Page 21 of Stalking His Target

A tear drips from my eye, and I lean in against him. “Okay. I’m so sorry for bringing this up.”

But am I? Weren’t my concerns legitimate?

His words are wonderous as they always are. I can never get enough of his sweet talk. His dirty talk. But I still can’t shake the gnawing, biting sensation inside me–that splinter that’sscreaming at me that something is wrong about all this. It’s like a war going on within me. My heart fighting my brain to determine whether or not I stay with Taylor. And right now, I don’t know which side is going to win.

“Don’t be sorry,” Taylor replies. “Just believe in us. That’s all I need.”

Do I believe in us?

I believed in a man once before, and look what happened then.

But am I just bringing my past to bear on Taylor? He doesn’t deserve that. He hasn’t done a single thing wrong, and here I am making waves over nothing.

But I know he’s lying to me.

About what?

“Do you believe in us?” he asks, eyeing me with a loving intensity. “I don’t know if I can go on if you don’t.”

“I believe in us.” I nod. Taylor’s entire body relaxes. His face softens and begins to shine again. He presses his lips to mine, and my heartrate rises. “I think I’m just having a bad day. Maybe I had a bad dream I don’t remember, and I’m rehashing what happened with my ex and projecting it on to you.”

Why am I apologizing like this?

There’s something dangerous about Taylor. I’ve known that since I met him, the night he saved me from those two men. And I never questioned whether or not that danger could ever be turned on to me.

Until now.

“Don’t worry about it,” he says calmly. He smiles, but it’s forced. Something about it frightens me. “So I’ll go with you to Mexico?”

I should tell him no. Bringing a romantic interest anywhere near my overly protective, cartel-boss uncle is a terrible idea.There’s no telling what he might put Taylor through as a vetting process to make sure he is right for his niece.

Not that I want any of that to happen, of course.

But then again, maybe thatisa good reason to bring Taylor along. Maybe my uncle will be able to figure out what it is Taylor has been lying to me about or what he’s hiding. And if he can’t get to the bottom of it, then I’ll know it’s all been in my head.

“Yes.” I smile. “You can come.”

I feel terrible agreeing to this. I’m basically taking him down there under false pretenses. But if he’s going to lie to me, then I think I have every right to use whatever tools I have at my disposal to discover why.

My body hurts. My soul aches. My emotions are blazing at an all-time high.

Yet my mind is torn, struggling to decipher what’s going on here.

“You’re sure?” Taylor smiles, gently caressing my lower lip with the back of his thumb. “I don’t want to impose on you, sweetheart.”

It’s a struggle, but I manage to smile back. “I’m sure,” I lie, pecking his thumb gently. “I wouldn’t lie to you.”

He says nothing. Yet I see a glimmer in his eyes again that says to me he’s hiding something.

My heart sinks.

We’re both hiding things from each other. How on earth can this end well?

8

TAYLOR

It’s74 degrees when we touch down outside Tijuana. The air feels like warm bathwater. Layla tried to explain to me the reason we flew private was because her uncle had made lots of money in the avocado business. That’s actually partially true. The cartels have been in the avocado and lime business for a while now as a way of making money to fund theirotherbusinesses and a method of laundering their illegal profits.

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