Page 34 of Violent Delights

“I am,” I tell him with a confident nod. We’re both in this for the same reason—to keep Lelia safe from the Mosca clan. Even though she’s meant to marry Ignacio, I will spill blood for her, and I have no doubt the man before me will do the same.

I’m sure Guillermo has arrived under the guise of tradition. A loyal protector returning to witness the wedding of the girl he once guarded like a daughter.

He offers a small smile. “I heard you’re looking after my ward,” he says as he hands me a card.

When I take it, I realize it’s a wedding invitation, and this one bears the Mosca seal.

“I am. I will kill to keep her safe,” I inform him without a hint of a smile. I need him to know how serious I am. My gaze is locked on his.

He shifts the enormous suitcase behind him, and he holds out a hand to me. We shake, without words. A silent understanding.

“I’ll show you to your room.” I turn and hear the wheels of his luggage follow behind. I’m sure they carry the weight of secrets better left hidden for now.

“Lia needs someone strong,” he tells me, and for a moment, I think he’s talking about a partner, a lover. Someone who can keep her safe from everyone. But then I realize he means as a bodyguard. My job.

“She does. Luckily, she has me now while you’re not here.” I tack on the last few words, hoping it will show him the respect he deserves. I want him to know I’m not here to take his place but to do the job he was hired to do back in New York. I want him to know I’m on his side.

But he’s not easily swayed.

He’s good.

Too good to trust easily.

As we walk to the wing of the mansion that’s been set up for guests, I stop at the door and open it. He walks through without turning to look at me. His focus is on every corner of the space. I watch from the threshold, not wanting to disturb his thoughts.

“You’re not from around here,” he says without turning around.

I nod, but he can’t see it. “Neither are you,” I throw back easily.

He finally faces me.

We stare at each other in the low light, two men pretending to belong in a place that would eat us alive if it knew the truth.

“I’ve heard about you,” Guillermo says, turning to face me fully now. We’re both the same height, but there is more bulk to the man before me. And that’s saying something. His suit is perfectly pressed, not a crease in sight. Even though his plane has just landed from the States.

I bring my hands together in front of me and lean against the doorframe, my eyes never leaving his. “I’m sure you have.”

“I don’t like it.” There’s a hint of a smirk as he challenges me.

I shrug it off. This is his way of testing me. He wants to see how I’ll react. Deep down, I wonder if he knows exactly who I am. No other man, new to this kind of job, would be as relaxed as I am sparring with him. “I didn’t ask you to.”

He crosses his arms, still watching. “You touched her.”

My heart thuds hard against my chest, stealing my breath for a second or two before I nod. “I did.”

Guillermo tips his head to the side, his gaze narrowing as he regards me. This definitely wasn’t what I was expecting when he spoke to me moments ago. I wonder if Lia told him about me somehow. I know she has her cell phone with her, but would she have told our secret to someone else?

“And you love her?” he finally asks.

I don’t hesitate. “Yes.”

That gets a flicker of something from him. Not quite approval. Not yet. But something closer to curiosity than threat.

“I knew her when she still scraped her knees on marble floors,” he says. “When she thought love was something that came after loyalty, not before it.”

I take a step into the room and square my shoulders. “She’s not that girl anymore.”

“No,” he agrees with a shake of his head. “She’s not.”

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