Tijuana Nights (The Nights Series Book 1) (20 page)

I didn’t know what it was, but I felt like crying. Something about that kill was just so personal. We were all sharing the same pool, and Chase had taken Jandro’s life with his bare hands. There hadn’t been much of a fight once Chase had wrapped himself around Jandro.

I wondered how long it would take for the guards to find him. If I had learnt anything this morning, it was that Chase was a serious pro. He was a professional killer in every sense of the word. I had seen River kill, and didn’t really bat an eyelid… but when it came to him… well. When it came to him, it was an art form, and he didn’t even use the knife. I had thought this might get bloody and brutal, but it hadn’t. It was clean, and almost natural. I was officially in awe of his skills. It made me want him even more than before. He was sexy, and dangerous, and that ramped up my emotional connection to him even more. He was exciting.

Chase dived down to me, and pointed to the other end of the pool. We swam towards it, surfaced, and climbed out. I took the apparatus from my mouth, and Chase grabbed my hand. “Come on,” he whispered. “Time to run.”

He led me through the pool’s filter room, and out the back. Gabe had towels at the ready when we reached the car. I didn’t bother changing, and neither did Chase. We just got in silently, and Gabe drove out the gates.

I sat there numbly, wondering what the hell had just happened. “Wow….” I muttered. I heard Gabe chuckle from the front seat. “Just wow.”

“Pretty up close and personal, isn’t it?” Gabe said. “The first time I ever saw that, I was probably feeling the same as you are now. And you know what the best part is?”

I shook my head. “What?”

“Nobody even knows you were there.”

And that was the moment when I wondered if I could do a similar sort of stunt on Carmen. “Does Carmen have a pool?”

I was dressed and ready to go meet Alvarez. River had taken it upon himself to do my makeup while telling me about killing some woman named Beila, who was another Cartel member on the list.

I reached up to his face, and tentative ran my fingers gently down the scratches on his face. “You’re a mess,” I said, my voice quiet.

He nodded. “I garrotted her – like with Regina. She was quite nasty, and a heck of a lot stronger that she looked.” His eyes met mine. “But enough about that. I’m assuming you and Chase have managed to sort something out between you?”

Colour flared to my face, and I looked down at the floor, biting my lip.

“Look, Mack. Right from the first night we met you, there was obvious tension between you and him…” He smiled. “I’m just pleased that it’s positive tension now.”

I snorted, remembering. “He wanted to kill me.”

“He did,” River agreed, “But it’s been obvious to both me and Gabe for a while now that our best friend was falling for you. And rightly so. You’re a beautiful, smart woman. I consider you like a sister. Don’t ever forget that. Especially not tonight when you’re with Alvarez. Use those skills you have, and your wit and looks to your advantage. It doesn’t matter if you can’t dance. Alvarez likes you for a reason.”

I laughed, relieved that the tension was dissolved. “Are you saying that my dance moves aren’t attractive?”

River smirked, his eyes laughing with amusement. “I’m saying that if Alvarez only liked women for their dancing skills – yeah – he could probably do better than you.” He brushed some hair away from my face tenderly, and leaned forward to lightly kiss me on the cheek. I could feel a warm sensation of trust surround me from him. He really did consider me part of his family.  I felt accepted. I stood and wrapped my arms around him, embracing as a smile lit my face.

“You’re all good, Mack. Now, go knock him dead with your dance moves.”

I was damn nervous about going to Alvarez's place. But I guess it had to be done.

When River finally let me go, I ran straight into Chase in the hallway. He gripped both my shoulders. "Slow down, tiger," he commented with a smirk. "I was just coming to see if you were ready to go."

I hesitantly nodded. "Sort of."

He smiled down at me. "Good. If you're ready to go, I'll take you there. I want to keep watch on the place and be your back up in case anything goes wrong."

My mouth went dry. "What could go wrong?" I squeaked.

Chase shrugged. "Anything really... I may have to take him out while you’re there. You'll be fine though. I've got your back. Now..." he smiled. "Go get your bag or whatever it is you need. I'll be out in the car."

I ran straight to my room, glancing at my watch. "Bloody River," I muttered as I threw a few things into my handbag.

I heard a knock at the door, and Gabe poked his head around it. "I have something for you before you go," he said, grinning. He walked over to me, and pinned one of the most beautiful broaches I had ever seen to the strap of my dress.

"That's gorgeous," I commented as I ran my fingers over it.

Gabe nodded. "It sure is. It has a camera and microphone in it, so you're linked up to us here and on our mobiles. Just in case..."

I sighed, of course it was. "Honestly - what could go wrong? Chase is all worried about it, and now you..." I watched Gabe closely, but he wouldn't meet my eye. "Is there something you're not telling me about Alvarez?"

He shook his head. "Go." He shooed me out the door. "You're running late."

Damn it, he was right. I picked up my bag, and ran out to the car. It rumbled to life as soon as I closed the door, and I settled into the soft red leather seats. Chase put some music on, and I noticed that it was from the USB stick he handed to me the other day which I’d never got around to plugging in.

Drum and Bass sounded throughout the car, and I turned to Chase in surprise. "You have this?"

He smiled. "I've been known to listen to a variety of music. But I remembered what you said the other day about how this was your favourite sort, so I loaded some."

