Page 31 of Jacking Jill

Romeo raised his eyebrows, then rubbed his eyes again and sighed. “OK, look, I respect your ability to put together a narrative, but we’re going off the deep end here, Kay.” He looked up with a half-smile of disbelief. “The CIA? Really?”

Kay shrugged. “Why not? The Zetas and the CIA were connected way back in the early days of the War on Drugs. And the CIA is known to recruit mostly from Delta Force and Navy SEALs for their off-the-books operations. This could all be connected, Romeo. The CIA, Jack Wagner and his off-the-books team, the Northrups, and Diego Vargas. In fact, it’s plausible that Diego came to the United States to assassinate the Senator, might even be the guy responsible for that explosion which was covered up two months ago. Now Diego wants to cut this deal with you as Plan B for his Zeta Nation because the Senator’s being guarded by Secret Service, making it pretty much impossible to take him out.” Kay flashed that almost girlishly excited smile again as she leaned forward to shift her position on the hard-cushioned chair, giving Romeo an unintentional glimpse down the neckline of her black blouse.

Romeo stiffened behind the desk, his gaze taking in a fleeting image of tiny breasts unfettered by a bra. Romeo was surprised that Kay didn’t wear a bra, and his cock hardened at the sight of her petite tits with beautifully long nipples that would be nice to suck. But what sent the wildest arousal ripping through him was the shocking glimpse of Kay’s tattooed torso, her pale skin adorned with a sprawling black-inked design of some kind of multi-headed dragon-serpent creature with terrible talons and twitching tails and tempting tongues.

Who the fuck is this woman, Romeo marveled as he momentarily lost track of their conversation because all the blood had left his brain to surge into his cock. He had a big fucking erection now, and Romeo had to clench his fists and almost bite his damn tongue off to hold back the urge to leap across the desk and take her now, fulfill that fantasy of owning what was out of reach to not just him but any man, every man, all of mankind, for all of time.

“All right,” Romeo managed to say, blinking his manic gaze from Kay’s chest to her eyes. Had she caught him looking? She didn’t show it, but Romeo was almost certain she’d caught him looking. After what she’d been through, this woman would be hyper-aware of any man’s gaze resting on her body for more than a millisecond. “Let’s say you’re right and Jack is part of some off-the-books CIA-linked team that killed the Northrups on the Rivington and is somehow connected to the explosion at the Senator’s home. And yes, Diego certainly has the incentive to want the Senator dead. He’s also the head of the Zetas, which means he might know the Northrups. Shit, maybe you’re right, Kay. Maybe Diego was involved with both the Rivington and that explosion at the Senator’s home.” Romeo’s throat tightened as he began to see how Kay’s narrative connected the disparate dots into a plausible picture. “And if all that is true, then I guess it is possible that this off-the-books team with Jack Wagner has been hunting Diego ever since that explosion.” He took a breath, narrowed his eyes at Kay. “But then surely Diego would know he’s being hunted, right?”

Kay nodded. “Right.”

Romeo raised both eyebrows. “Well, did you ask him if he’s being hunted or followed or tracked?”

Kay snorted. “Of course. And of course he said no. He wouldn’t want us to back away from this deal. He needs it more than you do, Romeo.”

Romeo rubbed his jaw, glanced up at the ceiling, thought for a long moment, then pursed his lips and gazed across the desk at Kay. “The burner phone you’ve been using,” he said softly. “Is it possible Jack and his team have been tracking it?”

Kay reached into her jacket and slid out a black phone. She placed it on the table. It was turned off.

“I guess it’s possible, if they got a bead on Diego’s burner. But there’s no purchase record on my burner phone to trace it back to me specifically. And we’ve been using end-to-end encryption to communicate, which means it’s technically impossible for anyone to listen to our conversations or read our text messages.” Kay’s narrow shoulders rose as she took a heavy breath, then slumped when she exhaled hard. “But they could have got a GPS location on my burner. That might be why they sent Jack Wagner to infiltrate this wedding party. They’re hoping he can figure out who’s carrying this burner phone.”

“So we’re already compromised.” Romeo’s jaw tightened.

Kay nodded, blinked twice, then looked up. “But it’s not law enforcement. This isn’t FBI or DEA, Romeo. It’s an off-the-books team hunting Diego Vargas. They want Diego, not you.” She widened her eyes, leaned her body forward again. “So let’s just give them Diego and walk away, Romeo. If it’s not law enforcement, they’ll just let us walk away if we give them Diego.”

“Doesn’t matter if they aren’t law enforcement.” Romeo shook his head violently. “I can’t give them Diego. It’ll destroy my reputation, Kay. No other mafia family or druglord will ever make a deal with me after rumors spread that Romeo Carmine cooperated with some undercover government-sponsored team.” He snorted. “That’s the kiss of death for my reputation and you damn well know it. Everyone taking a payout from me will wonder when I’m going to give them up in exchange for favors from the feds. No way.” He rubbed the back of his neck, glanced at Kay’s burner phone on his desk. “It’s too late to back out now, Kay. We have to go all-in. Call him. Diego Vargas. Call him now.”

Kay stared. “You sure?”

Romeo nodded. “You said nobody can listen in on the call, right? And even if someone is tracking your phone via GPS, they can’t trace it precisely to this room, just the mansion. And there are three hundred guests plus a bunch of hired help on the estate right now. Plausible deniability, just like the CIA does it.” He smiled, then nodded again. “Tell Diego we know he’s being tracked and he should come clean if he expects us to ever trust his murderous ass enough to make this deal. I want to know what he knows. I want to know what he’s done. I want to be sure he isn’t already working for the feds or this other team. I want to be sure he isn’t setting me up in a sting because he’s already compromised. I especially need to know if he was connected to that stuff on the cruise ship and the explosion two months ago. Call him now, Kay. I want to sort this out right fucking now.”

Kay took a breath, stared at the phone, then nodded and snatched it off the desk. She turned it on, waited for it to pick up a signal, then glanced once more at Romeo before making the call.

The call rang six times on the other end before it was answered. Kay put it on speaker and placed the phone on the desk between herself and Romeo.

“Yes?” came a man’s voice, low and monotone, with the hint of a Hispanic accent.

“It’s me,” said Kay softly. “Listen, there’s been a development.”

Romeo leaned forward now, knowing that the moment he uttered a word, he was making direct contact with Diego Vargas and the Zetas. It was sooner than he wanted, and he might be walking into a trap. Diego could already be working for the feds and maybe there were a dozen government agencies waiting to bust in on him.

But the probability was low. All that stuff with the Northrup brothers being killed on board the Rivington and the cover-up after the explosion outside the Senator’s home was more CIA-dark-ops than FBI or DEA undercover. Kay was right. They were after Diego, not Romeo.

And Diego would know that.

Which meant Diego would be getting anxious to do this deal, perhaps even desperate.

Therefore, Romeo was in the driver’s seat in this negotiation.

So it was worth the risk to step forward and take control.

“Jack Wagner.” Romeo spoke sharply and clearly. “You know the name?”

There was a long silence. “Who is speaking?” came Diego’s voice finally.

“You know who it is. Just answer the fucking question,” growled Romeo. “You have one chance to prove yourself trustworthy. If we are going to be partners, then all relevant information must be shared immediately and honestly.” He paused for effect, listened to the tense silence on the other end of the line, waited for Diego to take two long breaths. “Your one chance to gain my trust is ticking down to zero. I hang up this phone and it’s over before it even began. Now, we know you’re being hunted. So tell us who’s hunting you and why. No bullshit, comprende?”

Romeo waited for a response.

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