Page 70 of Unleash You

When she didn’t make an effort to drop everything on her bed, I closed the space between us. “Thank you.”

“Wesley Cole with a wife. Does she know about us?” She braced a hand on my chest.

“There’s no us.”

“I’ll rephrase. Does she know we used to fuck?”

I let out a breath and met her gaze. Would Anabelle be mad at me for that? It happened so long ago. I hadn’t thought of it again until now. “No. I didn’t think it necessary.”

She chuckled and dropped the clothes on the bed. “You should see your face. I’m messing with you.”

I dropped the towel and quickly donned the jeans she’d brought me.

“I wonder what her brother would think about the two of you together.” She ambled toward the balcony. Her gaze focused on something below her.

Charlie guessed Anabelle and I were together the minute he laid eyes on us. I glanced up at Luisa, and then it hit me. I tossed the T-shirt aside and bolted toward her. Red spots blurred my vision as I wrapped my fingers around her elbow. “I never told you she was his sister.”

“The resemblance is obvious.” She croaked.

“Bullshit.”

“Let me go and I’ll tell you.” She glared at me.

I released her and shuffled back. My love for my childhood friend made it impossible to see the truth. Even now, I didn’t want to believe that Charlie would want to harm Anabelle. “I paid you an ungodly amount of money to help us get here. You knew we were here to get Charlie back. Did you go tell him we were coming?”

“You think paying me makes me exclusive to you. I’m in the business of trading secrets. Yours had value. And Charlie was willing to pay.” She rubbed the red marks my fingers left on her soft skin. “So yeah, I’ll take your dollars, his dollars, and your friend’s dollars. I do whatever I need to do to make sure me and my family stay afloat.”

“How did you even know he’d be interested?”

She laughed. “Why would he not be interested in you? You took Rebecca with you.” She paced the length of the room. “Where is she anyway? No, don’t tell. If he asks, I won’t be able to lie. You know, he comes by every other week. Every time, he asks the same question. ‘Has Rebecca contacted you?’”

“What exactly did Charlie pay for?”

“The last time he was here, I mentioned you had finally decided to come to his rescue. When I gave him the details of your Good Samaritan plan, he asked me to make sure you got what you needed. He even helped me intimidate the local authorities into giving you a landing permit.”

“He helped you help us?” Why would Charlie get us here, only to get his men to chase us out of the jungle the minute we got there? “I’m running out of patience here, Luisa. What exactly did he want?”

She laughed. Her eyes showed a mix of pity and amusement. “You’ve always been blind to Charlie’s shortcomings. I noticed it the very first day I met you both.”

“Enough. Tell me why he wanted us here.”

“He didn’t want you here. You and his little sister were the cherry on top. You screwed over his plans when you took his precious Rebecca away from here. His obsession with her has only gotten worse since she left.” She shook her head. “He wanted your jet. He had a transport problem, and you flew in on his solution.”

“Fuck me.”

“He did. Earlier today. I hope you have a backup plan. Once your visa expires, I won’t be able to protect you. The police are furious with me for letting you in. And with Charlie gone...” She shrugged.

“Since when does Charlie have so much influence over the city?” I paced the room. How the fuck were we going to get out of here without a plane? The roads were not safe. Not to mention the drive to a neighboring country could take days. It wasn’t as if we could just show up at the Colombian border.

Her snort laugh brought me back.

“Since when? Since he killed Smith. Taking over the business became his plan very quickly after Rebecca introduced him to the boss. It was why she was afraid of him, why she went to you. Have you really not figured it out yet?” She rolled her eyes at me. “Wake the fuck up, Wesley. Your friend is the new Smith. Marcel and all his little minions answer to him now.”

Her words were like a kick in the stomach. All night, I considered the possibility that Charlie had stayed for a very specific reason. The reason was right there in front of me, but I didn’t want to believe it. It was too horrible. Smith’s business revolved around coke and human trafficking. Charlie, the boy who lived next door to Granny, couldn’t have become that kind of monster.

“You’re lying. Where is he taking her?”

“Atlanta.” She could have said she didn’t know. “Rebecca was right. You’re blind and stupid when it comes to Charlie.”

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