Page 63 of Devil's Claim

Genevieve rolled her eyes. “Yes, my rules.” She stole his drink and walked around the end of the bar, heading in my direction.

“I didn’t agree to this,” I threw out.

Jago lifted an eyebrow. “If what I heard about Christine is remotely true, she won’t allow herself to be your plaything and nothing else.”

An ache behind my eyes had formed. I knew he was right. Her agreement to accompany me to Spain would likely be forfeitedonce she fully understood there was no return ticket. I rubbed my forehead. “She will not be placed in harm’s way.”

“Yep. You like her.”

This time, I lifted my middle finger at Navarro.

“It’s settled then,” Genevieve said as she nodded toward the colorful bag. “Kruz. There’s a little welcome to our world present for Christine and Maverick.”

“You know about Maverick.”

She laughed. “Do you honestly think there’s anything that goes on inside this glorious regime I don’t know about? Puh-lease. Now, let me give you a hint since you’ve never had a house guest before. Don’t leave her alone too long.”

“What makes you think I’m going to do that?”

“You’re here, aren’t you? You just flew in only a few hours ago and instead of making your guests feel welcome, you came right over to Jago’s house. That tells me you have no clue how to make guests feel comfortable in your home. Likely since you’ve been a confirmed bachelor for a million years.”

“Ouch,” Jago chortled.

His attitude tugged my intense scowl his way. “I’m not that old.” My insistence was met with a roll of Genevieve’s eyes.

“Uh-huh. You need to do something to make Christine feel special. Take her and her boy out to dinner. Buy her some flowers. Candy. Take her on a shopping trip. Whatever you can do to break the ice. If not, my guess is she’ll find a way to head back to Miami.”

“Not without my permission.”

“There you go. Another Neanderthal. Good luck with that. Why don’t you ask how Jago fared? Don’t forget,” Genevieve added, “I recently established a daycare inside the corporate headquarters. We need to be able to hire top notch employees.”

Navarro sighed. “I think we also need to have a chat with an old friend of mine.”

“What old friend?” I asked, although I knew the man wasn’t interested in nurturing friendships.

“Call him a pain in the ass two-bit traitor.” Navarro didn’t suffer fools lightly and I could tell whoever he was thinking of had grated his last nerve. “Remember Gio Farrelli?” He was asking Jago.

Jago narrowed his eyes first then hissed. “Traitor is right. After stealing from us, wasn’t he pinched and sentenced to some time in prison?” Jago knew exactly what had happened to the man. He kept tabs on everything and everyone.

Navarro nodded. “He did. Three years. Word on the street is that he’s out and had a direct line to some assholes from guess where?”

“Morocco.” My answer was succinct. “Interesting. I assume he’s branching out, maybe moving away from cocaine.”

“Exactly. He might not be the best source, but he owes us. Maybe we can craft some information to pass along.”

“Not bad. Not bad at all,” Jago mused. “Perhaps a game of chess.”

Navarro was smirking. “We can both butter him up and give him a lesson in treachery at the same time. I’ll find him so we can have a nice, long chat.”

“How tight is he in with Fassi? We can’t trust anyone at this point. Fassi has made no bones about the fact he will retaliate.”

“Kruz is right. If you rough him up, do so in a way he can still limp back to Fassi. But only toss out crumbs. You know how rats are. They’ll come back for more.” Jago grinned. “But I do like the idea. We lose nothing and perhaps gain some decent information.”

“As long as Gio doesn’t squeal.”

“He won’t. He has a family. He won’t want them hurt.” Navarro narrowed his eyes. The man was bloodthirsty.

“Be careful, boys. You might learn to become as conniving as I’ve been. When you’re ready, Kruz, bring Christine by the office so we can get acquainted. Don’t worry. She’ll be fine in my hands. Oh, and make certain she brings the adorable Maverick with her. I can’t wait to meet him.” Genevieve pressed her hand against Jago’s chest, flipped her hair, and sauntered away from us.

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