Page 70 of Beautiful Dangerous

We wait until they pull away before making any kind of move.

“I’m guessing they’ll be going straight to the Devil’s Creed compound,” I sigh, watching as the tail lights of Hawkins’ car disappears through the gates at the end of the winding driveway.

“Eddie’s expecting them.” Javier takes his hands out of his pockets and rubs them together. “Come on. Back inside. There’s a party still going on in there, and we have much to celebrate.”

Do we? The look that passes between Lucca and I as we follow Javier and Angel inside says otherwise.

I should be celebrating. This is all I’ve ever wanted, right? My husband back.

It’s all I’ve ever wanted…

Fourteen

Lucca

“You look tired.”

I open the back door of the Jaguar as Javier climbs inside. “I haven’t been sleeping well.” I close the door and climb into the driver’s seat.

“Is there a reason for that?”

My eyes briefly meet Javier’s in the rear-view mirror. “I never sleep well. You know that.”

He drops his gaze to his phone. “You should see Dr. Nolan. He could prescribe you some pills, to help you relax.”

Why is he so concerned about my sleeping habits all of a sudden? He never gave a shit before. “I’m fine.”

“Maybe you need a break.”

“A break?” I turn my head to look at him, and when he raises his he has a smile on his face. “What kind of break?”

“I don’t know. A few days away, from all of this. It might be a good idea.”

“Why the fuck would I suddenly want a few days away when I have never expressed a need for that before? And why would I be going anywhere, when you’ve only just returned?”

“You’re right. Forgive me, I was just concerned for your welfare, that’s all. You’ve had a lot to deal with, while I was away.”

“I hated lying to her.” I start the engine, my eyes now back on the road.

“I know. It was a lot to ask of you. But I’m extremely grateful, Lucca. For everything.”

We pull out of the driveway, on our way to the casino for a meeting with the bikers. After Olivia’s successful dinner with Endo French over the weekend we now have ourselves a new line of product coming out of Bolivia, and a warehouse already full of it, acquired from the Pino cartel, all ready to be distributed. That needs to be coordinated, and then Javier has meetings all day as he continues the work Olivia started on the new hotel. We have more and more businesses on the go now, more fronts to hide behind. It’s important we keep that façade going, for a number of reasons.

“You’re like a brother to me, Javier. Anything you need, I’ll be there for you.”

He lets a couple of beats go by, and once again our eyes briefly meet in the rear-view mirror. “Thank you.”

I turn the radio up a little, and hope he isn’t in the mood for conversation. I know I’m not. My head’s still a mess, this whole situation, it’s suddenly something I’m struggling to deal with, even though I knew it was coming. I had the benefit of foresight, Olivia didn’t.

But she’s struggling just as much as you are, right?

I don’t know.

I think she might be…

The entire town is talking about nothing but Javier’s reappearance, the attention he’s receiving is alarming, and for a man who has so much crap to hide he’s more than happy to put himself back out there, front and center. He’s encouraging it. But then, to most people, he’s nothing more than a highly successful businessman who had to go into hiding, and then fake his own death to avoid an assassination attempt from the Pino cartel over a mistaken territory issue. Yeah, that’s his story. And Olivia has her part to play, the wife who had to fake her grief in order to keep her husband alive, and that is so fucking unfair of him, to put her through more shit. But she’s doing what she has to, for a man she loves. Loved. I’m still not sure her feelings are the same anymore, something changed in the days leading up to Javier’s return… No. Not something,everythingchanged.

And your whole world became a lot more uncertain…

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