Caden stood at the bottom of the ladder as Tony installed another camera up in the rafters. She was so busy staring at his ass that she wasn’t paying much attention to anything else. “Over that way a little bit. C’mon, put your back into it, Tony,” she teased.
He didn’t need to look down at her to know she was checking him out. He liked Caden; she made everyday business enjoyable and helped him see the lighter side of life. “You are just way too busy looking at my ass. And what do you know about surveillance, anyway?”
“I know how to watch you do it, and that’s enough for me. But I do know an easier way for us to get to Santiago.” She hurried up before she lost her nerve because she knew he wasn’t going to like her idea. “I can get to him, Tony. Set up a meeting for me with him. Use me as bait.”
That got his attention. He glared down at her and snapped, “No way. I’m not using my woman as bait for a madman. Anyway, we have no way of getting in touch with him.”
“Trust me, I’m sure he has my contact information. Give me my phone back and I’d be willing to bet he’s already left me a message.”
“You are incorrigible, woman.”
“It bothers me that he’s killing again, Tony. And we could have gotten caught disposing of the body. He made it look like we killed her! That bastard says he loves me, but he didn’t think twice about possibly sending me to prison for something he did.”
Tony smiled and she couldn’t help but wonder how he could smile at a time like this. He answered as if he knew what she was thinking. “I’m smiling because my dad took a page out of Alexander Glazov’s book and had a crematory installed. You have to admit, it’s fucking genius. Fast. Clean. No fuss, no muss.”
Caden crossed her arms in front of her, not happy with the way the conversation was going. “So. Are you going to give me my phone back or not?”
“I’ll think about it.”
“I’m not a child!” she huffed and only just stopped herself from stomping her foot.
“You look like one with that bottom lip of yours poking out. Damn sexy, I have to admit.”
“Just give me my phone back.” She held her hand out for emphasis.
“Well, you did give me an idea. At the very least, we need to check your voicemail.”
She stepped back as he got down off the ladder. “I’m glad he didn’t hurt any of these beautiful horses,” she said, reaching over and petting a mare that had been watching her over the stall. “I wouldn’t put it past him.”
“I would have killed the bastard.”
“How can you guys be so cold blooded and yet be such animal lovers?”
“Humans are the only creatures that deserve to be tortured and killed. The four-legged kind are always there with unconditional love. You can’t find any fault with that.”
He grabbed her hand and led her back up to the cabin. She followed him as he moved through the house until they reached the wall safe in his bedroom.
“You really didn’t want me getting my hands on it, I see,” she muttered as she admired his strong hands unlocking the safe.
“Remember that,” he replied smugly. “When I want something, I get it. Always.”
“Oh, just give it here already,” she snapped with one hand on her hip, the other extended toward him, palm up.
He handed it to her and then jerked it away, holding it up high, just out of her reach and laughing when she tried to jump up and get it but failed.
“You are so mean.”
“Wanna go spider shopping with me?” he asked with a grin as he handed her the phone.
“Where did that idea come from?”
“You know where it came from. Santiago’s got a date with destiny and you’re going to be there to watch.”
“I see there may be a streak of sadism in you too.”
“In this line of work, it’s a necessary evil. Now, put it on speaker so I can listen.”
She sat down on the bed and gasped. “Oh. My. God. I’ve got, like, twenty messages on here.”
“Told you he was obsessed.”
“Well, guess I’ll just start at the top. I don’t know this number, so maybe it’s him.”
Caden, it’s Maria. I know we’re not really friends but I don’t know who else to call. I feel like I’m being followed. I know it sounds crazy. You don’t think Santiago would try to hurt me, do you? Call me when you get this, okay?
“I thought you guys hated each other,” Tony commented.
“I didn’t even know she had my number. But, yeah, it’s kind of an unwritten rule that the dancers stick together. Even if we can’t stand each other, we still have each other’s backs. An ‘us against the world’ kind of thing.”
“Sounds like cartel to me,” he chuckled.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, like my uncle, for instance. He has no patience where Novak, Alexander Glazov’s cousin, is concerned, but he respects him. If there was trouble, Antonio Wayne would be the first one to put a bullet in someone for moving against Novak, and vice versa.”
“Why doesn’t Antonio Wayne like him?”
“Novak?!” he laughed caustically. “Because Novak’s a smart ass, he likes to stir shit up. Antonio Wayne can’t stand him and made the mistake of letting it show, so Novak goes out of his way to aggravate him because he knows it gets on his nerves.”
“Shh, here’s the next one,” she said. Her eyes widened and she gulped as Santiago’s smooth, deep voice filled the room.
