Page 354 of The Black Trilogy

She was right. Kitty jumped down onto the grass, shrank away from the noise, and slunk around to sit behind her. I scratched him on the head. He seemed to enjoy that.

“He likes you. I think you remind him of Lorena. She used to share a room with me, and she’d pet him that way.”

My breath hitched. Had we left someone behind? Then I realised Jane had used the past tense. “What happened to Lorena?”

“Diego killed her.”

Boy, was I glad to have shot the man. Before today, I’d never felt joy at taking a life. A sense of accomplishment at a job being completed, sometimes even relief, but never happiness. On that sunny day in Colombia, however, I made an exception.

Jane gazed over at Black, still stuck in the middle of the crowd. “They look pleased to see him. Are they all his family?”

You know that old saying about blood being thicker than water? Let me tell you, it’s a load of rubbish. Your real family are the people who are there for you, day in day out, who’d put their lives on the line for you, related by blood or not. “Yes, that’s his family.”

“He’s lucky to have so many people who care about him.”

“Yeah, he is. We both are. Do you have family? Because no offence, but you don’t look like you’re related to the Ramoses.”

She cut her eyes to Black then shook her head. “I don’t know.”

Just then, my husband managed to extricate himself from the middle of the team, and he made his way swiftly over to Jane’s side.

“Are you okay? Are you tired? Do you need to sit down?” Before she could answer, he turned to me. “What do pregnant women need?”

“How should I know? Do I have a child?”

His voice dropped to a whisper. “I’m sorry.”

“Forget about it.”

His eyes closed for a second, and I knew what he was remembering. Something I’d rather obliterate from my mind. Then he gathered himself together. “I shouldn’t have said that. I just thought as you’re a woman…”

“Okay, as a man, on a scale of one to ten, how painful is a vasectomy?”

“Point taken. A doctor. She should see a doctor.”

“There’s a doctor in the house,” Nate said from behind Black. “Although Eduardo found him, and he’s more of a trauma surgeon than a gynaecologist. Seems to be pretty good, though. Guess he gets a lot of practice around here.”

“Why do we need a trauma surgeon? Exactly how much trauma have we had?”

“Dan and Felipe both got shot. But not too badly, right?” I looked to Nate for confirmation.

“Felipe’s shoulder was the worst. He’ll need physio after the wound closes up to get his full range of movement back. Dan’s thigh was only a flesh wound. She’s hoping it won’t scar too much. You know how much she loves to wear indecently short skirts.”

“Should I remember Felipe?” Black asked.

“He’s one of Eduardo’s men,” I explained.

“Are we talking about the same Eduardo who the DEA would have a heart attack over if they realised you spent a few weekends a year living it up by his pool?”

“The one and only. I should introduce you.”

“We need to get Jane comfortable first.” He turned back to her. “Can you walk to the house? Should we get a golf cart or something? Or Emmy could land the helicopter closer now we’re not in danger of getting shot at.”

“I think I can walk there.”

Black hooked her arm over his and supported her as they made their way slowly across the vast lawn. The place was a hive of activity now, and Eduardo’s men had joined the party.

Eduardo himself came bounding out of his villa, wearing a burgundy warm-up suit and sunglasses, a gold-plated revolver stuck in his waistband. He grabbed hold of me and swung me around, a big grin on his face. Well, at least one of the men in my life was happy to see me.

---