Page 69 of Sins and Secrets

BILLIE

“What are you working on?”

I nearly jump a mile, spinning to face the stairs to the loft. Christian stands there with his arms folded on the banister, looking at me. Something about the way he looks makes me want to reach out and hug him. There’s a deep sadness in his eyes that I want to uncover.

It’s a sadness I recognize well. I used to see it in my own reflection when I was trying to get out of this life.

He might be the leader of a cartel, but there is a scared little boy in there. I can see it now, when he’s let his guard down enough to talk to me. From the limited interactions I’ve had with him, he seems to keep to himself, preferring to listen instead of speaking.

Who does he speak to when he needs to vent about all that sadness?

I wonder if there is someone back home waiting to give him that big hug when this is all over.

“Nothing much,” I say, glancing down at the notebook in front of me. “Future business plans.”

Christian nods and continues his way up the stairs, coming to stand beside my desk. He crosses his arms, his tattoos prominent as his muscles flex. “What future business would this be?”

There is suspicion in his tone, though there is curiosity as well.

This man is a study case in contradiction, and as a part of me wants to cuddle him, the other part wants to get as far away from this man as possible.

“I want to open a resort and eventually build that into a national chain. I’ve been working on the plan since high school, but don’t have anything concrete nailed down yet.”

Though I hope that the answer bores Christian, he only seems more intrigued. As if a veil is lifted, I can see the suspicion fading away. He pulls up a chair and sits down beside me, glancing at the sprawling notes across the page.

“Do you mind if I take a closer look at this?” he asks, nodding to the notebook. “I’ve opened a couple different resorts overseas if you want some advice.”

I let out a short laugh, my nerves getting the better of me. He shoots me a questioning look as I hand the notebook over to him.

“Sorry,” I say, heat rushing to my cheeks. “I’m normally more composed. I just wasn’t expecting you to ask that after everything I’ve heard about you. Especially your time spent in Colombia.”

Christian shrugs, reading my notes. “People can surprise you, Billie. You shouldn’t allow your initial thoughts of someone — especially those based on rumors — to cloud your judgment. It may be true that I have my enemies and I’ve killed more people than most, but I have other interests.”

I bite back another nervous laugh. “Well, what do you think of the plans?”

“Where do you want to build the first resort?” he asks, handing the notebook back to me. ‘You said that you’ve been thinking about this since high school, but you don’t have a starting location? That’s the first thing you need to figure out. Location is important.”

“California sounds nice,” I say, though I have no intention of starting the resort business in California. I would like to expand out there one day, but it isn’t where I plan on escaping to with Papa.

“California has a lot of resorts. Hell, you’d be competing with a giant mouse out there.” Christian grabs my pen and writes down a list of cities. “These are some places I would consider if I were you. They have a high yearly tourist number, but most of them only have smaller hotels and inns.”

I’m surprised by his willingness to share information with me. From everything I’ve heard, Christian Herrera is the kind of man who keeps to himself outside of business and murder. He’s relatively young, in terms of cartel leaders, but he is powerful.

Not only that, but his heartbreaker reputation precedes him. I know more than one woman who has fallen for the combination of light brown hair and dark blue eyes, thinking that they would be the one to get the Colombian heartbreaker to finally settle down.

“Thank you for this,” I say, gesturing to the list. “I’m kind of lost when it comes to location. I’ve done my research, but actually sitting down to figure out the best place always seems like one of those impossible tasks.”

Christian smiles, though it doesn’t meet his eyes. “In the coming weeks, you are going to be a weak point if these dreams are distracting you. I need your head to be in the game. Is Alessio going to have to come running to your rescue every five minutes?”

I scowl at him. “I can take care of myself.”

He laughs and gets up. “Sure. If you insist. I know that the Marchettis have a long list of not utilizing their assets. I’m willing to bet most of the women in the compound aren’t trained to fight. What do you know about that?”

“Did you only come up here to try and get information out of me?”

He tucks his hands in the pockets of his dark jeans. “I prefer to think of it as a trade of information. I gave you some good locations to consider building a resort, you are going to give me information on the Marchetti mafia.”

“If you want information, ask Alessio,” I say, my tone sharp as I stand and my hands curl into my fists. “You have me mistaken if you think I’m the kind of woman who is going to betray her famiglia.”

---