lot riding on these deals. It will take time to get more women, and we’ll be pressed to get them together and over the border before the tangos get here. We should postpone the women and contact Ahmed, see if there’s any way the tangos can dock somewhere for a few—”

“No!”

The bark spiked the hair on the back of Rio’s forearms. Saul had been tense and snappy like this just before he’d incinerated Alejandra and Santos. But there was something different in the way he dealt with Cassie, something that ate at Rio on a deeper level. Some challenge between them, like a competition to see who would give first, or…who would survive.

Now Rio had to make sure Cassie held on to her leverage. He had to make sure Saul didn’t ignore risk while exacting vengeance. He needed to stay away from the sexiest woman he’d known in years, who was interested, willing, and living within reach. And he had to make sure all this didn’t blow up in his own face.

Fuck
, he needed a raise.

“I had to promise Talaveria fresh cargo in under a week,” Saul said, “or he’s going with another smuggler.”

“The mules only bring in fifty grand,” he reminded. “If we blow the tangos, we’re talking about
huge
losses. Three quarters of a million, plus multimillions in future deals.”

“And if we change our business pattern, the
Muertos
will wonder why. Suarez will scrutinize. We can deal with one woman or the head of the strongest gang in northern Mexico.”

Well, Saul had a point there. Or he would if this wasn’t all going to end after that tango transfer.

“And fifty grand is fifty grand, Rio.” Saul’s gaze remained fixed out the window, his jaw muscles rolling beneath his skin with each clench of his teeth. “I’m not ready to lose a client this big on the
possibility
of repeat tango deals. That little bitch is not going to ruin all I’ve worked for.”

“You’ll be allowing her to ruin things if you don’t think smart.” Rio pushed from the sofa, took Saul’s nearly empty glass, refilled the drink, and handed it off to his boss. “Don’t let her get under your skin.”
Even if she’s living under mine.
“Just focus on your future and ignore Cassie’s bullshit. Let me handle business. Speaking of which, Javier Lopez approached me today.”

“From Casa del Refugio?”

Rio nodded. “He’s interested in coming on board.”

Saul’s flat, black gaze remained solid on Rio, thoughts clicking off in the background. “Yes,” he said slowly. “Yes, add him to the list. He’d be a very good mid-level employee as we expand.”

Rio’s phone buzzed, and Saul turned back to the window.

“Yeah,” Rio said into his phone and wandered away from Saul.

“Caesar’s gone,” Tomás said. “ICE agents picked him up an hour ago. He’ll be off the radar as long as we need.”

Rio rubbed his temple. “There’s one thing good in my day.” Other than that kiss with Cassie. That had been
so
good. So freaking damn good it made him ache. “What did he say?”

“That she’d hired him from San Diego to dig up information on Saul’s business, and that today she’d extended that search to information on you. When he wasn’t interested, she doubled the pay. I think you’ve got an admirer, partner.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose. That was a no-win.

“But we’ve got to do something about her,” Tomás said. “I have to find more women for Talaveria. I don’t have time to fucking babysit.”

Pain throbbed in Rio’s temple. “I’m working on that.”

“And she went by a lawyer’s office before she went home.”

Fuck
. “Which one?”

“Raymond Santiago.”

Rio cringed. Of course she’d pick the best goddamned attorney within a thousand-mile radius. “I’ll work on that too.”

“And, hey, you never let me finish telling you about the accident,” Tomás said. “Christo was taking pictures with her phone.”

Rio dropped his hand. “What?”

“Sometime after the cops arrived, Pedro spotted her panning it around the scene.”

He envisioned the action. Video. She’d probably taken a video. A spear of alarm sliced down his chest.

“I didn’t see her doing it,” Tomás continued. “Never saw her pull the phone from her belt. Only knew about it because Pedro went after her and told me about it after she got away.”

Rio gritted his teeth against a sudden and furious explosion of anger. This was exactly why he couldn’t get involved with her. The thought of anyone touching her destroyed his control. Threatened his sanity. “Shit. What do you think? Important enough to go after? It’ll be hard to get that phone away from her.”

“Probably not. After her call to emergency last night, K’s got a flag on her. Anything comes in with her name on it will get routed directly to him.”

At least that was one less thing for Rio to worry about. “Did you get that information we talked about this morning? I need it ASAP.”

“K says it’s coming over the wire tonight.”

“Good.” He rubbed a hand over his face. “I really don’t need all this right now.”

“Ah, beautiful,
mija
.” Saul’s voice drew Rio’s attention as he disconnected from Tomás.

Cassie swayed through the hall and into the living room. The sight of her almost made him drop his phone. She was wearing cream. Some filmy, draping dress that strapped around the neck and cupped breasts more lush than he’d imagined. The fabric hugged her slim waist and draped over shapely hips. Her legs looked scorchingly sexy with sparkling high heels sculpting her calf muscles.

What he really needed right now was all
that
.

His appetite took a whole different turn and centered on Cassie as a seven-course meal. Where the hell had she hidden that body? And why couldn’t he breathe?