Page 63 of Now and Forever

I nodded. “She said they—she and Elizondro—attended our wedding as a show of support for Patron. She said some of the cartel officers were questioning Patron’s strength if he had to create the alliance with the famiglia. And if the wedding went poorly, it would reflect poorly on Patron.”

“She told you that Herrera was present to keep the peace?” Dario asked incredulously.

I nodded. “Why was he here—at the club?”

“We’re trying to find out. I’ll have my men check to see if he flew to the East Coast today, but my gut says he’s still in Kansas City.” Dario reached for the arms of the chair and crouching low, penned me in. “Catalina, you could have walked into a trap.”

“Ana’s my friend.”

Shaking his head, Dario exhaled and bent forward, lowering his forehead to my knees. “I told Armando to get you out of the suite.” He looked up, his stare nearly black. “You’d been in there for too long. He was about to enter as you came out on your own. I was afraid they’d take you back to Mexico.”

“I wouldn’t go. I wouldn’t leave you.”

“They wouldn’t have needed your permission, only Herrera’s.”

I reached for Dario’s cheeks. “I’m safe.”

He nodded.

After a moment, Dario stood and offered me his hand. “Let me show you around.”

With my hand in his, I let him tug me to my feet. “Armando gave me a little tour.”

“In here,” he said, leading me through a doorway to a small room with a soft leather couch, a table, a closet, and an attached bathroom, complete with a shower. “I don’t want you to jump to conclusions every time I come home showered or in different clothes.” He opened a closet showing me a subsection of his wardrobe. “My work can get messy.”

A smile came to my lips. “You said you don’t have to explain yourself to anyone.”

“I don’thaveto. I wanted to.” He led me back to the windows behind his desk and pointed down to two hallways with glass ceilings. “Those lead back to the private rooms for VIP members. Our clientele consists of recognizable individuals. They don’t want to be recorded, so we personally monitor comings and goings. One strike and a customer is out. They pay for sex, not to have a punching bag. Ourworkers” —he emphasized the term— “are here of their own free will, and they’re well compensated. They have rules that Rocco enforces. I’m not thrilled with all of his techniques. It’s something else that will change when I become capo. We employ dancers, waitresses, bartenders, and prostitutes. Being one doesn’t make each woman the others.”

“I never entered Wanderlust. I don’t know for sure,” I said trying to recall, “but I think Em said that the whores live on-site.”

Dario nodded. “I told you; they’re treated more like sex slaves. From what I’ve learned, many of them are working to pay debts to the cartel, either their own or for someone else who put them up for collateral. Similar to the company store of old, those debts rarely are repaid in full. Interest accrues and the women are charged for room, board, even their uniforms.”

“I didn’t know that.”

How did I not know that?

He ran his finger over my cheek. “I’m not a good man. I oversee illegal operations with an iron fist. In this world, kindness is misconstrued as weakness. Killing is as much a part of this world as living. I chose you because I believed based on your personal knowledge, you could handle the truth of living with a man like me. At the same time, it’s important to me that you know I’m a fair man. Our employees are treated justly.”

I nodded. “I see that.”

“Green,” Dario said with a sliver of a grin.

“Green?”

“My favorite color.”

“Because it’s the color of money?” I asked.

“That may have started it. Now when I think of green, I think of your eyes.”

I reached for Dario’s hand. “I’m sorry about this morning. I never considered I was in danger. Armando was there.”

“I would’ve been furious if you went without him.”

I tilted my head with a grin. “You weren’t furious when I arrived?” He seemed to be.

“I was upset,” he admitted. “Furious is a step above.” He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “Where are you going now?”

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