Marie, Laura - Miss: Senorita and the Soldado [The Miss Series 2] (BookStrand Publishing Romance) (23 page)

He loved the feel of her skin, the smell of her hair, and the erotic little moans that escaped her mouth with every thrust. It became impossible to hold out, and his hunger grew.

He scooted lower onto the couch then rolled her to her back. They continued to make love as Gustavo sought his release, determined to satisfy that increasing hunger.

Elloisa’s responsiveness cheered him on. She kissed his neck, ran her fingernails over his shoulders to his back and then under his arms to his rear. He pressed deeper into her, in this position, then felt her insides tighten. A few more thrusts and as she nibbled his neck, he lost the battle to love her any longer as they exploded together as one.

* * * *

Elloisa held Gustavo so tightly against her. She wanted to stay like this for as long as they could. Nothing ever felt like this. It felt as if life had just begun for them. The look in his eyes and the way he possessed her body made her love this man in her arms. No matter what the future brought, she would always remember her true love Gustavo.

Chapter 16

Elloisa was tired. She let the hot water caress her body and the slight aches she felt after her long afternoon in training. She chuckled at that. Gustavo was amazing. He had initiated an emergency plan of escape in case they were ambushed. He tried to prepare her for just about every scenario he could think of. She had tried telling him that Ramos had come from generations of military operatives. He was ruthless and thought nothing of taking lives. Gustavo indicated that he knew that, and she got the impression that he witnessed it firsthand. That gave her the chills. Gustavo had been so deep undercover that he had to witness murders and remain silent to save his own life. Then again, maybe that was why she felt so safe with him. He understood exactly the life she had been forced to live. The only difference was that she had to face the murders, abuse, and conduct of her captor and his associates on a daily basis.

She began to wash the shampoo out of her hair while she thought about what Gustavo had said to her today when she was feeling tired and frustrated from repeating the steps to escape with him.

“You cannot plan for everything, Gus.”

“Well, I try to at least be in the state of improvisation when needed.”

“I’ve seen you in action, remember?”

He gave her the once-over, and it heated her body from the outside in.

“I hadn’t planned on you when I became part of Sintorez’s gang.”

“Yeah, well, I appreciate the change of mission. I needed your help to get across the border and away from the border pirates.”

He had reached for her and laid his hand against her neck as his thumb caressed her chin.

“I never planned on falling in love with you. But the moment I laid eyes on you, I felt as compelled to be your protector as I did to possess your love.”

She had felt the tears sting her eyes, but she remained silent as she swallowed hard.

She knew that this situation was far from over. They couldn’t allow their attraction, their sexual desires, to rule their minds and actions.

“We can’t let our guard down, Gus. My family is not safe, and we are forced into hiding because of Armando’s capabilities. Let’s not lose focus.”

He had released his hold and immediately went back into soldier mode. He had remained distant and distracted for the reminder of the time in the woods. She now felt guilty for doing that to him, but she was scared. What if they never get a chance to pursue their love or this relationship? It seemed impossible until Armando, Ramos, and their crew of killers were dead.

* * * *

Armando leaned back in his seat at his desk and spoke to Miguel. Demacio Cruz wanted to get things moving on the new meth lab they had established in Queens. He also had some information on the Givani family. Demacio had a location of the whereabouts of the parents and one brother. He also said that the two older brothers were working cases surrounding Armando’s operation. But he didn’t have concrete information on how close the Givani brothers were getting. Armando acknowledged the information and thought it through. He would make a decision on the next step soon.

Then his phone rang, interrupting his thoughts.

“They’re difficult to find and weed out. No one is talking and our leads are bringing up nothing,” Ramos stated through the cell phone. He was outside of the border and about to enter the United States with a crew of men.

“Then we must smoke them out like the cockroaches they are. Call Avalar and have him initiate the plan I discussed,” Armando stated.

“What would you like me to do?”

“Get to New York. I set up the private jet and the helicopters. There shouldn’t be any problems. This is costing me a lot, and if anyone fails, they will be killed.”

“Okay, Armando. We are getting ready to cross now. I will touch base later today.”

“Good luck, my friend.”

Armando hung up the phone and smiled.

“Let’s see how you handle this, my little princess.” He leaned back in his chair and waited patiently.

* * * *

“Repeat that, John?” Gustavo asked as he felt his gut clench and his heart ache.

“There’s a bounty on Salvatore and Jack’s heads. It was initiated an hour ago through the Rojo gang and word has spread through the city.”

“Fuck!”

“I don’t know what to do. Jack and Salvatore are aware of this and refuse to go into protective custody. They have been working around the clock putting together all the information Elloisa gave them. They found the multiple locations of meth labs we’ve been searching for years for. And it seems that our big shots are gathering together for some kind of secret meeting this Friday night.”

“Friday night? That’s only three days away.”

“Exactly. That’s why Jack and Salvatore are staying on this. I’ve got multiple forces in motion here, Gus. This is huge, and if we can pull it off, Armando Sintorez and his gangs can kiss his whole operation good-bye.”

“I can’t tell Elloisa about this. I won’t be able to keep her here.”

“You have no choice. I don’t care if you have to handcuff her to make her stay put. She leaves that location and she’s as good as dead.”

“I don’t know if I can do that,” Gus whispered as he looked behind him to make sure that Elloisa wasn’t there.

John was silent a moment before he spoke.

“Why, because you’ve fallen for her?”

