Page 95 of Lord of Punishment

All I could do was laugh. Yeah, maybe it had entered my mind. What a fucking crazy ten days. As the plane started to pull away from the gate, I took a seat, glancing onto the tarmac, wondering what she was doing.

When I pulled out my phone, Miguel laughed again. “Yep. You got it bad.”

“Careful, brother. I’ve killed for less.”

“Sure you have.” He flopped down in the seat across the aisle.

I held the phone to my head, trying to resist calling her. What the hell. What could it hurt? At that moment, my phone rang. Eyeing the screen, I was glad to see Diego’s number pop up.

“Diego. You got my message.”

“Yeah, I did. I put the other members of the Brotherhood on notice.”

“Good to hear. Is that invitation still open?”

“It looks like you won’t need it after all,” he answered.

I immediately bristled. “Why is that?”

“Rico never was in LA. I don’t know who gave you the pictures, but they were wrong. The guy was an actor hired to portray Rico. From what I’ve been able to ascertain, he’s been on the East Coast for days if not longer.”

Jesus Christ. I’d fallen for one of the oldest ruses in the book. What in the hell was wrong with me?

“Stop the plane. Stop the goddamn plane!”

CHAPTER 28

Thirty minutes earlier…

Georgia

“Why don’t I go check on Andres? I’ll see if he wants something to drink,” I told Alicia.

“And I’ll refill our wines.” She gave me a look that could only be described as one of mischief. “Why don’t you take him a glass? Red wine is one of his favorites.”

“Why not.” I grabbed another wineglass down from the cabinet, heading to the bottle. After pouring it half full, I headed for the hallway.

“After that, I want to hear all about the spicy book you’re writing. I took the liberty of downloading your last hot one.”

“You’re into mafia romance?” I teased.

“Well, I do know something about organized crime.”

“You are so bad.”

She smiled from ear to ear. “Yes, I am. That’s why I can put up with Miguel.”

I genuinely liked the woman. In the last twenty minutes or so, she’d relayed far too many adorable as well as funny stories about her life with Miguel as well as some about Sabatino. It had been good to genuinely laugh, surprised at some of the antics.

I’d never been given a sense of normalcy while around Rico. The man had always been hungry for more, something that had initially drawn me to him. His verve for life had been such a huge attraction in the beginning. If only I’d seen his darker sides or heeded the red flags. And there’d been far too many to list.

But I’d believed myself to be in love. How could one be in love with a maniac?

I headed into the small office, surprised when I didn’t find Andres. Maybe he was checking with the two other soldiers. I walked closer to the desk, placing the glass near his computer. He’d obviously just walked away, the screen still on whatever he’d been working on.

Almost as soon as I started to walk away, curiosity got the better of me. I glanced at the door then shifted the track pad to the items he’d downsized.

What was he working on? I glanced at the list of names and addresses, business in several cities, uncertain what the hell he was doing. But a blip of a memory tore into my mind. I continued searching, finding photographs in another folder. My mouth suddenly went dry, my throat closing in.

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