Page 17 of For the Love of Animals

“Then work, querida. Tell me about the chinks in Lozano’s armour.”

Right now, I was learning more about the chinks in my own, and I didn’t like that feeling. Not one bit.

“These new guards—could they be vulnerable to bribery?”

“Possibly, but you have five days. We don’t have time to find out.”

“What about his family? Could we use them as leverage?”

“He’s tightened security around them too.”

“This is impossible.”

“Not impossible, just difficult. Don’t you like a challenge?”

Not anymore. Mostly, I was tired now. At twenty-three, I was ready to call it quits with this life, although I couldn’t admit that to a man like Nate. A soft knock at the door saved me from having to answer, and my hand went automatically to the gun at my side. “Who’s that? Are you expecting someone?”

“That’ll be my clothes for this evening.” He flashed me a grin, and heat rushed through me, settling in all the wrong places. “As your significant other, I figured I’d better impress your grandma.”

CHAPTER 7 - CARMEN

“PLEASE DON’T TALK,” I said to Nate. “This evening will be bad enough already without getting a lecture from my family on my choice of man.”

“What’s wrong with me? I’m wearing a shirt and I promise I won’t get drunk.”

Two days ago, the list would have been endless—arrogant, rude, condescending, charmless, pushy, and so on, and so on—but now? I wasn’t so sure.

“Just don’t curse in front of my grandma. She hates that.”

“No cursing. Understood.”

He held out a hand to help me from the cab, and I ignored it, but I couldn’t ignore the arm that slid around my waist. Dammit, I almost dropped my hastily cooked chicken tamale pie.

“What the hell are you doing? Get your hands off me!”

“Querida, we’re supposed to be dating.”

“Can’t we date from a foot apart?”

“A man like me? That would never happen.”

I took it all back. Nate was an egotistical jackass. A jackass with glutes of steel and a smile that made my heart go all bumpy. Dammit.

“Fine. Leave your arm where it is. But if your hand slides any lower, be prepared to lose fingers.”

Dali skittered around at my feet, but Nate kept a tight grip on her leash. I wasn’t sure she’d enjoy Grandma’s party, but being shut in Nate’s bathroom on her own wouldn’t be much fun either. At least she’d get plenty of leftovers to fill out that skinny frame.

We’d only got halfway to the front door when it flew open. What the…? My brother ran out and did a double take at Nate and Dali before dragging us sideways behind the old jacaranda tree in the front garden. At least Dali had a proper collar and leash now—I’d visited the pet store after our earlier planning session—although Nate grumbled constantly about holding the puppy because her new accessories were pink.

“Teo, what are you doing?” I asked.

He ignored me in favour of looking Nate up and down, nodding to himself when he liked what he saw.

“Teodoro Hernandez. You’re Carmen’s new boyfriend?”

He said that like I’d had an old boyfriend when all I’d managed was a handful of mistakes. The longest had lasted two months, plus another three afterwards of ignoring his emails, gifts, and notes pledging his undying love.

“That’s right. Nate Wood.” They shook hands. “What’s with the subterfuge?”

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