Loving a Bad Boy (23 page)

****

“
Take the car to the
garage, we’ll use the elevator, “Julio said to Pete while flipping
through a file Roberto had given him earlier. Ever since dinner the
other night, when his parents somehow became the center of
attention, Roberto had mellowed. He didn’t tense when Julio walked
into his office, he offered viable suggestions and laughed more
often. Perhaps Maria was right and his mom had a profound effect on
the older man.

His phone beeped. He looked at the caller
ID, it was Tex. “Yes?”

“
You nearby?”

“
Parking the car
downstairs right now. What’s up?”

“
Ms. O knocked on the
door, claimed some strange men were hanging around the fifth floor.
Pam’s still on assignment, right?”

Julio’s hand tightened on the phone, a
slight panic radiated in his chest. “Yeah, she’ll be home
tomorrow.” Once the car stopped he opened the door and pointed to
his briefcase. “Get those.” Pete nodded as Julio went to the
staircase.

“
Hog is on her floor,” Tex
said.

“
He see
anybody?”

“
Not yet, but someone
broke in her place.”

“
Shit.” Julio clicked off,
pulled out his gun and walked stealthily up the stairs to the fifth
floor. Heart racing, he looked into the shadows for an assailant,
and listened intently for any sound. When he reached the fourth
floor he saw a light from the fifth floor. The door was opened. He
paused. It was probably Hog he thought as he crept up to the
landing.

“
Boss?”

“
Yeah.” He walked up the
last flight and met his man at the door. “Anybody?”

“
No, but somebody jimmied
her locks. Weren’t too nice about it either.” The big man followed
behind Julio to Pam’s door.

Wood was missing on the door frame from
where it had been kicked in. Gun held high, standing to the side,
Julio waved Hog back, placed his foot against the bottom and with
light force, pushed. The door creaked a bit and swung opened.

Her living room hadn’t been touched, he
noticed as he walked through.

“
Back here,” Hog
yelled.

With long strides Julio rounded the door
into the room where Tex had stayed and stopped abruptly. On the
wall in bright red letters the words “Cardena’s Whore” decorated
the wall. Anger and regret battled for supremacy inside his chest,
ironically for the same reason. Some asshole had targeted Pam
because of him.

His mind ran wild at the implications as his
gaze flickered over the room and then hardened at the words on the
wall again. Why Pam? He’d dated women before and none of them had
been targeted. Was this about the Miami job or something else?
Regardless, someone wanted him to know they could access those
close to him right under his nose. First Tex. Now Pam. Whoever was
behind this was dead ass serious about getting his attention.

They now had it.

How would Pam take this? Things worked well
for them because her job took her away for days at a time, and she
didn’t realize the irregularity of his work hours. She never
questioned the need for the men who hung around him after being
told they worked for him. She accepted that in his line of work he
needed to be careful, and carried a weapon. She had a handgun
herself. But if she saw those words on her wall, it might shatter
the cover he’d put in place. And he wasn’t ready for that. Now he
understood why Mrs. O hadn’t said anything to Pam. She expected him
to look after Pam’s safety. And he would.

Okay, how best to handle this? He rubbed his
fingertips on the cold steel of his weapon. Conflicting thoughts
ran rampant in his mind. He could have everything painted and
repaired before she returned tomorrow. And never tell her about any
of this. That’d keep his involvement a secret.

How’d that fly if somebody did that to him?
Not good. He’d be pissed. Did her reaction matter? How much did she
matter? He stumbled over that question.

“
Get somebody to fix that
front door, don’t replace the lock.” After a thorough search of her
condo, Julio didn’t notice anything else out of place. But that
didn’t mean anything, it wasn’t his home. He stepped into the hall
and pulled out his phone.

“
Yeah?” Tex
answered.

“
I want her place scanned.
Somebody painted Cardena’s whore on the wall in the room you
used.”

“
What?... You want samples
of the paint taken, might get a clue from that.”

“
Won’t hurt, but take out
the bugs first. I’m having her door fixed and the wall
painted.”

Tex paused. “You gonna tell her what
happened?”

