Page 67 of The Last Promise You Made

And when we’d kissed… Hell, it had felt like she was everything I’d ever wanted, which was just downright confusing. My mixed emotions were the reason I’d easily succumbed to her driving. Maddox had smirked at me when I’d climbed into the passenger seat, knowing full well how much I hated being there.

As soon as we walked into Maddox’s office, Gia smiled at the man waiting there, beelining toward him. He was shorter than me, deeply tanned, with rows of muscles reminding me of a heavyweight boxer. He was dressed in a black T-shirt, jeans, and military-grade boots with tattoos covering almost every piece of visible skin on his upper body.

He and Gia greeted each other with some sort of complicated handshake that ended with her laughing. He slung an arm over her shoulder, but she pushed him away and slammed him lightheartedly in the shoulder with her fist. I wanted to do the same thing. Except, I wanted to shove him clear into the next room so he wouldn’t be able to touch her again—teasingly or not.

Maybe the reason I felt this unfamiliar jealousy with Gia when I hadn’t for Ravyn was because I couldn’t claim any relationship to her. She wasn’t mine. I had no rights to her and no right to keep her from touching other men. Or maybe it was because the feeling she evoked in me was stronger than I’d ever felt for another human being.

“What brings you all the way to Willow Creek?” Gia asked.

His eyes turned somber, and his chin nodded in my direction, as if asking if I was okay.

“This is Ryder Hatley. Ryder, this is DEA Agent Enrique Salazar. He’s part of the Lovato task force and has spent the majority of his career undercover.”

“He the one who gave you the sketch? What did he see?” the agent asked, dark brows furrowing together.

I raised my hat, ran a hand over my hair, and then put it back on before meeting Gia’s gaze.

“He’s witness adjacent,” Gia said, “but knows what we’re dealing with.”

The man’s eyes narrowed, taking me in before shifting back to Gia. “Want to tell me what’s really going on? Why a civilian is being dragged into this?”

Gia’s face turned as serious as his. “I can’t. Not yet. Is that why you’re here? You find our guy?”

I could tell the man was uncomfortable with me being there, but if this had anything to do with Addy, I was staying. I crossed my arms over my chest as my brother came in, shutting the door behind us.

“I see y’all met.” Maddox easily read the tension drifting through the air. “I vouch for my brother, Enrique. He isn’t going to let anything you tell us out of this room.”

“I’d like to know why we think he needs to be here at all,” Enrique insisted. When Gia and Maddox exchanged a look but didn’t speak, he continued, “Fine. I’ll tell you. It has to do with the little girl you found in Anna’s hotel room.”

Concern flew through me, and Gia’s face blanched. “Where’d you hear that?”

“You promised me that was under lock and key. Need to know only,” I growled.

“It is. But as I also told you both, the only way to truly keep a secret is to tell no one.” Her face was furious as she turned to Enrique. “Tell me where you heard it.”

“Rory followed the lead on the van she saw outside the hotel where Anna was killed. The guy driving it ended up in Lexington, where I’ve been undercover, and she needed me to hunt the guy down. I asked why you couldn’t do it, and when she clammed up like a bank vault, it made me suspicious. I went digging on my own and found someone who’d talk in Denver,” he said.

This clearly made Gia unhappy and raised my concerns to a whole new level. Maddox and I exchanged a look, but before we could say anything, Gia demanded, “Just tell me you found the guy.”

“DOA,” Enrique said calmly, as if the guy being dead was of no concern. He lifted a manila envelope from the corner of Maddox’s desk. He pulled out a picture and handed it over to Gia. I stepped closer, leaning over her shoulder to look.

The guy was lying on a shoreline. He’d obviously been in the water a while. His skin was bloated. Eyes gray and murky. There was no need to question his cause of death. The gaping wound along his neck made it clear.

“Shit,” Gia said, fingers tightening on the corners. “Where was this?”

“Near the Lexington Reservoir.”

“Do you know who he is? Or why he was in Kentucky?” Gia asked.

“Best name we’ve come up with is Vito Jimenez. Word on the street is, if Vito showed up at your door, you could count the minutes you had left to live.”

“Why the hell wasn’t he brought in?” I demanded. Gia’s and Enrique’s eyes swiveled to take me in.

“Little something called lack of evidence. Not even enough to get a warrant to tap his phone or computer. Not that the man had either. Burner phones at best. He’s been in and out of the country like a shadow, doing dirty work for multiple cartels, not just the Lovatos.”

“So, why’d he end up dead if he was so important?” I demanded.

“My guess? He fucked up. He wasn’t supposed to kill Anna. Maybe he was supposed to bring her to the Lovatos. Maybe he was supposed to bring both her and the little girl to them,” Enrique said.

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