Red Hot Christmas (28 page)

“I work as a paramedic. I fly with the nurse and pilot and we do hospital transfers and on site rescues.”

“Interesting.” His uncle gave her that warm politician smile that came naturally to him. “Isn’t your family upset you came to spend Christmas with us and not them?”
 

She inhaled. “No.”
 

His heart contracted in his chest. His mother upped her brow at tío Evandro, the hidden message that demanded a change in topic. He acquiesced, and started a safer conversation about airports this time of year. Sydney smiled and chattered on, and for stretching minutes it was like they all talked about nothing in particular.
 

Be careful, his detective had warned him more than once. When Sydney had asked him if he believed she was innocent, a strange sensation started to brew inside him. What difference did it make, if she had been truly guilty or not of the crime? She had served time in prison, either way. Trying to believe she had been wronged wouldn’t get him anywhere. Was dangerous. Because, if she had been wronged…a chill prickled through him.
 

Alejandro drummed his fingers on the table.

“Alejandro.” His mother pulled him from his thoughts. “Is there a problem? You seem to be miles away.” He recognized that annoying tone in her voice.
 

“No problem. Just daily work stuff.”
 

“I’d say.” His uncle chuckled, with a friendly tone, and steered the conversation away again.

Alejandro looked at her, and her hazel eyes shifted to a dark cocoa. Instead of fear, there was a trace of disappointment on her parted lips, and he wished he could rewind time.
Mierda.
Why did it matter, what he thought of her anyway? Poor girl had suffered enough and didn’t deserve to be with a man whose intentions were less than honorable. Which, of course, didn’t mean he couldn’t fantasize about it.
 

      Regardless, he had to keep her safe till he figured everything out. Could Frank’s and Patty’s deaths be a coincidence? Yes. Why would Frank give Sydney that message? The question haunted Alejandro. There were different ways he could put him at risk, Alejandro thought, but they all breached the strict confidentially agreement Frank had signed. And they would have finished his career had he been discovered violating the contract—besides the liability of a lawsuit. Didn’t make sense. Something…didn’t add up. That was why he had to find out what exactly.
 

Besides, Sydney deserved some sort of closure. If her friend hadn’t died of a heat attack—unlikely—she would know. Otherwise, she had to move on. The idea he wanted to help her in doing so bothered him. Why? He had enough on his plate.
 

The notion haunted him throughout dinner and after dessert. Not even the flan that was Madre’s specialty distracted him. Who was he kidding? Caring, er, watching over Sydney was no sacrifice. Resisting her, on the other hand…
 

“Coffee?” the housekeeper offered.

“No, thanks.”
 

Caffeine coagulated in his bloodstream already. The nearness of her set him on an edge that needed no additional boost.
 

His uncle headed to his home, and his mother retired for the night. Alejandro and Sydney were left alone in the living room.
 

“Is dinner like this everyday? This super production?” she asked, pointing at the clear vases with fresh, colorful flowers on the coffee table, and the tiny candles flickering on the end tables.

“My mom has tried to keep busy after my dad passed, and she likes to entertain,” he said, omitting the fights between his parents he had heard throughout the years. As a child, there was nothing more confusing than listening behind doors to parent’s tiffs. The adult in him rationalized their marriage. His father couldn’t have divorced her, being a man with a public life. Argentine society back then was still very traditional, and it wouldn’t have benefitted his political career. And his mother…Alejandro imagined she had stuck by a less than happy marriage for her son’s sake. Though a cynical part of him knew Constanza Soto had enjoyed the limelight and all the perks that came with it.
 

“No kidding. I’m way under-dressed.”

“You’re…” He drew in a long breath, drinking in her beauty. Her hair was all the way up, with no stray strands coming loose for him to twirl his fingers on. The style showed the strong beautiful contours of her face, and he craved to stroke her soft skin with the back of his hand, cup her chin and kiss her. She crossed and uncrossed her legs, and he could tell her throat was working. “…fine.” He cleared his throat.
 

She blinked. “Any news?”
 

“Joe is seeing if he can find something on Frank’s wife. Apparently she’s much younger and is set for life now.”

“Seriously?”

He waved it off. “Yes. Doesn’t seem enough motive for murder though. But it’s a lead.”

“Do you really trust the detective? I mean, is he good?”

“Yes.” He had chosen Joe’s assistance, although Joe had more experience in corporate investigating then criminal detecting, because he trusted him one hundred percent. Joe had helped him find vulnerable spots with potential business partners, and with his assistance, he had nailed million dollar deals or declined the wrong ones. “Listen, Sydney, I don’t want you to be alone just in case. You go out either with me, or with the bodyguard I’m hiring. Until this situation is sorted.”
 

She sent him a defying glare, as if something had switched inside her and she had to keep her guard up. “Do you think they would find me here, all the way in Buenos Aires?”
 

“I like to be careful.”
 

She threw her shoulders forward. “I know how to defend myself.”

“I’m sure you do.” He smiled and was polite enough to not bring up the lack of defense she’d been able to afford herself in her apartment. “But just in case.”

“Is this about the cousin you lost? It has to be.” She surged to her feet, her voice firm. “You’re a rescuer.”

 
Restless, he stood up too. Talking about this was not a common occurrence for him. In the Soto family, secrets and deception stayed buried six feet under ground. But, the way she angled toward him, her tight nod an encouragement to open up…He cleared his throat. “Amparo was tío Evandro’s only child,” he said out loud the name he’d been avoiding all those years.

“What happened to her?”

A lump lodged in his throat. And pulsed. “She died. Because of me.”
 

***

 
“Tell me about her,” she asked.

