Page 8 of Naughty and Nice
The four entered my apartment in a flurry of testosterone and purpose, men on a mission.
“Dónde está José?” Em asked.
“He’s back here,” I said, leading them through my apartment.
Renata stood back while one of the soldiers assessed her husband with a stethoscope and blood-pressure cuff. I didn’t know if this dangerous-looking man had medical training, but he seemed to know what he was doing. Pressing his lips together, he nodded to Em.
“We’re going to take him to the warehouse,” Em said.
Renata replied, “I want to go with him.”
“Of course.”
I reached for Nick’s arm. “Is he going to be okay?”
“I don’t know.” He looked around as the two soldiers lifted José. “Do you have another guard here?”
“No.”
“Grab some clothes. I’m taking you to the apartments.”
The apartments? I wasn’t thinking straight. It wasn’t morning yet, not time to go to work. “Why?”
“You can’t stay here without the Pérezes.”
What the heck? My neck stiffened. “I’m not leaving my apartment. This is my home. I have a security system.”
“How will you get to work tomorrow?”
“Uber.”
Nick’s forehead furrowed and his eyebrows quirked. “Liliana, I get it. You don’t want to leave, but your apartment isn’t safe without José.”
“Send one of the soldiers back up here. He can protect me until José is better.”
Nick shook his head. “There’s no way in hell I’m leaving you with one of the soldiers.”
“You don’t trust your own soldiers?”
He scanned from my bare feet to the top of my head. “With you, alone, while you sleep…no.”
What was this, brotherly concern?
I inhaled and looked at Renata’s bedside stand. The clock on the top told me it was after one in the morning. “Okay, fine. We have an empty apartment. Let me pack a few things.”
Nick nodded in agreement.
Despite not wanting to leave, I understood Nick’s reasoning. It seemed there was always some battle, some war, or something happening with the cartel. I may be disowned by my parents, but I wasn’t by el Patrón and the cartel. I was still the widow of a lieutenant. If a member of the bratva or a rival cartel took me…I didn’t want to think about it.
I removed my robe, laying it on my bed, and pulled my nightgown over my head. I wasn’t being driven to the apartments in my nightclothes. As I reached for my bra, my bedroom door opened.
My breathing caught as Nick cursed.
“Fuck…” His eyes darkened as he scanned my body, only covered by panties. “I’m…I wasn’t…”
My core twisted as he stammered.
Instead of turning away, I turned toward him. The intensity and heat of his stare scattered goose bumps over my flesh, twisting my core and tightening my nipples.
