Page 8 of No Mistake

“A moment?”

“Yeah, at your barbecue. But she was leaving to go and visit her sister, so I’m not really sure where we’re at.”

At Dex’s barbecue, he couldn’t keep his eyes off her. He hadn't planned to kiss her, just wanted to make it clear that he was into her. Wow, it had been the hottest fucking kiss of his life. Never had he felt so turned on by just a kiss. But she had been leaving for LA, so he walked away before he completely lost control. Damn, she was becoming an obsession. He couldn’t stop thinking about her. He planned to wait until she returned and then he fully intended to up his game and really put on the charm. He would win her round, whatever it took.

“You really like her, huh?”

Ryan took a drink. “Yeah, I do.”

“What the hell are you doing here, then? Go see her.”

“I intend to. She’s not back yet.”

“She got back yesterday, was going straight on shift today.”

Ryan glanced at him, with a how do you know look.

Dex grinned. “Kelly mentioned it earlier. Girls talk, a lot.”

“Good to know, thank you.” Knowing she was back put a smile on his face.

“Oh man, you got it bad,” Dex said, still grinning.

Ryan grinned back at him. Yup, he did have it bad and now Sophie was back, he intended to do something about it.

Chapter 3

Ricardo Perez slammed his fist on the steering wheel of his Mercedes. He had a big problem. His boss had taken a bullet.

Luis Vitelli had been here to broker a deal. Ricardo was the Vitelli cartel’s enforcer and had been charged to protect him and deal with anyone that got in the way. It should have been a simple preliminary meet. Showcase a sample of the weapons they were supplying. Everything had been going perfectly until a police car drove down the alley and got nosy. When they entered the warehouse, it got real messy, real quick.

Ricardo was pretty sure he shot one of them, but when more sirens started, everyone had scattered. The police shot one of his men, but there’d been no time to retrieve the body.

Juan and Diego had gotten Vitelli away in the van with the sample weapons, but he’d been bleeding bad. They couldn’t go to a hospital, and he had no doctor contacts here in the U.S. Shit, if he died, Alejandro Vitelli, Luis’s father, would not be happy. They would all pay. Harshly.

Luis Vitelli couldn’t die, and they had to salvage this deal. Think damn it, think! The girl, yeah, the girl at the club Saturday night. What was her name? Zoe? Ricardo scrolled through his phone. Chloe. She had said she was a surgical resident. That would do. It was better than nothing.

He dialed the number, but she didn’t pick up. He tried twice more. Shit, there wasn’t time for screwing around. Scrolling through his contacts, he dialed again.

“It’s me. I need you to ping a cellphone.”

“I can’t just do that.”

“You can and you will, or you know what will happen.”

Fifteen minutes later, he had the information he needed. It paid to have leverage on people in the right places. Chloe’s apartment was just ten minutes away. He made it in eight. Parking, he entered the building, keeping his head down and avoiding the cameras.

Pausing outside her door, he calmed himself, making sure his gun was hidden under his jacket. The sun was just starting to come up. It had been a long fucking night, but he forced a smile and knocked gently. Chloe answered, the safety chain on, eyes wide.

“Ricardo? What are you doing here?” She frowned. He kept smiling, turning on the charm.

“Chloe, I can’t stop thinking about you. Thought I’d surprise you. Let me take you for an early breakfast before work?” If he could get her in the car, the rest would be easy.

“How do you know where I live?” She didn’t look pleased to see him, which after their night in the club, pissed him off. Yeah, she’d turned him down on text, but he figured she was just playing hard to get.

“Like I said, I wanted to surprise you. Romantic, no? I’ll wait while you grab your coat. We’ll go someplace nice. Get to know each other a little better, then I’ll drop you at the hospital.” He kept his voice light, hoping it would do the trick. It didn’t.

“No. I don’t think so. You should go. Don’t contact me again.” Chloe went to close the door; Ricardo blocked it with his foot. It was going to have to be the hard way.

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