Tijuana Nights (The Nights Series Book 1) (9 page)

"Don't I know you from somewhere?"

The deep voice startled me, and my eyes flew open to find a man standing beside me. I wanted to kick myself for not hearing him sidle up beside me. River would kick my arse if he knew. I looked up at the stranger, and recognition flared in his eyes, and I imagined the same was in mine. It was the man I danced with at the bar the night Regina was killed; her security detail.

Jesus H. Christ. I forced a smile and tried to calm down. "Yes, I believe we danced once," I said charmingly. Surely he knew I had something to do with Regina's death... surely.

He smiled. "Yes we did. Interesting that we bump into each other like this. Do you come to political balls often?”

His eyes searched mine, and something in them made my skin crawl. “No, I don’t. This was a bit of a surprise for me,” I said honestly.

He grinned. “You still have your boyfriend?"

I couldn't help it, I laughed. "Yes, I do."

He took a sip from his drink, and sighed. "Too bad." He grinned. "I’d like to dance with you again tonight," he added. "That's if your boyfriend doesn't mind too much?"

I took a puff of the cigarette as I considered my response. I knew what River would do. He would go along with it to maintain his cover. I dismissed his comment with a wave of my hand. "Sure," I found myself saying. "I’d love to."

He held his hand out to me. "My name is Alvarez," he said, eyes smiling down at me as he assessed me.

I reached out and shook his hand. "Ciara," I responded, remembering my new alias. For some unknown reason, Gabe was fond of giving us names that represented colours or anything to do with colours. Ciara meant ‘black one’ or something obscure like that. I thought the name suited the wig I was wearing.

"Ciara? What a lovely name. Where are you from?"

I dropped my cigarette into the ashtray at my feet, and looked up at him. "England, actually. Could you not tell?"

Alvarez laughed, shrugging. "No. All you English speaking people sound similar... well, to me anyway."

"But your English is very good," I commented.

"Yes. The woman who raised me was English speaking, she thought it was a good idea to raise me bi-lingual. ‘Better work opportunities’, she used to say."

I watched him curiously, noting the distant look in his eyes. "The woman who 'raised you'?"

He turned to me and smiled. "Yes. I believe you would call her a Governess?"

Sudden clarity. "Ah," I said. "You sound as though you miss her. Is she not around anymore?"

"No, she's not," he said sharply, with a bitter note to his voice. He then turned to me, his eyes softening. "Forgive me for my bluntness. She died a few years ago."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." I tried to smile at him, but fear coursed through me. This was an awkward conversation, and I wanted to know more than anything how she died. I pushed my fear away, and put my hand on his arm. "Come on then, let's have a dance."

I could feel River's eyes on me before I saw him as I walked back into the ballroom. He was standing near the woman in red, and near Nicandro who was talking to an older man. River flashed me a smile, and turned his focus back to his companion. I knew he had my back should I need him.

Alvarez held me close, and I hoped like hell he couldn't hear or feel my heart thumping inside my chest. And that he wouldn’t get handsy and discover the gun.

"To dance is a way of communication," Alvarez murmured in my ear.

I swallowed. "Really? And what, pray tell, am I telling you right now?"

He laughed. "That you need more dancing lessons." He swung me away, and then back into his arms. "You need to relax." He grabbed my hips. "Loosen up. Dancing should never be restricted. In Latin-America, dancing is the one place where we can truly be ourselves."

I pursed my lips together, not sure what on earth to say. Alvarez was a big, strong man, with hard features. A part of me was scared of him, but another part felt thrilled by the way he handled me. "Right," I said. "Loosen up."

"Yes. Look around the room...notice the women. Look at how they are free as they dance. They do not let their minds restrict their bodies. They move to the music and with their dance partners.”

He was right. About both the women, and their freedom. I was green with envy. I wanted to move like that, but while I was in the arms of Alvarez, I couldn’t help but feel self-conscious and reserved. Something told me that he knew I had something to do with Regina’s death, but then when he looked down at me, I wasn’t sure. I wondered if he knew Carmen and Javier, or if he was just a security buff around these parts. He had an air of authority about him though that made me question what his real role was.

"Mujer hermosa," Alvarez whispered in my ear.

I smiled. "What does that mean?"

He laughed. "Looks like you need to brush up on your Spanish as well. It means that I think you are a beautiful woman."

I couldn't help it - I blushed, and he bent down and kissed me lightly on the cheek. "Thank you," I said.

It was at that moment that River intervened. "Ciara," he said quietly. "May I have the next dance?" River smiled down at me, and then held his hand out to Alvarez. "I am Lucero, and I don't believe we've met."

"Alvarez," he responded, and then turned to me. He handed me a business card. "I would love to talk with you more."

I took the card, and slipped it into my clutch, and nodded. "Of course. I'll call you."

He smiled, his eyes flicking towards River's momentarily. "If you like - I can give you some dance lessons, and then the next time you are at one of these functions you'll dazzle everyone not only with your beauty, but with your communication."

I smiled. "That would be lovely."

As Alvarez left the dance floor my eyes followed him until he disappeared into the crowd and River took my hand in his. "Do you know who that man was?" he asked quietly as we started to dance.

"Yes - I think so. He was on Regina's security detail. He danced with me that night as well."