Caden. I need you. I miss you so much. I never should have let you go. I had no idea he would take you away from me. I am so sorry. I miss our talks. Please, you must help me, hermosa. I can’t stop killing and just the thought of him touching you--”
Tony grabbed the phone and heaved it across the room, his face contorted with rage. It hit the wall and shattered into pieces on the floor. He lunged toward her and grabbed her by the upper arms, pulled her across the room, and pinned her down on the bed. Her dress was no match for him as he yanked it up and tore her panties off.
He pulled his shirt over his head and unfastened his jeans, releasing his fully engorged cock. Impatient to feel her bare skin against his, he removed his shoes and socks and then pulled the jeans off too, tossing them aside. He studied Caden’s flushed face as he ran the bell end of his cock up and down her slit, teasing her.
“I think somebody has a penchant for rough sex.” He lowered himself onto the bed beside her, then lifted her over him until she was straddling his hips. He traced his finger over the strap on her shoulder and lowered it, pulling her bra cups down until her breasts spilled over the lacey fabric. He cupped the lush flesh in his hands, sucking a nipple into his mouth and releasing it with a pop.
“So, he misses you and can’t stand the thought of me touching you? Well, I’ll do him one better. Ride my cock, beautiful. Convince me you’re mine. I need to know you belong to me.”
“I’m not going anywhere, Tony.” She lifted up on her knees, then slowly lowered herself onto his cock and began to move.
“You feel so damn good, baby,” he rasped as he ran his hands over her thighs. “If I could stay connected to you like this forever, I would. Wish I could walk around all day with you latched onto my cock. I just can’t get enough of you, you’re everything that’s good in my life, sweetheart. I hate how much I need you but there’s no denying the truth of it.”
“I need you too. It isn’t metal bars or surveillance that’s keeping me here--”
“It’s my cock, isn’t it? I knew it.”
She rolled her eyes and sighed, exasperated, before continuing, “I’m here because it’s where I want to be. I love you, Tony.”
“I love you too, baby, so fucking much.”
He ran his hands over her curves, kneading her breasts as she rode him hard and set the frantic pace they both needed. He wanted to beat on his chest like a caveman when she closed her eyes and moaned with pleasure at his touch. His touch. Nobody else’s. She was so beautiful. The look of pure bliss on her face as she climaxed sent him over the edge with her, his cock throbbing as he spilled his seed into the deepest recesses of her body.
He held her against his chest as his hands continued to wander, touching and caressing her velvety skin. “Marry me, Caden. I want you to be my wife, I want you to have my babies. That asshole doesn’t need you, but I do. I’m crazy without you. It’s killing me, just going through the motions in my everyday life, when my mind is still flooded with the shit I saw and did when I was overseas. There’s evil in this world; I’ve seen it and I will devote my life to protecting you from it. But baby, my head’s so fucked up and you’re the only thing that keeps me thinking straight. Stay here and be mine.”
“I’m here, Tony, and I’m yours.”
He held her tight and chuckled, “You make the day-to-day, mundane moments in my life better. And don’t get me started on the nights. Hell, I’m even going spider shopping with you. What are you doing to me, woman?”
“I would hardly call shopping for venomous spiders a day-to-day activity. Where are we going? To a mall somewhere?”
“Oh, no. You won’t find King at any mall. He sells seriously poisonous shit for a living. He’s part of our cartel. You don’t want to leave a paper trail when you’re killing someone. If you went to a mall there would be cameras, receipts, and witnesses. Anything you can do to cover your tracks and stay in the safe confines of the cartel, then that’s what you do. When you go that route, it’s like it never happened.”
“Well, I don’t plan on doing anything without being under your protection.”
“Damn straight.” He kissed her forehead and led her to the shower to get cleaned up before they left to go to see the King. She had to admit she was curious about meeting a guy who specialized in killing people by turning Mother Nature against them.
It was a smart way to kill someone. She couldn’t imagine the authorities ever tracing a spider bite back to the cartel. She was impressed with the way the cartel was self-sufficient, even having one of their own who dealt in nothing but venomous creatures to do their dirty work.
She was finally seeing how the organization worked, up and close and personal. They were letting down their guard with her, and that meant she was locked in with this family now. There would be no getting out. If she ever went from being an asset to a liability, they would have no more use for her – regardless of Tony’s devotion to her. She had no intention of letting that happen. Like the other women in the Ramirez family, she was going all in. Her life was now all about the Colombian cartel and the Ramirez family.
She was finally part of something much bigger than herself. Though their blood ran cold, the love of the Ramirez men ran deep. Finally, for the first time in her life she had a real family. It felt good.