Page 80 of Falling for the Enemy

“Hermanito!” Carmen’s gorgeous face appears on the screen, mouth gaping as she slides on a pair of framed glasses, her brown eyes glinting behind the lenses. “Dios mío, are you naked?”

“He totally is.” Nodding, Anna replies before Alejandro can, one side of her gloss-covered mouth turning up in a smirk that reminds me of Casper. “Like, butt naked.”

Jade screams in the background again. A third voice, this one belonging to James, Carmen’s husband, cuts through the tension flooding my bedroom, his deep Southern drawl enough to make a suka’s toes curl.

“What the hell is going on?”

“I don’t even know!” Carmen answers, shaking her head. “Cristo, Alejandro, get dressed!”

“Manzana!”

Clamping my arms against my sides to keep the sheet from falling, I head for Anna, clapping thrice to gain her attention. “Poydem, Anna, time to move!”

She nods as Carmen, once more, speaks up. “Ari?”

The phone swivels in my direction, giving Alejandro the reprieve he’s likely praying for.

“Dobroye utro, gorgeous,” I tell her, the heat of the kingpin’s gaze searing holes into my back. “You and I should catch up soon, da?”

A smile lights up her face, the sight warming my chest. In the short time that’s passed since I met her, she’s come so far. It’s not often I’m proud of others outside of my family, but when it comes to her, I am.

“Si, we should.” She tucks a lock of tawny hair behind her ear. “So you and my little brother…”

Knowing the precise meaning of her unfinished sentence, I glance back at Alejandro, who unfortunately for my greedy eyes is busy pulling on a plain white t-shirt in order to shield himself, his delicious lower half now covered.

Mere weeks.

That’s all it took him to wage war against my defenses and battle his way past my iron-like walls, where he successfully carved his way through darkness and ice to reach the one place no other man ever has.

My heart.

“Alejandro is mine,” I answer after moments of tense silence, not missing the subtle twitch of Carmen’s lips, an emotion I can’t decipher flitting across her face. “And in turn, I’ve become his.”

“I damned well knew it!” James says.

Carmen and I both ignore him.

Dropping her gaze to her lap, she blows out a breath before looking back up. “Take care of him for me, Ari.” Eyes filling with unshed tears, she nibbles her bottom lip. “We’ve lost so many years together.” The pain in her voice is unmistakable. “I can’t bear to lose more.”

My throat tightens, a lump forming in its base as I peer back at the kingpin once more. Hands fisted, his chest heaves. Not because of anger, but because of the words Carmen just spoke, making her love for him clear, along with the ones I uttered, claiming us as one another’s.

“You won’t,” I reply, focusing back on his older sister. “I promise you.” More so than many, Carmen understands how strong of a bond my word is. “I’ll take care of him.”

Tilting her head back, she fans her face, the attempt to dry her eyes ineffective. “Gracias.” The smile that now curves her lips is one of relief. “I’ll let you go, but come by for dinner sometime, si? And bring my elusive Hermanito with you as well. Or else I’ll be forced to send Grandmama after you both.” She waves, the light-hearted threat pulling a laugh from my chest. “Hablamos después.”

The video call ends.

“Here, pot-stirrer.” I hand Anna back her phone. “Now as I said, head down—”

“I’m going, I’m going!”

A mutinous grin adorns her beautiful face as she pivots and leaves, closing the door behind her. I turn, my lips parting to address the kingpin. Only before I can utter a lone syllable, he’s on me, his hands tearing at the sheet that conceals my nakedness.

In a cloud of red silk, it floats to the floor when he lifts me into his arms, my legs automatically banding around his lean hips. My back and shoulders hit the nearest wall with a soft thud as he presses me against it, his jaw clenched tight. I brace, expecting to feel searing pain in my side or a throbbing ache develop in my head from such a move.

Neither plagues me.

“Mine,” he growls.

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