Page 47 of One Rule

“And why wouldn’t she?” a voice says from behind me causing her to laugh. “It’s not my fault your attention was set in the wrong direction. I’m unpredictable is nothing else, my wife.”

“You’re here, bebe. That’s not something shocking.”

“Says you. I came in through the other door.” His deep timbre fills every square inch of this cute restaurant, and a few people look over with amused expressions while Luna giggles. My guess is this scenario isn’t surprising to them, his openness and affection, but what does shock me is the slight resemblance to my father, when Dad was younger. It’s like looking at an old and worn picture from when we were kids, if my Joaquin Armas was a beefed-up body-building mafia don.

It both hurt and soothes me to see a man that for all intents and purposes, I do not know.

The large man walks past me and slips into our booth beside his wife. It’s a tight fit, she’s almost squished between him and the wall, but Luna doesn’t seem to mind in the least. If anything, her blush tells me she loves his attention. That he shows up unannounced, and often.

As they settle next to each other, his eyes meet mine and all I feel is familiarity. My lips twitch. “Thiago De Leon, I presume.”

“Hello, little cousin.” His large frame leans over and somehow manages to lay a tiny kiss on my forehead, and the moment feels important. “It’s nice to finally meet you, although I wish it was under better circumstances.”

“Me too.” Behind me, there’s a sudden noise, a little crash as if someone dropped a plate, but when I turn to look, I find nothing. Yet I know I’m not crazy. And the way Thiago watches the area is full of satisfaction, maybe a little bit of approval. “Did you guys hear that?”

“Hear what?” he ask, amusement dripping from the two words.

“Like something broke or someone tripped…”Am I hearing things?

“You know, I’ve spent a lifetime hearing those same littlesoundsyou just did,” Luna says, a smirk on her face. There’s also the way her brow arches, but I’m not catching on. “Mine isn’t as subtle as yours seems to be, though. He’s kind of a brute. Not so—”

“I don’t have a boyfriend.” My heart accelerates a bit, but it’s just the wishful desire that Micah would ever see me that way. I won’t deny that these last few weeks he’s been amazing. Always near. Taking care of me in any way I’d let him, and it’s created a little blossoming kernel of hope in me.

One I need to squash. Another heartbreak right now will end me.

“You sure about that?” Thiago nods at something behind me, his expression much more serious than it’s been up until then. There’s this edge of danger in him, something dark, and surprisingly, I’m not afraid of it. More like intrigued. “Because I think you’re not seeing the bigger picture. Not realizing that nothing is ever as it seems and that the solution to everything is much closer than you think.”

“That’s pretty ominous, yet it’s like you said nothing at all.”

Thiago laughs at that, head thrown back and loud. “You’re a smart ass, Liliana. I like that.”

“So I’ve been told.” I can’t help myself. Nor do I stop the genuine quirk of my lips. Our food is delivered then and it’s a lot. The burger is loaded and with all the fixings, not to mention the almost obscene amount of shoestring fries it comes with. “How am I supposed to finish this?”

“With your mouth.”

“Funny, Luna,” I say, popping two fries into my mouth. Salty and fried perfection.

“What can I say, I’m hilarious.” Taking a bite from her frita, she hums in satisfaction before reaching over and pulling a piece of paper from her bag after wiping her hands. It’s a printout of some sort, but I can’t see what’s on the white sheet with the way she’s folded it. Luna pushes it across the table next to my right hand. “There’s a traitor in the Royce company, Liliana. He’s been paid a lot of money—made promises by the same people involved in your father and brother’s accident. Be careful, honey. This isn’t over.”

Pushing my plate aside, I open the report and find multiple transactions of over one hundred thousand dollars at a time. I’m counting, and there are eight of them in total. They’re also to the same person, and the originating account details are city-provided.

The first six numbers are unique and the same for every Dade County employee. No other banking institution is allowed to this identifying sequence.

“How did you get this information?” It comes out harsher than I intend, but neither is put off by the edge in my tone. “This is a lot of money being paid off to the owner of this account.”

She shrugs and takes another big bite. “I worked in the forensics department for MDP for years, Liliana. So did my uncle and cousin before their early retirements, and we’ve kept in touch with the friends we’d made over the years. They’re always happy to keep us aware of anything catching the interest of the department, and there’s a detective looking into these fraudulent expense.”

“So thread carefully either way?” I hedge, lips pursing as I’m reading the list again.

“You won’t get caught.” Thiago pushes my plate in front of me and I look up, catching his not-so-subtle demand that I eat. “I’m sure you can hack into the system and cover your tracks, or are you not as good as some people claim.”

“I’m better.”

“That’s what he said.” Before I can ask him what he means, my cousin points at the food. “Eat, Liliana. You have a lot of people worried about you.”

“What about…” I trail off as another waitress brings over a large plate of rice, beans, and picadillo with fried sweet plantains. “Never mind.”

No one says anything else, and after a few minutes, I give in and eat. More than I thought I would. All of it. I devour the entire burger and half my fries before looking up, and finding the two of them watching me with matching satisfied expressions.

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