“
Yeah. I’ll tell her. She
has to know, can’t let them blindside her.”

“
You’re right. She’s good
people, she’ll handle it.”

****

Pam screamed and stamped her foot on the
floor. Heart slamming against her chest she stared at the repaired
door.

Julio took her by the arms. Warm palms moved
up and down in slow strokes arresting her attention. “Calm down. I
had the door fixed and the wall painted because of what they
wrote—”

“
Somebody broke into my
house?” She pushed back, raked her hand through her hair and pulled
hard on the strands. “Why? How? Security is supposed to be tight in
this building. I pay a fortune in HOA fees and part of that is to
keep thieves out of the building and out of my damn house.” She
didn’t bother to cloak the anger and hurt she felt. If he didn’t
like it he could leave.

“
I know, I live upstairs.”
He reached for her, but she stepped out of reach.

“
Yeah but you have a
dangerous business.” She slapped her chest. “I don’t. They didn’t
break into any other units, I bet. Just mine. That means they
passed two,” she held up her fingers. “Count them, two other homes
to get to me. Why is that?” she asked walking back and forth in
fury. “It’s because I’m a single black woman. People think I’m an
easy target.”

“
I don’t think that’s
–”

She stopped. Her fist opened and closed.
“Yeah? Why didn’t they hit the Gergens two doors down? Or the
Chesterfields who live closest to the elevator?”

He opened his mouth, but she continued. “Do
you know that someone tried to break into my place a year and a
half ago?”

He frowned. “No.”

She nodded as the memories resurfaced.
“Yeah. But one of my neighbors got off the elevator and they ran
down the stairs. Assholes left the bar on the floor. That’s why
you’re supposed to use a code now for the stairwell.” She looked up
at the ceiling. “Some days…” Numb, she waited for the anger to fill
her again. Or the pain. Something anything but this debilitating
nothing. She felt the heat from his body before he touched her
shoulders.

“
Some days, what?” he
asked in a soft voice near her ear.

Her eyelids wafted closed as his natural
scent filled her nostrils. His warmth chased away the chill from
discovering her home had been violated. This wasn’t the time to
explain the emptiness of her life. Their time together was an
abnormality. The bulk of her time, she worked, and looked for clues
about her past. Forget the present, she had no time for it and the
future was on lockdown until she cleared her past. It was a vicious
cycle. Locked in a morass of identity loss and confusion, she’d
been unable to move forward. The trip to the Island would break
that cycle. Her heart lightened.

“
Some days I get so tired
of the bullshit.” She turned in his arms, enjoying the solid thump
of his heartbeat. It became an anchor, tethering her to the right
now. They remained locked together for a few moments. “Did I say
thanks for fixing the door and painting the wall?”

He rubbed his chin against the top of her
head. “Yeah, in so many ways.” He squeezed her ass.

She laughed. It was amazing how he was able
to make her forget and simply feel. The past couple of weeks had
been unbelievable. He had a wonky sense of humor. She was sure a
lot of people didn’t get him, but she did. He made her laugh. They
talked every night she was on assignment about all kinds of stuff,
nothing too heavy, but enough to keep her interested.

His hardness poked into her stomach. “I
can’t believe I’m in the middle of a crisis here and you’re
thinking about that.” She hid her grin against his chest.

“
First off, when I think
of you I get hard. You in my arms, I am hard. Second, your crisis
is over. I’d like to install a better security system in here,
that’d help catch any asshole who breaks through your
door.”

Warmth filled her at his suggestion. It’d
been a long time since anyone, who didn’t work for her, had offered
any assistance. “As long as it’s not the same as the one you have
upstairs.”

He leaned back, a ghost of a smile hovering
around his mouth. “You making fun of my business?”

She batted her eyes. “It’s not funny that a
security expert had his security system breached.” She shook her
head. “Nope, nothing remotely funny about that.” Her smirk turned
into a wide grin.

“
You’re going to pay for
that,” he said softly as he leaned forward.