River pulled back and smiled down at me. I thought for a minute he was going to ruffle my hair affectionately, but he didn't. "No, that is Alvarez Rico. He may have been with Regina the other night, but he was probably more of a companion than on her detail. He's one of the men on our list, and he's head of Security for the cartel."

I actually felt adrenaline kick in. My throat felt tight, and I fought the urge to run. He was on the hit list. "Oh my god," I whispered.

River winked at me. "And, apparently he likes you… so guess who’s going to have a dancing date with him soon?"

“If you stand still or move in any sort of pattern, Mack, you’re going to get hit. The first rule of fighting is to always keep moving. Fighting is gritty work. If you enter into a fight, you’re going to get hit – there are no two ways about it.”

I pulled my foot back into a fighting stance, just as River had shown me, and stared him down.

“Now hit the bag, and hit it hard.”

I did as he told me, and as my boxing glove connected with the bag, I felt a jarring reverberation up my arm and winced. The bag hardly moved.

River grabbed my shoulders. “Now, what happened just then?”

“I hit the bag?” I shook my arm out, trying to loosen it up and stop the pain.

He shook his head. “No. You bitch-slapped the bag. I want you to really HIT the bag. When you hit something, you follow through with your whole body. You don’t just slap the bag around – you smash your glove
through
the bag. Now—” He stood there, hands on hips. “Do it again.”

I grunted, and returned to my pose. River turned the music up with the small remote in his hand. “Go, Mack. Put your body into it. Through the bag.”

I had no idea what the hell he was talking about, and it was far too early in the damn morning to start arguing. I swung my arm out as I got closer to the bag and connected with it. This time, it didn’t hurt as much.

“Good, getting there. Get up close and personal with the bag, Mack, and imagine you’re pushing it as you punch.”

I did, and the bag swung away from me. And then it swung back and hit me in the chest, throwing me backwards onto my arse. As I sat there on the floor, River’s laughter met my ears. So did someone else’s whoop of amusement. I turned and saw Chase standing at the doorway, amusement evident on his face. I bit my lip in embarrassment, closed my eyes, and lay back on the floor. Typical fucking timing. I could feel the blush crawling up my neck to my face, and knew that it would be in full force by the time I opened my eyes.

“When did you get back?” I heard River ask.

“A few hours ago. I ended up driving back down.”

“Mission accomplished?”

I opened my eyes to see Chase shake his head. “Not really. Yes, Osiel Ramirez is done, but Alicio Mendoza is here now, so I followed him back.” He looked down at me with amusement, and extended his hand.

My stomach exploded with fluttering as my fingers wrapped around his, and I had to take a deep breath as he effortlessly lifted me to my feet. “Thank you.”

Chase smiled, his aqua eyes locking with mine. “You’re welcome. So…” He raised an eyebrow at River. “You’re teaching her how to box?”

River laughed. “Not really. More teaching her a few self-defence moves just in case she needs them.”

What? I put my hands on my hips. “I thought you were teaching me how to fight?”

Chase put his hand on my bare arm, and I felt my skin tingle. “Mack, he is teaching you, but let me tell you, it takes years for someone to become an advanced fighter. And they can still lose.” He glanced at River “So what he’s teaching you? It’s probably enough to get you out of a situation and then run. That would be my advice anyway.”

“And that’s what I’m doing,” River commented. “You’re going to have to learn how to get yourself out of a compromising situation, and then run.”

I looked between the both of them. “Or I could just shoot my way out.”

Chase laughed. “You could indeed.” He looked at River. “Mind if I take her off your hands for a while? I think she should come and train with me for the morning.” He smiled. My pulse raced.

“Be my guest.” River chuckled.

Chase took me down towards his bedroom, and my nerves went wild. “What are we doing?” I asked, choking the question out.

He smiled coyly at me. “Well – I’m going to get changed into something a bit more comfortable, and then I thought we would go and see a little scenery.”

We walked into his bedroom, a suite just as lavish as my own.

“Take a seat,” he said as he disappeared into his closet. He pulled a couple of things out, and walked through to the bathroom. I could see his reflection of the mirror as he stripped his top off. My mouth went dry, and I turned away, trying to become interested in something else. Anything else.

Moments later, he emerged dressed in shorts, t-shirt, and running shoes. “Oh dear God,” I muttered under my breath. I picked up a design magazine and started leafing through the pages. I wasn’t paying attention to the pages as I turned them. I was more curious as to why Chase had design magazines. I thought he would be more into men’s health magazines, or maybe even some of the luxury goods magazines, given the way he dressed. This design magazine showed him in a different light.

“What?” he asked, as he transferred his glasses for contact lenses.

He’d just caught me gazing at him, but I hadn’t really been ogling, thank God – I was just watching him more out of curiosity, “Nothing.”

“So, I read River’s entire file when I got in. You two have been busy. Nicandro
and
Alvarez at the ball, huh?”

“Huh,” I murmured. “Yeah.” I looked up at him. “Was Gabe back when you got home?” I asked, suddenly remembering that Gabe had spent the evening with Carmen.

Chase grinned. “No. I picked him up on my way through.” He walked towards the door and then turned back to me. “You coming?”

I jumped up after him, and he took me down the hallway, and out towards the back of the house. We went down a set of stairs, and Chase opened a door out to a small terraced garden area. “I like it out here,” he commented. “I thought River was mad when he first bought this place, but we needed a base in Central America, so it was ideal really.”