Page 4 of Guarded

Weekly grocery list

Things I need to tell Thalia when she gets back from Mexico.

Signup Sheet for my fitness class.

List of ways to convince Axel I don’t need a bodyguard.

I scratch out the bottom one. It was too late for that one. As if the mere crossing out of his name summoned him, I hear the door open.Rude.Adan at least has the courtesy to knock. Axel does whatever he wants.

Next to the word arrogance in the dictionary was a picture of Axel Reyes. I look up, and immediately, I am blinded by his ego. The devil himself in an Armani suit. He scowls at my shorts but I dont have time to tell him to take a picture it lasts longer, when the figure next to him catches me by suprise.

Oh my gatos.

My wide eyes meet black sapphire ones. I know this man—not on a deep or personal level, but I know him.

“No,” I say.

I stomp to my room, Guapo’s little feet trailing behind me. Once we are embraced by the bright pink walls of my bedroom, I slam the door shut. I close my eyes but can’t stop seeing those dark ones. There had been multiple times in the hotel, and I swear I caught him looking at me. A man like that isn’t the kind you want looking at you.

He was a member of Los Peregrinos, a notorious motorcycle gang here in Houston. He was the enemy of enemy. Not to mention he was fucking frightening to look at. Maybe a little hot, but still like super frightening. What am I even saying? Hot? No, that man out there gave me the heebie-jeebies.No thank you.

I lock the door behind me and fall backward to the bed.Not him. Anyone but him.The last time I ran into that man had been on Christmas Eve when my cousin Thalia had gifted me an orange dildo.A very large dildo.

The first and last dildo I had ever seen. All that shelter from my parents had made me a prude. I was always a joke because of it. That night, the sight of the enormous male genitalia threw me off. I dropped the damn thing, and it fell to the floor.

Then, at the most inconvenient time, Guapo decides to take off running with the dildo in his mouth. I chased him all over the hotel. When I catch him, it’s a tug of war, and when he finally lets go, I yank the dildo too hard, and it slips out of my hand. When I look to see where it lands, I am mortified to find it at the feet of the man standing in my living room.

“This is all your fault,” I mumbled at Guapo through the pillow. The same one I’m pressing hard into my face. This couldn’t possibly be the best option for my safety.

Chapter 2

Nero

I’ve yet to find anything as comforting as the wind beating against my skin at seventy-five miles an hour. Riding through the city, my hands firmly gripping the handlebars of my bike as the breeze ruffles through my t-shirt. My motorcycle was my place of calm.

Where I’m headed would be anything but calm. A large red neon sign readingCalavera Hotelsappears ahead of me. The last time I was here, I worked as a security guard for the Consuelo family. A deal we made when we agreed to start running guns for the cartel.

Only Ghost had other plans.

When he proposed starting a Houston Chapter, I came along for the ride. We all had our reasons for agreeing to the move. I was going to find my sister.

The house we grew up in was a few hours east of Houston, on the outskirts of La Porte. Our president, Leatherface, quickly agreed to the move as well. He had his own personal vendetta with the Consuelo family.

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