Neo stared at the number on the cellphone’s screen, glanced up at the blank flat screen television opposite him, and made the call.

His palms sweated despite how he kept rubbing them over his t-shirt. It rang a few times before going to voicemail. He took the phone away from his ear and was about to end the call when Sylvia caught his wrist. She’d been sitting behind him on the bed, but now she pressed her body flush against him and brought her lips to his ear.

“Leave a message,” she murmured.

He lifted the phone again. “Hi…uh…this is Neo. Neo Martin. Javier’s son.” He twisted his head to look at Sylvia, widening his eyes at her, and she gave him a satisfied smile. “I need you to call me back. You have my number.”

He ended the call, and shrugged at her. “You think he’ll call?”

“I told you, Javier spoke to him all the time.” Sylvia crooned, nuzzling the side of his neck. “I’m sure he can help you with your…problem.”

Neo felt like cringing at the word, even if it was the most accurate depiction of the bitch who’d overnight become his wife and co-leader of the cartel.

She was a problem. And problems had to be dealt with.

He stared down at the cellphone screen, and he wasn’t sure if he wanted it to ring or not, especially since he had no idea who would be on the other end of the line. Was the guy a paid assassin — someone who had no ties with the cartels so it would look like a cold hit? Or was this one of those guys who knew everyone a capo could ever need…and then just made the arrangements like a criminal concierge service.

“Neo?”

He flinched, and turned. Sylvia lay spread behind him, the two halves of her robe falling away from her bare breasts. She beckoned him. “Fuck me,” she said.

“Not now.” Neo shrugged as he turned back. “Let’s see if he calls.”

“It’ll make the wait seem shorter,” she said. The bed moved under her as she came up to him, slipping her arms around his waist to stroke his dick through his shorts.

He arched his back, putting her out of reach of his dick. “Christ, woman!”

She fell away from him with a soft laugh, and sprawled on the bed behind him. “Fine…then you can watch.”

He spun to her, intent on yelling at her—and god, he’d yelled at her more times than he could count today—but she spread her legs as he watched, and her hand slid behind the film of her underwear.

Her fingers humped up that dark fabric as she circled her clit.

His dick strained against his shorts a second later.

“The longer you take, the quicker it’s going to be,” Sylvia said.

A flare of anger burst through him. “You conniving bitch,” he muttered, clawing his way over to her. He grabbed her underwear, ripping it halfway down her legs. She let out a husky laugh, and spread her legs again as she worked a pair of fingers in and out of her pussy.

“Did I make you angry, Neo?” she asked coyly, her shoulders squirming into the sheets under her.

“You know you did.” He yanked his dick free and shoved it into her. She gasped, her back arching, and fisted the sheets beside her hips as he pounded into her again.

“Harder,” she commanded, lifting her hips from the bed.

He didn’t want to see her face, or hear her voice. Every time he did, it made him think of Javier. It reminded him that the prick had fucked her countless times before he had.

If she hadn’t proved such a surprising resource, he would have thrown her out of the villa, just to be rid of that constant reminder.

But she fucked like a succubus, and who knew what else was buried in that pretty head? What conversations she’d overheard, or what Javier had confessed to her as he’d fucked her, high and delirious on his own success?

Neo pulled out, grabbed her hips, and flipped her over.

She didn’t like this position, but she knew he didn’t care. She gasped when he thrust into her from behind, twisting and moaning in part pleasure, part pain.

When he was coming inside her, his phone rang.

He emptied himself before he fumbled the phone closer, and he kept his softening dick inside her when he answered.

“Yes?” His voice was breathless, but harsh.

“I am returning your call,” came a quiet reply. The man had a strong American accent, and he knew for a fact he’d never heard it before.

Neo pulled out of Sylvia, squeezing her ass as she fell onto her side, and then moved to the edge of the bed so he sit up and put his cock away.

“My sincerest condolences for your loss,” the man said, before Neo could speak again. Which was better, because he was still trying to get his breath back. “Your father was a great man. He will be sorely missed.”

The words sounded empty but, they didn’t sound rehearsed.

He couldn’t quite get the hang of this stranger, but who the hell else did he have on his side?

“You and my father were close?” he asked.

“We were business partners,” the man said. “I assume that is why you called.”

Neo didn’t know what to say. He spun back to Sylvia, and she gave him an open-mouthed smile. She was finishing herself off; the fingers of one hand inside while she strummed her clit with the other.

He wanted to look away, but the growing pleasure on her face was hypnotic. “I don’t understand,” he said.

There was a moment’s silence before the man spoke again. “My apologies,” he said in a slow drawl. “I assumed you were calling to confirm arrival of the first shipment.”