Page 9 of Wait for You

Imogen turned her gaze away, but her thoughts ran in multiple directions as scrambled as a plate of eggs. She couldn’t stop wondering why Mat had kissed her or what might’ve happened if they hadn’t been interrupted. Despite telling herself she would’ve stopped things from going too far, she didn’t fully trust her ability to say no to him.

Not when kissing him felt so good. His lips had warmed the blood that shock had frozen in her veins. So much so that she’d nearly melted in his arms. She’d hoped she’d gotten over Mat, but that kiss proved otherwise.

When her mind tried to replay it, she violently shook her head, determined to toss the image from her thoughts. Why was she waiting here when she should be trying to find her brother? She’d been so caught up with Mat she’d forgotten why she was here in the first place.

Estúpida!

Imogen surged to her feet. If Mat was meeting with the lieutenant, then at least he’d be busy. Hurrying to the door, she opened it and checked the hall. It was empty.

Stepping out, she closed the door behind her as silently as possible, then listened for the sound of footsteps. She would follow Mat to the lieutenant’s rooms and do some snooping while he kept the man occupied. Noting the direction they’d gone, she removed her noisy pumps and crept after them. Even if she found nothing about Emil, she could at least eavesdrop on their conversation.

???

Mateo

“The boss won’t like it.”

Mat glared at the back of Julio’s head. He’d kissed Imogen so the person who’d entered his room wouldn’t be suspicious of the real reason she’d been there. Maybe if anyone other than Julio had come to his door, it would’ve worked. The man was gum on a boot heel—annoying as hell. He liked to run his mouth any chance he got.

It had been a risk, but Mat thought he could play the embrace off as nothing. The problem with his plan was that kissing Imogen had been the opposite of nothing. His body remembered her and reacted more strongly than he’d intended. What had started as a cover-up morphed into something else. Which made him that much more anxious to throw Julio off the scent.

Making sure his authority sounded in his voice, Mat replied, “El Jaguardoesn’t care what I do with one of his housemaids. He has far more important matters to attend to.” He paused so the next shot would hit its mark. “Like you should be doin’.”

Julio stopped them outside the lieutenant’s office, whirling around with an expression of uncensored hatred. “You don’t tell me what to do,gringo.”

The fact Mat had been promoted stuck in Julio’s craw like a burr. Knowing it would infuriate him, Mat smiled. Julio liked to think he answered only to the lieutenant, but Mat knew that wasn’t the case. The man wanted power but was little better than the lieutenant’s errand boy. “Are you sure ’bout that, Julio? Maybe we should askEl Jaguar.”

Julio started to reach for the gun in his shoulder holster before he thought better of it. Mat hoped that would be the end of this conversation, but then Julio’s eyes lit up.

His slimy voice settled like tar over Mat’s airways. “I guess I don’thaveto tell the lieutenant about your maid. If she’s willing to open her legs for you, she can do the same for me.”

Motherfucker!

With the wire tripped on Mat’s anger, he went off, slamming Julio into the wall and pinning the shorter man’s throat under his forearm with eyes that promised murder. The move epitomized the scarynarcoMat played at, but this wasn’t an act. The idea of Julio going after Imogen fired a rage he’d never felt before.

He barely recognized his own voice as he growled, “You so much as sniff in her direction, and I’ll feed your balls to the dogs, you fuckin’mico.”

Calling an angry man with a gun a cunt might not have been the smartest move, but Mat needed Julio to know he meant business. Because undercover or not, Imogen’s safety was more important than the operation, at least in his mind.

Julio hissed a heap of curses before shifting his weight. Mat spun the bastard around, pushing his face into the wall to silence him before he had a chance to get off a punch.

Leaning in, Mat spoke low in his ear, “Me entiendes, Julio?” Adding pressure to the bend in the man’s arm he was using to hold him in place, Mat asked, “Or do I need to break your fuckin’ arm to make my point clear?”

Julio half-spat his response on a howl of pain, “Entiendo!”

El Jaguar’svoice sounded through the closed door. “Is that you, Mateo?”

Mat released Julio with a shove as he answered, “Sí, patrón.”

The lieutenant opened his office door, sized up the situation, and scowled. “Stop playing with each other and get in here.”

Julio pushed in front of Mat as if entering the room first was some sort of prize. Mat could care less. His only aim was finding out whatever the lieutenant wanted, so he could get back to Imogen as fast as possible.

“Instead of trying to ferret out the traitor, we make him reveal himself,”El Jaguarspoke as he walked to the bookshelfbehind his desk. Grabbing a tattered tome, he turned. “I’m going to throw a party to celebrate Carnival and invite every Lazcano.”

The hairs on Mat’s neck stood up. He had a pretty good idea of where this was leading, and he didn’t like it. His head would be on the chopping block if he didn’t find a traitor at the celebration.

The lieutenant opened the book and leaned over his desk to hand it to Mat. Though his eyes were on the open pages, Mat heard the smile inEl Jaguar’svoice.

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