Page 76 of South Beach Bodyguards

He seemed to realize I wasn’t anything to him. He paused, looking confused.

“What?” Alejandro grinned. “So that’s the way the wind is blowing. Nice.”

“Fuck off,” Wester said.

“Keep his hands off of your what?” I asked, because I was feeling sour and bursting with rage. My sister might be just fine with bowing to a man and his opinions but I was not. This was bullshit. I wasn’t a possession. I was a woman. A woman who hated him.

But he didn’t answer. He just left.

Eva was standing there pouting in her lingerie, completely immobilized by the brawny guy, who wore zero expression. Apparently just another day on the job for him. “Eva, are you okay?” I asked, concerned about her. She was crying.

“What is going on?” she asked. “This is insane.”

“I told you, I was kidnapped last night. They were trying to kidnap you to hold you until Ricardo pays his debt.”

“Why would Ricardo have debt? He’s rich.”

That was the two hundred thousand dollar question. “I don’t know. He’s doing something shady, that’s all I know.”

“I don’t believe that.”

The big guy, whose name was apparently Ryan, snorted.

“What?” I asked him.

“My boss always said if you’re not indicted, you’re not invited. Everyone in Miami is involved with shady business dealings.”

And that was relevant how? “Thank you for the history lesson,” I said. “But I don’t give a shit. Eva and I aren’t shady and I resent the hell out of being pulled into this nonsense.”

“Nonsense?” Alejandro looked amused. “How old are you? Because you sound sixty.”

“We’re twenty-four,” Eva said, because she always strove to be helpful.

I didn’t bother to explain that he was being facetious.

“I’m going to go get my phone and some clothes and you all can go fuck yourselves.”

Now who sounded sixty? I stomped off, or at least tried to. It was difficult in bare feet and a bikini. Just not the same impact.

“If you show me how to fuck myself, I’m happy to,” Alejandro said.

He and Ryan started laughing.

Jerks.

I turned and gave him a doe-eyed look of wonder that I had seen on my sister’s face hundreds of times. It was a look that made men melt. I put my hand to my chest and ran my fingers over my cleavage. “Okay,” I said in a breathless voice.

Alejandro’s jaw dropped. “Really?”

My face returned to my natural state of pissed off. “No. Not even under penalty of death.” One bodyguard was enough. “But if you need instructions I’m sure you can find some on the Internet.”

As I continued down the hall to the living room, I heard Alejandro say, “I see why Wester has a thing for her. Sassy. Gotta like that.”

That made me roll my eyes. Eva followed me, looping her arm through mine. “Olivia, is Wester going to hurt Ricardo?”

“No, of course not.” I didn’t think. But really, I was way out of my element here. “He said he’d be home by lunch. Come on, let’s go into your room so we can have some privacy.”

“I can’t let you go in any room alone,” Ryan said, following us.

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