Alejandro stiffened, his muscles clenching under his shirt. His eyes twitched, and he cracked his knuckles. “We were best friends growing up. Ever since tío Evandro’s divorce, he always spent time with my family. Amparo and I grew up together. My mom treated her like the daughter she never had. Every house we lived in always had a room decorated in pink for Amparo’s visits.”

Sydney thought of the bedroom she’d slept in. No wonder he had preferred not to tell the truth to his mother and uncle, to protect them against whoever would be a threat to him. He had a happy childhood, filled with nice memories and loving relatives. Discomfort swept over her, and she unfolded her arms. What should she do? “Please go on.”
 

“We were all vacationing at our family beach house, and I suggested we go for a swim on our own. Growing up in a family of politicians, there were always bodyguards breathing down our necks, security detail everywhere we went. For a couple of ten year olds, freedom was escaping for a couple hours.” His words lost energy at the end, and he looked away.
 

A tingle stung her, starting at the tip of her fingers all the way down her stomach, where it settled. Or better yet, unsettled. She sucked in a breath and sniffed the fragrance of the apple-scented candles, which flickered around them. The sweet aroma contrasted against the sourness in her belly. Still, she endured and didn’t take her focus off him. Even though that sort of intimacy was like drinking a children’s cough syrup. Tasted too sweet for someone who wasn’t used to it.
 

“We always raced in the water. That day…she didn’t make it back, and I didn’t find her in time.” His gaze collided with hers, and she swallowed hard. His eyes were sad and distant. “I dove into the ocean, and swam as fast as I could, desperate to find her.”
 

He frowned like a particular bad memory assailed him. “I screamed for help, and the bodyguards eventually came, but it was too late.”
 

She chewed her bottom lip. Her heart skipped a beat. “I’m very sorry.” Such a stupid understatement, but what else could she say…or do?

“I kept swimming for a long time. I couldn’t stop.” He cleared his throat and rubbed his temples. Somewhere in his brain, he could hear the echo from his own shouting. “The security team had to yank me from the water, and restrain me so I wouldn’t go back in and keep on searching for her.”
 

“You did what you could,” she said in such low voice, she wondered if he heard her.
 

“Thank you for not saying it wasn’t my fault. If I hadn’t insisted we go unsupervised, it wouldn’t have happened.” The intensity of his stare surpassed his statement by miles. She folded and unfolded her arms, restless, for the first time in her life wanting to comfort someone. What did normal people do in a time like this? Should she squeeze his hand? They were several feet from each other. If she inched toward him, he could misinterpret it altogether.
 

She smoothed her dress.
C’mon, girl. You can do it.
They were in his mother’s place, for crying out loud. If she screamed, someone would hear her. If he hurt her—

She closed her eyes, feeling her heart drench, the hot liquid spilling into her bloodstream and flooded into all parts of her. Although the living area was open and airy, it was like the walls closed in on her, and a dizzy spell began to work its way in her head. She sucked the air in, coughed it out.
 

“Are you okay?” he asked, his expression shifting.

“Don’t move.” She angled toward him, and her entire body throbbed. She could hear the voice from one of her former inmates at the back of her head, “
Do you want some more bitch? I’ll give you some more.”
 

She fought the tears prickling the corner of her eyes. Could she use the vulnerability of that moment to forget about her ugly past? Just for a moment?
 

“Sydney,” he called her, and she lifted her gaze to his. Their eyes locked, and the intensity she witnessed in his charcoal pair was mind blowing. A sweetness stirred through her, and it was as if they both communicated without words.

She parted her lips, and hesitated. Then, as if she was an injured person who had just relearned how to walk, she pushed her legs and erased the distance between them. As each step she took toward him, the smile on his face broadened a bit more, and her pulse raced even faster than the last beat.

Keep going
. She put her arms around him and held him. At first, he stayed motionless, giving her the space she needed to get used to the embrace. Then, the weight of his arms fell on her back, and he hugged her to him.
 

Sydney gasped. A thrill of excitement zapped through her, and the air evaporated from her lungs for a reason quite different than the one from a minute ago. Alejandro rested his head on the sweep of her shoulder, and she tightened her arms around him. His breath fanned her hair, and she sighed, the room spinning around her again. “Thank you,” he said.
 

The warmth of his body was cozy like a fluffy fabric. He was so undeniably virile, yet he held her gently as if otherwise she would vanish. But she didn’t want to vanish…not this time. Her whole life, she’d moved from home to home, from city to city. A string of blurry faces and unhappy memories had followed her.
 

Standing on tiptoe, she pulled back just enough to brush his lips with hers. She would enjoy this moment for as long as she could. He cupped the back of her head, the warm palm on her hair rising goose bumps on her skin.
 

She parted her lips and he delved his tongue into her mouth, and oh, what a sensation it was! Her body roared in response, her insides searing like sizzling fajita meat on a pan. He nipped her upper lip, and she moaned, but before she could retaliate, he explored her mouth once more with his wet, luscious tongue.
 

His erection poked her, and she enjoyed the body-to-body connection through the clothes. Focusing on getting what she would be able to here and now, she threaded her fingers in his silky hair. Silly, she knew, but a bubble of joy burst inside her. She had held him. Kissed him. And, as he began to trail a path of kisses down her cheek and chin, her sex hummed. If she clenched her legs right now, with one of his thighs between them, she would come. The possibility itself set her hormones into raging overdrive.
 

“You are gorgeous, Sydney,” he breathed into her skin. “I can’t wait to see all of you.” He kissed the side of her collarbone, a very gentle peck on her scar. Different than the other scorching kisses. Different. The word set an alarm in her ear louder than ambulance sirens.