Page 81 of The Trouble With Bad Boys

His lips pressed into a firm line as he stared at me. “So you thought this was a good place for you?”

“I haven’t decided yet,” I responded honestly.

The man on the left crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes narrowing. “You here on business?”

I shook my head. “Pure coincidence. Nice place though. Quiet.”

He nodded a little. “Good place to hide in plain sight.”

My nerve endings vibrated at his words. Reluctantly, I dipped my chin in a small nod. He eyed me shrewdly before sticking out a hand. “Jack Prescott.”

I shook his hand warily, and the other man extended a hand. “John Esposito.”

“Rodrigo,” I responded, offering the bare minimum. It wasn’t lost on the men.

“You understand what will happen if you hurt her?”

I met Jack’s gaze, molars clenched tightly together. This was a small town, and I knew the residents were protective of one another. It was something I could appreciate—just not right this second.

Neither man knew how much I’d come to care for Lily, and I resented their wariness. I would literally carve my heart out of my chest for her.

I gave a perfunctory nod and forced myself to be polite when all I wanted was to tell them both to fuck off. “Yes, sir.”

Jack gave a sudden grin. “You might fit in here after all.”

With a nod my way he clapped John on the shoulder, some sort of silent communication. With that, the men disappeared, leaving me baffled and more than a little uneasy.

I wasn’t sure what Jack had meant by that statement. I didn’t belong here; I would never fit in. Despite the fact that I’d become comfortable in the small town over the course of the past week, there was no way I could stay here.

Could I?

There had been no danger to Lily, aside from the man I spotted outside her shop. But that easily could’ve been a coincidence. If there were no immediate threats, and no sign of Araña’s men, then staying here might be feasible.

I’d planned to find a job working under the table once I left anyway. Maybe I could pick up odd jobs around Pine Ridge. I could eventually even reach out to Fox. I planned to tell him about Araña’s men, but first I wanted to figure out where they were and ensure they weren’t after Lily.

Would it really be so terrible to stay here? It would be hard… but not impossible. Like a seedling the idea sprouted, growing steadily in the back of my mind. The more I thought about the future, the more I fixated on the possibility of staying here.

A million things were stacked against us… but I had one hell of a good reason to make things work.

Twenty-Two

RODRIGO

A little zing of anticipation raced through my chest, and I stabbed the button to summon the elevator, eager to get up to our room and see Lily.

I didn’t encounter a single soul on the way, and I let myself into the room. Lily was sitting on the couch, watching TV, and her head swiveled my way as I stepped inside. I threw the deadbolt just in case, then crossed over to her.

Leaning over the back of the couch, I cupped her face and took her mouth in a hard kiss. She melted into me, her tongue tangling with my own, her fingers clutching at my shirt. I wanted to strip off every stitch of fabric, lay her back and make love to her. But there was one thing I had to do first.

“I’m going to clean up,” I told her. “I’ll be right back.”

With one more kiss, I headed into the bathroom and quickly showered. I still had Lily’s cell phone, and my heart raced as I pulled it from the back pocket of my jeans. If there was any chance of Lily and me being together, I had to figure out what had happened with Araña.

Pulling up the internet search bar, I typed in Eva’s name. Nothing came up, and my stomach swooped violently. More than likely, she would never be found. Bile rose in the back of my throat as my heart twisted painfully. She and I hadn’t always gotten along, but I knew that she’d loved Fox unconditionally for the brief time they were together.

Recalling the events of that day, I typed in a new name. Though I wasn’t positive of the woman’s involvement, I suspected she was the person we’d been searching for. A sick sensation roiled in my belly when a news article popped up, and I read the details of the car accident that had occurred just a few weeks ago just outside of Chicago.

Was it truly an accident, or had something far more nefarious taken place? It was possible someone higher up had ordered a hit on her. Maybe I’d been wrong about Araña’s identity all along, and the woman had merely been a pawn. One thing was certain, though—without the woman to provide any insight, we would never know what had happened to Eva.

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