Page 131 of Heart of a Villain

“I’m renting a place in Alto.”

“Alto do Solaris? Rich guy.”

He shrugged. “I do all right.”

“Your Portuguese is good. Are you from Brazil?”

“Born and raised.”

She looked behind him in the same general direction as the woman from before. “Enough conversation. What would you like for tonight? Maybe for more than one night? I can stay in your nice place like Pretty Woman.”

“Do you make love?” he asked.

Her pupils shrank. “I’m sorry?”

“Making love. Is that something you offer?”

She swallowed. “That depends. What do you view as lovemaking?”

“A whole body experience.” He tucked her hair behind her ear, dragging his fingertip down her neck as he pulled away. “My lips on your lips. My teeth on your skin. My tongue between your thighs. Your legs locked around my waist as I drive my hips into yours, sucking on your neck with your pussy wrapped around my dick.”

An image of Sayeda, nude and glorious, flashed through his mind, but he stomped it out before his body could react. The last thing he needed was for this woman to sense an erection and think he was serious about what he wanted from her.

Again, she glanced behind him.

The desire disappeared from her face.

He turned just as two men approached, both in tank tops, shorts, and slippers like they’d come to their pimp post right after lounging on the beach. They were both stocky, although shorter, but he wouldn’t need any weapons to deal with them if it came to that.

One of the men, one who sported a dragon neck tattoo, gently told the woman to leave, and she ran off without looking back. Then they flanked him on both sides.

It had been over a decade, and yet, Chamas remained creatures of habit. By Chefe’s own declaration, he’d remained faithful to his wife. However, it was next to impossible to believe that Chefe had never sampled his first love’s daughter, with her mother’s same curly hair and toffee skin, regardless of whether it meant coming to this side of town.

Other working girls received glances and looks of warning if they took too long to close a deal. This one had her own protection, mediocre as they were.

“This is a business,” Dragon-tattoo spat. “You’re using up company hours. Buy or leave.”

Adrían tipped his head at the shorter man. “What’s your name?”

Dragon-tattoo grinned, rubbing his chin. “Smart guy, eh?”

“What about you, tiny?” Adrían turned to the other man, who wore a black and red Flamengo baseball cap. “Do you have a name?”

“You ask too many questions,” Flamengo-cap said. “Do you have a name? We’ll need to know what to put on your grave.”

“Gano.”

They laughed.

Snickered.

Looked from one to the other.

Then, as the information sank in, the laughter slowly fizzled into nervous chuckles.

“Are you familiar with the name?” Adrían asked. “You’ve heard it before?”

They swallowed as if their throats had suddenly gone dry.