Page 24 of Keep Me

“Everyone,” Cash addresses the table like he’s about to give a toast, which only makes Roan bury his face in his hands more. “This is Harlow, my beautiful fiancée and partner-in-crime—allegedly.” That gets him a round of laughter from the table. Harlow’s fair cheeks turn a ruddy red as she blushes and takes a seat next to Cash, who’s still beaming from ear to ear.

The rest of dinner passes with lots of beer, boisterous laughter, near-death stories, and no talk of why we are all here to begin with. Until it starts to rain, sheets of water pattering against the big front windows, and I notice Daniel come in. His jacket shoulders are wet, and he shakes droplets from his short hair as he stands near the doorway. My stomach sinks seeing him treated like a dog, left out in the rain. But like a good soldier, he retakes his stance inside, one hand in his pocket and the other resting on his hip where I’m sure a gun is hidden beneath his coat.

Throughout dinner, I’ve noticed a pair of men, who are clearly security for Cash, “playing” chess at a table by the front door. Their eyes are more focused on the door and who’s coming and going than on the board. I know my father needs security of his own too, but it grinds against something raw in my chest that it has to be Daniel.

“Can Daniel not join us? We have an empty seat.” I nod to the empty chair next to me.

My father takes a slow sip of bourbon. Setting the glass down, he clasps his hands together on the table in front of him. “Daniel understands his job.”

Roan rests his arm on the back of my chair as he twists to look over his shoulder toward the door. He turns back to the table, but leaves his arm casually draped. There’s a cold shift in my father’s tone, and he fixes Roan with a serious stare. “Just like I hope Roan here understands his.”

“Sir?” Roan sits up straighter, and I catch Cash’s eyes darting between the two of them, jaw tense.

“I’m just reminding you that I am paying you—generously—to do a job. You’re still breathing, so you must be doing something right. My daughter’s a grown woman, I won’t dictate her life outside or inside the bedroom—”

“Papá—” He holds up his hand, and I clamp my mouth shut.

“Just remember, you are on a job—one I don’t want compromised—and she is a Cortez, no matter who warms her bed.” A thick silence covers the table, and his message is clear: If I cross that line with Roan, I’ll be stepping back into their world and it doesn’t matter who I sleep with, I’ll always be a Cortez and my loyalties will always lie there.

“Rafael, I can assure you—” Cash speaks up, but Roan interrupts.

“That I have not crossed any lines of professionalism. Nor do I intend to.” His words are firm and sure, and there’s an underlying current of offense that cuts me a little deeper than I care to admit.

“I’m not saying you have. Merely a friendly reminder of the roles we all play.” My father indicates the end of this conversation by picking his rocks glass back up, ending it the same way he began it—with a long, slow sip.

Santiago shoots me a measuring glance, and I give him a subtle look telling him it’s all good. Then he breaks the silence with a call for tequila, and the tension is shattered but clings to the air.

A few minutes later, Jewel drops off a round of tequila shots with lime slices. Everyone but Harlow grabs one of the tiny glasses and the Irish people pass the salt and lime around.

“¡Salud!,” Santi whoops and raises his glass.

“Slàinte Mhaith,” Roan and Cash respond as everyone else lifts their shots.

Mine clinks with Roan’s, and he forces his heady gaze on me. Embers that have been barely flickering all night in the pit of my stomach burst into tantalizing heat. Eyes still intent on mine, his tongue flicks out and he swipes a wide path through the salt on his hand. My breath catches in my throat as he throws back the liquor and sucks on a lime slice all without taking his burning eyes from mine. The way they bore into me is a threat, a challenge, and a promise.

I try to scoff at the heady feeling and roll my eyes. “Gringo,” I chide, and sip my tequila rather than downing it.

Dinner and goodbyes wrap up without incident, but there’s a new itch in my bones. I constantly feel the intensity of Roan’s gaze skate across my skin, but when I look at him, his eyes are never on me. When it’s time to leave, the cool air feels so good against my heated flesh, the tequila and tension making my chest and cheeks hot to the touch.

Daniel is holding the town car’s door open for my father when a woman walking down the sidewalk crashes into Ángel. “Ay, watch it!” he snaps, shoving her aside.

She looks up from the ground disoriented, mascara running down her cheeks and her heels in her hands. “Oh, sor—” She hiccups and sways on her bare feet as she stands. “Sorry.” She’s clearly drunk and upset, wearing a cocktail dress and a man’s blazer thrown over her shoulders.

She continues to stumble down the sidewalk, and Ángel joins my father in the backseat grumbling, “Puta estúpida.” I bite my tongue, knowing I can’t call out my father’s second for being a misogynistic ass in front of associates.

Daniel closes the door behind him and glances at the woman catching her balance on the side of the building a few yards away. He turns back to me. “She shouldn’t be walking alone at night like that.”

He’s right, she’s a walking target. “I’ll call her a cab,” I offer, and he nods relieved, the concern in his eyes softening.

“You guys head home, we’ll wait with her,” Cash says to me and Roan while Daniel gets in the driver’s side and starts the engine.

“You sure?” I ask.

“Definitely. We’ll be hanging out here for a bit anyway.” He smiles and claps me on the shoulder in reassurance.

Roan and I start our walk home, but it’s not long until the chill starts to seep into my bare shoulders and, despite my best attempts at hiding my shivers, I feel Roan’s jacket wrap around me. “I don’t need—”

“You’re cold.” It’s not a question. It’s not even an order. And for some reason, I feel like that’s how it has to be. I pull the jacket tight, the smell of leather and rich cologne surrounding me and making my stomach clench.

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