Page 101 of Beautiful Dangerous

He doesn’t even give me a chance to ask how long I have before the move, he just strides back into the house, leaving me bewildered. And fucking angry, was I really so blinded by my love for this man that I couldn’t see who he really was? What happened to the kind, caring man I’d spent so many happy years with…?

Did he ever really exist?

I don’t know.

I dig out my phone, because every inch of me is screaming to call Lucca. But I know I can’t do that. Javier has probably already found him, to tell him everything he’s just told me?

We should’ve moved faster, but we had no plan, no get out clause, we had nothing but a crazy dream and heads full of impossible fantasies that now may never come true.

Fight for the life you want, Olivia, come on!

Is there any point?

Fight!

With every breath left in my fucking body…

Lucca

We pull up outside the casino, and I get out of the car and open Javier’s door. Slamming it shut behind him we head inside, greet Merv, order some drinks, and sit down at a quiet corner booth in the bar area.

Javier sits back, his hands clasped together on the table, his eyes fixed on mine, and I’m getting the feeling this talk he wants to have with me, it’s serious. Which makes me nervous, for so many reasons.

“I asked you here, Lucca, because I have something very important to discuss with you.”

I try to keep my expression stoic, to not let him see those uncharacteristic nerves I’m suddenly feeling, that wouldn’t be a good idea. To expose any weakness in front of this man would be dangerous.

“Olivia and I, we’ll be leaving for Mexico soon.”

“Mexico? Why? Is something going on over there…?”

“We’re moving there.”

“Moving there…?”

His words slam into me so hard I’m almost fighting for breath, and when I look at him he’s smirking.

“Things are changing, Lucca. Plans are being revised, and everything is going to feel a little different from now on.”

As he tells me about his meeting with Fidel Pino, about how the two families are now working together, I feel my head start to spin, what the fuck is going on here?

“I don’t… All those reasons why you had to fake your death, you’re just tossing them aside now?”

“Hardly, Lucca. Ultimately it was my actions that have led us to this early resolution between the Delgado and Pino families. And we weren’t the ones waving the white flag. We’re the ones holding the power. We achieved what we set out to do and now it’s time for a brand new start. Which is why Olivia and I will be moving to Mexico, I want to run things that side of the border.”

“And what about here?”

He doesn’t break the stare, the corners of his mouth turning up very slightly, but he doesn’t answer the question. And then our drinks arrive, and I pick up my coffee and take a small sip, the hot liquid sliding down my throat, settling in my belly, and I wish I had a whiskey to tip into it.

“I’m going to need someone in place very soon, this side of the border.”

He’s drawing this out, and I know this man, I know him too well, and there’s a reason why he’s being deliberately vague; in no rush to give me the details I want. Something about the direction this conversation is taking is making me nervous, and keeping those nerves at bay, it’s getting harder to do. I can feel my brows furrowing, and I’d rather that hadn’t happened, looking confused in front of Javier lets him believe you’ve lost control…

But you have, lost control…

I’m trying to claw it back.

“Youare going to be running things here, Lucca.”

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