Page 116 of Devil's Claim

Genevieve moved to the case, sweeping her arm across the surface. “I think Elegant Embellishments will add a touch of sophistication to the art district.”

“Would you like to see our offices?” I asked. The questions had been rehearsed almost like a script in a play. At least I didn’t feel so befuddled.

The three men looked between themselves. One finally cleared his throat. “That won’t be necessary.”

“Why is that?” I challenged immediately, the edge in my tone intentional. I’d been around men like him before. He was turning his nose up at a woman-operated business.

“Because your permit has been denied.”

“On what grounds?” I’d never seen Genevieve angry; miffed, yes, but her eyes were full of fire.

“On the grounds we don’t want your business,” a second man said.

“What does that mean?” Genevieve also had a bite to her tone.

The third moved to the beautiful counter, purposely spilling some of the champagne before placing his flute in the center of the mess he’d created. “That means your kind aren’t welcome.”

“My kind? Are you serious? You’re talking about the fact we are women?” Genevieve took a step forward. So did Emiliano. Only his hand was already reaching for his weapon.

The situation was escalating. I gave him a harsh look, which thankfully, he did understand, snarling before lowering his hand. I noticed a flash in one of the assholes’ eyes and instantly realized what he was getting at.

“What these three flunkies mean is that they don’t want anyone associated with the Morales-Torres Corporation doing business in their jurisdiction.”

Genevieve narrowed her eyes as if she didn’t understand at first. When she did, I was certain she was prepared to light a fire under them.

I threw out my hand before she could wrap her hand around one or all of their throats and took a step forward. I’d learned this trick from Kruz and planned on using it from here on out. With my high heels, I stood a couple of inches taller than the flunky I’d selected to take out my wrath on.

With the smile still on my face, I shifted my attention to the other two first before trying to lock eyes with my current victim.

Only he was too intimidated to look me in the eyes.

I held up my hand. “Do you see this ring, gentlemen?” I gave them two seconds to mutter anything.

They didn’t.

“This is my engagement ring. I’m engaged to Kruz Blanco. Now, you might know of him as a fine upstanding businessman who’d brought the city of Barcelona millions of dollars in both tax revenue and money spent from tourists and locals alike. What you might or might not know about is his reputation as being… Let’s just say a formidable man.” I was winging the numbers, but they sounded about right.

As my mother had told me once, butter wouldn’t melt in my mouth.

“And as such, he doesn’t take kindly to anyone attempting to sully his reputation. In addition, Jago Torres is good friends with the director general of the police. They get together on a regular basis.” A flat-out unknown, but worth the risk. Plus, I could tell by the way their faces now seemed like corpses that I was hitting on all cylinders.

“Then there is Navarro Delgado, a man who needs no introduction with the other county officials. I’m certain they’ll tell you the man is rather brutal in his handling of business affairs. Then there’s Genevieve Torres and myself.” I managed to inch a smidgeon closer. Sadly, the vomiting in my mouth might happen sooner versus later given his bad breath.

Hold on. Was his upper lip twitching?

Exhaling, he blinked as my hot cinnamon-laced breath hit him square in the face. “You see the way we run business is downright ruthless. In other words. You do not want to cross us.”

The words hung in the air and at least one of the soldiers coughed.

All three men were clearly uncomfortable.

Now I took a step back, purposely taking a sip of my champagne and licking my lips afterward. “So, gentlemen. You were saying something about having the permits with you today and promising us that everything would be in perfect order within twenty-four hours. Correct?”

I took another step back so I could lift a single eyebrow, slowly shifting my gaze from one to the other for the second and last time.

“Yes, ma’am. We can make that happen.”

“Excellent,” I breathed as if I didn’t have a care in the world. “Then if there’s no other business we need to discuss, leave the permits, send an electronic copy to the email provided, and give Genevieve a call tomorrow when everything has been finalized. Enjoy the rest of your evening. Gentlemen.”

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