Gus was silent. He had known John for years. He had personally taken Gus under his wing as a newbie agent. He could be honest with him. John was one of the few people he trusted with his life.

“She has a way of getting under your skin.”

John chuckled then added, “Well, if you don’t want her six feet under, you keep her there, no matter what. There’s no future for the two of you if we don’t eliminate Sintorez.”

“I understand. I will do my best.”

“I know you will. Keep me posted.”

“Yes, sir, and please do the same.”

* * * *

“You both are to get your asses into protective custody now!” Jerry Givani yelled into the phone.

Jack pulled the phone away from his ear as his father carried on. He was demanding that they hand the operation over to other people not so connected to the case. A bounty was not something to minimize or ignore.

“I understand how upset you and Mom are, Dad, but we’ll handle this. Where are you calling from anyway?”

“My cell phone. If your sister and Gustavo find out about this, she’ll leave the hideout and be back down here in the city in no time.”

“I understand, Dad, but we’ve got a lot to do. We’re taking precautions.”

“Not good enough, Jack.”

“It has to be good enough because all of our lives depend upon this.”

Jack hung up the phone and sighed.

“Hey, what was that all about?” Investigator Higgins asked as he leaned against the doorframe in the small office Jack was working in.

“Our dad wants us to go into protective custody.”

“He found out about the bounty?”

“Yup.”

“Maybe you and Salvatore should rethink your strategy?”

“No. Elloisa gave up more than a year of her life for us. We’re not stopping until Armando Sintorez is dead or captured.”

“We’ve seen how resourceful he is. You are both easy targets in the city. Maybe you should go to where the agent and your sister are. Then there would be three trained men protecting her.

Jack was silent as he contemplated that.

“I’ll run it by Salvatore, but he’s not exactly fond of the woods.”

Higgins laughed quietly. “He’ll get over it, and you two can work from there. The wonders of technology.”

Jack chuckled then Higgins left the room.

He thought about what Higgins had said. That might not be such a bad idea. They were both concerned over Elloisa and the way Gustavo seemed to watch her so closely. If the agent hadn’t already made a move, they could prevent any further ones. It might be kind of fun.

He smiled then called his brother.

* * * *

DEA Headquarters, Manhattan, New York

John Falco was speaking with Agent Zack Miller over the phone.

“I think it would be wise to move them farther out of New Jersey. We had two attempts this morning alone. One dressed as security, another as a doctor. Both gained access to the floor that we’re on. The Givani family needs to move.”

“I understand, Zach, and I respect your judgment. Let me work on a better location and see when we can move Teressa,” John replied.

Just then John’s other phone began to ring. “Let me grab that call, and I’ll work on a separate location for the family. I also want to try and convince the other brothers to go along as well.”

“Good luck with that,” Zach stated sarcastically then hung up the phone.

John shook his head then answered the next call.

“It’s Broderick, and you were right about Higgins,” Agent Broderick stated immediately.

“Son of a bitch! Jerry was right. I just made the call. I can’t believe that asshole is on the Sintorez payroll. How the hell did you confirm this?”

“That’s the bad part, sir. He made a call out to Avalar and he was tapping all the phones in the building. Jerry called Jack on his cell phone. That was easily traceable, but he did mention being in the safe house in New Jersey and not the hospital they’re in. He may have suspected something.”

“Yeah, Jerry was the one to put me on to Higgins. It was Higgins who Jerry believed set him up two years ago when all this shit went down.”

“They were good friends, right?”

“Yeah, Broderick. Damn, what information did he get off the taps?”

“Jack and Salvatore talking about going into protective custody and either picking someplace warm or heading into the Adirondacks to stay with Elloisa and Gustavo.”

“Oh, crap. Any definite description on their location, or do you think it was vague?”

“I think they could find them. I think their locations are in jeopardy.”

“I’ll get on the phone with them immediately.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Bring them back here to headquarters and I’ll notify Gus.”

“If Gus needs help, I can be up there by tomorrow morning,” Zach offered.

“I’ll let you know.”

Chapter 17

“We confirmed their location.”

“Whose location did you confirm?”

“The entire Givani family, including your Elloisa,” Avalar exclaimed.

Armando sat back in the limo and smiled. Getting into the United States had been a piece of cake as usual. But then again, he had been determined to take care of this situation on his own since no one else seemed capable of it.

“Send me the location, and I’ll have Ramos and my men move in on it.”

“I will shortly. Then can we finalize our plan for the laboratory?”

Armando didn’t like the way Avalar was speaking to him. His gut clenched and he knew he was being baited.

“I’ve made my decision. You can run the show, and I expect my share of the profits as we discussed at my estate.”

Avalar chuckled. “Very good, Armando. I will call you shortly.”

Armando heard the phone click off, and immediately he called Ramos.

* * * *

Avalar closed his phone then looked at the group of men. They were all trained soldiers and all armed with automatic weapons. He couldn’t believe that Elloisa was just two blocks down the road in a small cabin that sat on a lake secluded from any other nearby houses. Being secluded meant no worries of police being called when his men shot up the cabin. Avalar knew that the agent would not give up Elloisa without a fight. It was perfect, and soon Avalar would have Armando Sintorez’s prize possession. It had paid off to have numerous DEA agents on the payroll, especially in the surveillance unit. Every incoming and outgoing call in the department was recorded and monitored, whether approved by officials or not. He had an exact location on the entire family, but most importantly, on Elloisa.