Page 3 of Stealing Iris

My hand shakes as the bill practically burns my fingers. He’s leaving ninety plus dollars behind to get away from Conny? It doesn’t surprise me that someone like him wants nothing to do with Conny. It’s nice we at least have one thing in common.

Dante stops on the floor mat, Conny at his heels. With the power out, the doors aren’t going to move. His shoulders stiffen. “Damn it.” His voice is low enough I barely make out the curse.

“YouareDante.” Conny puts a hand on Dante’s arm and turns to me, his excitement rising to where he forgets we don’t like each other. “Iris,” he says, without a lick of disdain. “Do you know who this is?”

The cowboy is looking at a spot somewhere above his head. For a second, I feel sorry for him. He’d already had a headache when he came in. I can only imagine how he feels now.

Conny’s wide-eyed, oblivious as only he can be as to how much the man doesn’t want to talk to him. He shakes Dante’s arm, positively giddy.

I take a step back, my heart beating in my throat. If Conny’s that interested in him, I’m better off somewhere else.

*****

DANTE

Of all the places in south Texas I could have walked into, I had to choose the one with a guy I’ve been avoiding.There must be a neighborhood market or convenience store…I’m gonna kill Montoya the next time I see him.

I did a workup on Conrado Villa several months ago. Despite Montoya’s insistence he had something of immense value, I didn’t find anything that could be of any significant benefit to anyone on our client list. He’s a little fish trying to swim in a big ocean, way out of his league, the type who would need to save in order to pay for the membership to a club so exclusive we find you then decide if you warrant an invitation.

I searched his background, which includes friends of no significance, a broken home with little to no family. It did not include a job here, or anything to convince me he was worthy of consideration.

Yet now, here I am, trapped in a convenience store, with him clutching my arm as he tries not to pee himself. With limited choices, I do the only thing left to me. Exhaling, I glare down to where his hand covers my elbow then flick my gaze up to him. He has an oversized forehead taking up most of his head, the rest of his features scrunched at the bottom. He should have enough sense to not comb his hair straight back, but that’s what he does, and he’s added a meager soul patch to round out his look.

“Man, I can’t believe you’re here.”

Holding his gaze is pointless. Those vacant eyes tell me he doesn’t get it. Relaxing my shoulders, I pull my arm up to drink from the water bottle, taking my own sweet time. “You should have more sense than to announce who I am to the world.”

His hand falls away, leaving me needing to scrub that spot clean. “Uh, sorry.” He shuffles his feet. The heels of those gaudy boots scrape the floor, with the intensity of a knife on fine china. It just adds to my annoyance. “Missed it, man. But it’s just Iris.” He points his thumb over his shoulder. “She won’t say nothing.”

Iris. Her name rolls across my mind, gaining traction. The woman-child hasn’t moved from the register. Gone is the cute, scattered look. She’s not self-conscious or second-guessing herself, either. Instead, her eyes are open wide, a wariness about her as if she senses danger. She’s waiting, a doe caught in the lethal gaze of a leopard.

Blinking, she leans away, breaking the spell. Apprehension is carved into her features. With a quick glance from Conrado to me, she clears her throat. “I’ll go clean up the mess in the back.” Pushing off from the counter, she’s out from behind the register. A quick tug pulls the end of the smock down to cover her ass. The space between the smock and the back of her legs tells me there’s more to see than meets the eye. The lovely Iris is hiding some killer curves.

She turns into the first aisle and, within a second, she’s out of view. Her head and ponytail are barely visible above the top of the shelves. Checking the mirror is another disappointment. Her features are shadowed, masking her expression as she hurries to the back of the store. Pushing through the swinging door, she disappears into the darkness without a backward glance.

Conrado shifts, dragging my attention away from the intriguing Iris. While I’ve been watching her, every step of the way, he’s been watching me. He knows. A shot of anger tightens the muscles along my shoulders. I almost forgot he’s there. Even if it’s for a second, in my world, that could be enough to end me. I haven’t been so careless, in a long, long time.

Conrado heads to the register, and my heartbeat speeds up. My only weapon is a short blade. I reach toward my belt buckle as I watch his hands. He stops at the conveyor belt and snatches up the bill I dropped. “Here.” He offers it up. “No charge.”

Dammit all. I uncurl my fingers, letting my hand drop to a nonthreatening position at my side. If there’s one thing I hate, it’s being in somebody’s debt. While I wouldn’t mind giving the hundred to Iris, I couldn’t leave him the money. He’d probably stash it away and give it back to me as part of the hundred-thousand-dollar membership fee.

Fuck. Fate’s a bitch. “Look.” I give a sharp exhale, resigned to losing time on someone I know won’t make the cut. “Maybe we can discuss your interest in the group.”

“Oh yeah!” His face lights up then so does everything around us, bringing the building alive. “Let’s head back to the office.” He turns on a heel. The door slides open and two customers come in, chatting about the inconvenience of the power outage.

“It’ll have to be later,” I warn him, eying a woman who dashes by. My gaze goes to the back, where Iris disappeared, but there’s no sign of her.

“You know what?” Conrado follows my gaze. “I got a place we can meet up.”

“Great.” I think I managed to mask my disdain. He hasn’t figured it out, but the guy’s wasting my time.

“Hang on.” He holds a hand up while he backs up to the register again. Reaching across the machine, he tosses up the cover and drags out the receipt paper, pulling loose the roll to hit the floor and leave a growing ribbon across the tile. He tears off a piece and scribbles something before folding the scrap and rushing back over. “Here. Go by the office and they’ll hook you up.”

Taking the note, I shove it in my pocket and scoff to myself.

The little troll grins. “I’ll make it worth it for you.” Then he did the one thing that can change my mind: he looks over at the door where Iris disappeared.

CHAPTER TWO

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