“
I hope so,” she said
standing on tip-toes eager to reach his mouth. He pressed his lips
to hers, gently, sweetly. Her hands cradled his cheeks, reveling in
both the softness of his flesh and the stiff bristles on his
chin.

He nibbled on her bottom lip. She leaned
into him as tingles of pleasure ran through her.

“
Julio,” she moaned as his
teeth scraped the base of her neck, another super-sensitive spot
he’d found.

“
Hmmm?” His fingertips
flicked her taut nipple and tightened in her hair at the same time.
She jerked in expectant ecstasy. Moisture pooled between her legs
as he walked her back to the chair, sat and pulled her
down

“
You like that?” he
shifted so his rod pressed against her mound.

“
Ahhhh.” She rocked on his
lap trying to get him to move faster.

“
Be still.” He pinched her
nipple.

“
Oww,” she squealed as she
stopped moving.

“
You are so beautiful,” he
whispered in her ear. “I like that you keep it real with this. You
want me, you let me know. That’s some sexy shit.” His fingertips
tapped on her mound.

She trembled beneath his assault.

“
You want me, right?” He
asked as his finger stroked over her panty clad pussy.

“
Un huh.” Her eyes
fluttered shut from the sensations.

His hand stopped moving. She reached down,
grabbed it to get him moving again.

“
Nah. You gotta say the
words.” He licked the corner of her mouth. She felt his smile and
melted against him.

“
Tell me you want me. Only
me,” he murmured as he cupped her between her legs.

Whimpering, she widened her legs. “I want
you.”

His finger slid beneath the fabric and
swirled in her juices. “Only me. Tell me this is only for me.”

Crying out at the pleasurable feelings
streaking through her, she arched as his finger slid inside her
sheath. “Only you,” she said breathily as her head fell back.

“
Good.” He thrust his
finger. “Shit, you’re so tight,” he growled as he thrust inside her
again.

Her breath hitched. His fingers were magical
as they worked her over. Just as she spread her thighs wider he
removed his hand. She whimpered in protest. Watching her intently,
he placed his fingers in his mouth and sucked hard and long. Empty
and needy, she throbbed beneath his lustful stare.

He lifted her from his lap. “Undress.”

That one word ricocheted within her mind as
she watched, with morbid fascination, him take off his clothes. The
tight muscular planes of his chest flexed as he pulled off his
shirt and unzipped his pants. She licked her lips as the view of
his long, lean thighs came into view. His long, thick cock jutted
out from surrounding springy dark hairs. Her hands itched to play
over his rock hard abs and brown nipples.

Hands on hips, she saw his lips moving but
failed to understand the words.

“
Hey…”

“
Huh?” she asked dragging
her eyes from between his legs.

He’d moved closer and pulled her top over
her head. “Undress.” He turned her around and unsnapped her bra.
His hands came around and lifted her globes in his palm. He pinched
her nipples. “Nice.”

She smiled as she stepped out of her skirt
and panties. Neither of them moved toward the other. Instead they
simply looked at each other. Initially she felt awkward, but the
look of utter adoration in his eyes allayed her fears and
emboldened her. A slow seductive smile inched across his face as he
reached for her. Instead of taking her arm, he grabbed her
breast.

She grabbed his cock. They continued staring
at each other for a moment, her heart raced at the promise in his
eyes. Something different was happening and it was more than her
emancipation from her parental search. She gave up trying to figure
things out when his lips latched onto her taut nipples. And all
thought flew out the window when he picked her up and carried her
to the bed.

****

Julio stretched and went to the bathroom. He
looked in the mirror as he washed his hands. He and Roberto would
be leaving tomorrow for Orlando to meet with some men Francisco
hired to unload the merchandise for the next run. He’d be gone two
days. Hands on each side of the vanity, he looked hard at himself
and asked a question. “What the fuck are you doing?” he whispered.
“You need to walk away. Somebody already broke into her place and
bugged it.” His men had found three electronic devices and one had
been hidden in her luggage. “It was a piece of luck that she
believed she was targeted by some random strangers, but he knew if
she’d seen the words on the wall she’d have a different
conclusion.