Page 93 of Beautiful Dangerous

“Not when I’m working.”

He brushes that comment away with the wave of his hand, and he seems a lot more chilled out than he was before he went inside.

“You’re too good at what you do to let anything cause you to lose concentration.”

I’m glad he’s got that much faith in me. “How did the meeting go?”

“Good. Mayor Hopkins is a very astute man, I think we’re going to work very well together.” He starts to walk toward the car. “Come on. Let’s go get a drink, maybe something to eat, a late lunch, I have quite an appetite now.”

He seems genuinely uplifted, and I have no idea what’s happened in the space of – what? An hour and a half? I mean, I’m not complaining, it makes my life easier if he’s happy. And then I remember what he said about Olivia, and that anger rises up in me all over again, but I can’t let that show. I can’t do that.

“Are we going back to the house?”

“No. We’re going to The Garden, to meet with Olivia.”

“She’s at The Garden? I thought she was meeting with Eddie today?”

“She was. That meeting’s over now. She had a call from Nora, they needed her for something, I don’t remember what…”

Which means it wasn’t important. To him.

“… and you know Olivia,” Javier continues, fishing his dark glasses from his top jacket pocket and sliding them over his eyes. “She got there, and when she saw that it was busy… She’s taken it upon herself to help out for a couple of hours.”

“Help out? How, exactly?”

“I don’t know, Lucca, I didn’t ask. Does it matter?”

No, it doesn’t, not really, but I shouldn’t be surprised either, Olivia’s always been happy to pitch in and lend a hand where necessary. Unlike Javier. He ran – runs – this cartel in a whole different way, he would never roll his sleeves up and help out behind the bar, he definitely wouldn’t wait tables, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen him in the kitchen of any of our bars, restaurants or hotels.

“I’ve called ahead, asked Alvaro to prepare some of his fish stew and rice. Are you hungry?”

I’m not, as it happens, but my appetite’s been shot to shit for a while now. I only eat because I have to, not because I want to.

“I am.”

“Good!” Javier lands a friendly slap on my shoulder as we continue walking toward the Jaguar, and he’s like a different man to the one who left home this morning. It’s like, as the day’s gone on, his mood has gradually got better, for some reason. “Let’s go, come on. Olivia is expecting us.”

I open the back door for him and he climbs inside, and as I walk around to the driver’s side, I stop for a moment and look around me. This hotel is in an idyllic spot, with the ocean just across the street, and a pretty promenade running the length of its spacious grounds, it’s perfect. Because that’s how Javier likes things. Perfect. Even though his own life is so fucking far from that…

Olivia

“You didn’t have to hang around here, you know.”

I smile at Angel as I wipe the countertop down and lay out fresh coasters.

“I know. But there’s not much going on at the clubhouse today.”

I raise a brow, the corner of my mouth twisting up into a small smile. “Nothing going on? When we left the party was just getting started, and that was early afternoon. Christ knows what’s happening over there now. Aren’t you scared you’re missing something?”

“I’ve experienced enough of those parties to know exactly what’s going down over there, and I’m almost positive it’ll still be going on by the time I get back. You trying to get rid of me?”

He accompanies that question with a smirk, and I shoot him a wider smile, shaking my head. “Of course not. You stay as long as you like, I’m just telling you that I don’t need you anymore. Lucca and Javier will be here soon.”

The look that passes between us as I say that, we have to be so careful not to share those kind of looks when Javier’s around, he’d sense something wasn’t right, and we can’t risk that happening.

“You staying for something to eat?”

“No, those burgers and beans I had earlier kind of filled me up.”

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