Page 46 of Fast Justice

Burying his face in the curve of her neck, he let go, his whole body shuddering as the orgasm hit, pulse after pulse of ecstasy ripping through him. Gasping for air, his muscles like soft wax left in the sun, he sank into the cradle of her body with a groan and lay in her arms, destroyed.

He’d never felt like this before. Never felt so connected to a woman. Never needed anyone the way he needed her.

Through the fog of oblivion, a flicker of dread ignited in his chest. He’d just let his guard down for her, in an even bigger way than the last time. Now what? If she decided she wanted to move on, pretend that this wasn’t everything, what the hell was he going to do?

Rowan’s soft, sleepy sound jerked him out of his thoughts. Realizing he must be crushing her, he reluctantly eased off and out of her warmth. Quickly dealing with the condom, he returned to the bed and stretched out alongside her.

She was on her back, her face turned toward him, eyes open. Watching him. There wasn’t enough light for him to read her expression.

In that instant, cold, brutal reality hit him.

He’d just laid himself physically and emotionally bare to the woman he’d wanted forever, yet he had no idea where he stood with her. It was disorienting as hell and he didn’t have the energy to deal with it right now. They would iron out where they stood tomorrow. He’d rather focus on the here and now, hold onto this moment for as long as he could. In case it didn’t last.

Determined to enjoy the closeness between them, he cradled the side of her face in his hand, swept his thumb across her cheek as he leaned in to kiss her. Her lips were soft, inviting, parting for the tender glide of his tongue.

And when he rolled her onto her side and tucked her into the curve of his body, she snuggled up with a contented sigh while he pulled the covers over them. In the dimness he kissed the top of her shoulder, breathing in her clean, feminine scent. “Can you sleep now?” he murmured.

“Not sure,” she mumbled drowsily. “Maybe if you hold me like this the whole time.”

His heart lurched and he tightened his arms around her. “I will.”I’ll hold onto you forever if you let me.

Chapter Sixteen

“Rowan Stewart. Where is she?” Manny stalked across the carpeted floor of his home office, his agitation so strong he worried he might explode if he didn’t keep moving. How the hell hard was it to find such a high profile lawyer?

“No leads yet.”

No leads. No answers. No fucking information whatsoever for the past forty-eight hours.

From what he understood, the female lawyer was the one in closest contact with Oceane and Anya. Of anyone, she would know where they were. “She couldn’t just have up and disappeared into thin air,” he growled.

“Oceane and Anya both did,” Montoya pointed out.

“No, they didn’t. And we’re only having trouble finding them because the DEA or FBI is hiding them.” It infuriated him. None of his contacts had come back with a location yet.

“So, you talked toEl Escorpion?”

“Yes.”

“What did he say?”

“He said to take care of it,” he snapped, annoyed. What did Montoya think the man would say?

After Manny had toldEl Escorpionabout the situation with Oceane and Anya, the conversation had been brief. That weird, digitally altered voice that was supposed to help keepEl Escorpion’sidentity a secret from even the top cartel members had instructed him in clipped Spanish that he had best deal with the situation poste haste, or prepare to be dealt with in turn.

Manny had no desire to die. He was doing everything he could to mitigate the damage done and recover his daughter and mistress.

“He didn’t say anything about Ruiz?” Montoya asked.

“Yeah, he’s going to help us shut the last of Ruiz’s network down.” So some good had come from his call.

“That’s good. Means the boss still thinks you’re valuable and wants to keep you around.”

Manny grunted. He was many things, but stupid wasn’t one of them.El Escorpionwas only going to keep Manny around so long as it suited his and the cartel’s purposes. To make sure that happened, Manny needed to get this shit cleaned up immediately. For that, he needed a lead on the female lawyer, who would hopefully give him one on his daughter and mistress.

“Nothing more from the tracking device?” The damn thing had cost him a fortune when he’d paid for it a couple years ago. Maybe it wasn’t functioning properly anymore. The technology was outdated. Had the Americans found it and disabled it?

“No. It was a long shot that I found it last time. And after last night the lawyers’ office is locked down tight. There’s a security perimeter up, and nobody’s getting in or out without extra screening. I’ve got eyes on the place but no one’s seen the female lawyer or her boss since last night. They’ve been moved into a secure location by now. They’ll have their own security details.”

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