Page 15 of Hidden By His Side

Diego set up the cameras back when he was still perfecting his craft, so the cameras weren’t the best, but Ramiro hesitated over having them upgraded. Then Diego might remember putting them in and rag him about his secretary even more. He only knew her as his secretary, not a girl Ramiro took in back before he’d spun off from the Zeta syndicate, and Ramiro wanted it to remain that way.

Of course, sending Diego to follow Summer home might have nudged his memory. Ramiro hoped the one-off job so long ago had been too minor for his friend to remember.

He flipped through the cameras, relieved to find the apartment empty. He wouldn’t have put it past Summer to not reach out for help if the date fell through, but she also wouldn’t ignore his order when it was about her safety. She took his orders seriously, not out of any concern for herself, but because she wouldn’t want him to worry more.

No one had broken in either, so maybe Ramiro’s suspicions were wrong and she’d just been a convenient target back at the office today. The thought didn’t make him feel any better.

His newest asset, Sebastian Guzman, hadn’t recognized the dead man. He’d been the one Ramiro called in to help with cleanup, hoping he’d have some insight. Seb should know, since he’d been part of the cartel for a while, but then again, his loyalty had yet to be tested. He’d burned his relationship with the cartel, so he hadn’t had a lot of choices besides Ramiro. Loyalty didn’t count for much if there was no choice.

Ramiro only had the dead man’s comment that the Guzmans sent him to go on. He would need to send another message to the current Guzman in charge. Even the possibility of Summer’s safety being at risk wasn’t acceptable.

He stared at the image of Summer’s empty bedroom as he considered his options. The inner voice urging him to push her toward another career path, one not linked to him, made his hands clench on the phone.

A text window popped up, taking over his screen.

‘Stop creeping on your secretary.’

Ramiro scrubbed his hand over his face with a groan. “Fuck off, Hayes,” he said aloud, never sure whether Hayes was listening in as well. He didn’t put much past the man.

‘She’s not even there.’

Ramiro tapped on the text window. ‘I sent you a job. You shouldn’t be this bored.’

‘I’m not the one spying on an empty room.’

Ramiro flushed.

‘Intel job is done. I saw the text before you forwarded it.’

Ramiro sighed, tugging on his beard in annoyance. ‘I asked you not to read my texts.’

‘It’s more efficient. I can pretend not to if that’s better.’

‘Fuck off.’

‘That’s not nice.’

Ramiro snorted. Hayes had no boundaries, and instilling any was a waste of energy, but Ramiro kept trying anyway.

‘Just for that, I’ll wait and send you your gift in the morning.’

Ramiro’s curiosity stirred. Hayes might be an asshole, but he was a skilled asshole.

‘Cartel intel?’ Ramiro asked.

‘Wait and see. Get some sleep.’

The chat window disappeared as if it’d never existed.

Ramiro was left looking at an image of an empty bedroom. Summer’s bedroom featured in his recurring dreams. He’d known it would ruin him if he allowed himself to touch her, even just the once, but he hadn’t been able to resist, not when it was everything he wanted.

Chapter 6

5 Years Prior

Summer kissed him, and it took every scrap of control Ramiro had not to devour her. Summer wanted to have sex with him. The words were already filling every space in his mind.

He was so fucked.

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