I smiled, letting the music and the vibrations from the car’s engine wrap around my senses. I closed my eyes, and realised that I could smell Chase's cologne as well. I didn't want to go to Alvarez's house. I wanted to stay here listening to amazing music in this car, and hang out with a man I really liked who made me feel safe.

But that wasn't going to happen.

Chase grabbed my hand, and I opened my eyes to look at him. "You're going to do great," he said.

I smiled lazily at him. "I would prefer to stay here with you."

"I know." He laughed. "Believe me when I say this - I would like nothing more than for you to hang out here with me as well. But you have a job to do."

That was the thing about Chase. He was just so damn focused on his work, our work, and what we had to do in order to make it all happen.

I then wondered why he was really here with me.

"Do you have an ulterior motive, Chase?"

"When? Now?"

I nodded.

"When it comes to you, Mack, all my motives are ulterior."

I laughed.  "Gee, well that clarifies things. No ... I mean ...  Are you going to take Alvarez out while I'm there?"

He shrugged. "Depends."

"On what?"

"On what his ulterior motives are, for one."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh come on, Chase. You know what his ulterior motives are. You know he's going to try his best to get me into bed with him. I'm not going in blind, you know."

Chase pursed his lips together, and kept his eyes on the road. "And how are you going to handle that, then?"

I sighed. "I have no idea. I'll figure that out at the time." I glanced at him. I could tell he was angry from the set of his jaw, and the way he refused to look at me. I could feel something simmering beneath his surface. “How are you going to handle it?” I asked, almost inaudibly.

He exhaled. "Well, just know that I will have a gun trained on him as much as I can, so if you ever need my help, you just give me the signal."

Great. Now I was never going to be able to relax. It was bad enough knowing that Alvarez was in the El Diablo Cartel, let alone that he liked me, was going dance with me, but now I knew that Chase would be aiming at him the entire time. I was already nervous enough!

Chase started to slow the car down as we turned a corner into a dusty but tree lined street. He pulled up in front of a walled complex, and showed me the gate. "Go ring the buzzer and you'll find him."

I looked at Chase, and he finally met my eye. "What are you going to do now?"

He gave me a tired smile. "I'll find a tree and perch up there for a while. Go." He leaned over and opened my door.

He was so close, I could smell the shampoo residue in his hair, and the raw scent of him mixed with expensive cologne. He paused, and I froze.

"Now?" I whispered.

"Yes." He was just inches away from me.

"Okay," I said, my tone breathy.

He put his hand on the back of my seat, and kissed me. "You look beautiful, Mack." He smiled slowly. "Seriously."

My heart stuttered. "Thanks."

I had to leave. It was too intense, and I needed to mentally prepare myself for Alvarez. I gave him a quick peck on the corner of his mouth. "Take care," I whispered as I got out of the car.

I waited at the gate to be buzzed in, glancing over my shoulder at Chase before I walked through. The garden was pristine and manicured, with a heap of trees. It was obvious that Alvarez had gardeners come in and do the work, as I doubted he would have the time to do it himself.

I walked up the pathway to a modest sized house. He opened the front door before I reached it.

"Ciara." He exhaled with a light sigh, kissing me lightly on the cheek. "How lovely to see you."

I smiled. "Likewise," I said as I followed him into the foyer. There was a small table displaying a large arrangement of blooming flowers, and I stopped to smell them.

Alvarez smiled as he watched me. "Ah, I see you have an appreciation for the more beautiful things in life."

"Mmmm," I responded.

He touched my bare elbow. "Come through to the kitchen."

I followed him through a set of double doors, and stepped into an expansive kitchen full of light. "Nice place," I said genuinely.

"Thank you." He smiled as he pulled two glasses from a large rack that sat above the bar area. "Wine?"

I nodded, looking around. There was a dining nook at the far end of the kitchen, with French doors that opened onto a bricked patio area. Seating was placed out there with large bright cushions, for people enjoy the garden.

"This house belonged to my parents. It was one of their smaller properties. I moved in when I was eighteen." He shrugged. "And I guess I never really left."

I smiled. "Your parents had good taste." I perched on one of the barstools, and took my glass of white from him.

"Yes, I thought so." He laughed. "I do feel at home here, I must admit."

"What sort of work did your parents do?"

He took a sip of his wine before answering me. "Oh, imports and exports. You know - that sort of thing."

Oh boy, I thought. I fixed a smile on my face. "Looks like it was a lucrative business," I commented. "My parents were fairly boring. My dad was an accountant, and my mother was a housewife."

He laughed. "I'm sure they were more interesting than just that. Tell me - what do you do Ciara?"

"Me?" I took a sip of wine and gave him a small smile. "I'm a historian."

"A historian? Well I would never have guessed it." He chuckled. "You don't look like one."

"Really? Well obviously I love Egyptian history." I patted my Cleopatra styled hair. "Mostly I research early civilisations, human migration, and war history."

Alvarez paused, looking thoughtful for a few moments. "And what brings you here to Mexico?"

I shrugged. "Holiday mainly. My brother, Davin? You met him the other day."

Alvarez nodded.

"Anyway, he's working here at the moment. Lucero and I decided to come out for a holiday. We were meant to be travelling down to Brazil, and spending some time in Rio de Janeiro, but that hasn't exactly panned out."

"Why is that?"