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It would’ve been so easy to kiss her. I don’t think she would’ve stopped me. But she had rules, and rules weren’t made to be broken.
They were meant to be changed.
So, without breaking our connection, I picked her up and carried her into the bedroom.
* * *
I woke up the next morning, still exhausted.
Rolling over, I peered at the clock on the nightstand and groaned. Three hours of sleep wasn’t nearly enough, but I’d trade sleep for sex any day. I smiled, remembering how I took her three more times once we made it into bed, and how she’d fallen asleep curled up next to me.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d slept with a woman in my arms.
Whatever this was between us, I’d be damned if I’d let her shut me out again. We were going to talk about what happened at Rosita Vergara’s house and stop all this secretive shit.
“Adriana, baby, we have to get up.” Still half asleep, I flung my arm across the bed, only for it to fall on top of a cold sheet.
I ignored the rock settling in the pit of my stomach as I grabbed my discarded boxers off the floor before stumbling into the attached bathroom. “Adriana?”
It was silent.
A combination of dread and rage fueled me as I tore through the house, searching every empty room, the call of her name becoming angry shouts.
Then I looked out the window toward an empty driveway.
“Fuck!” I slammed my palm against the glass, trying hard to resist putting my fist through it.
If she wanted to have conversations behind my back, so could I. All Carrera vehicles were equipped with specialized with GPS. One call to Val and he’d track her down in five minutes.
Turning around, I stalked toward the living room and reached for the coffee table where I left my phone only to find it missing too.
“Son of a bitch!” Hurling a nearby lamp across the room, I cursed as it shattered against the wall into hundreds of irreparable pieces.
Chapter Thirty-One
Adriana
The longer I drove, the hollower the ache in my chest became. Why did selflessness hurt so damn bad? Having a taste of happiness last night made leaving him this morning the hardest thing I’d ever done.
Whereas most people hungered for light, I found solace in shadows. But last night, Brody stripped my defenses, and I let myself need someone. Want someone.
I almost kissed him.
His lips were right there. I wanted to kiss him. Something I’d never done. I’d fucked many men. I’d pleasured them with my mouth. But I’d never kissed one. However, last night, I was about to give the one thing I held the most sacred to the man who ripped my life apart. And then he pulled away.
I had my rules, and maybe he had his too. I needed the words to justify the kiss, and he needed the kiss to justify saying the words. But maybe kisses and words weren’t important when actions spoke louder.
Was what I felt love? Was it lust? I didn’t know. I’d never truly been in love before. But if it meant shielding me from gunfire in a crowded nightclub, or doing whatever it took to unlock the secrets to my past, or lying to a man who could end his life just to give me more time to figure out mine—then I guess that was exactly what it was.
But love didn’t invite danger. It met it head-on.
And that’s why I left him sleeping.
Love also knew when to walk away.
He never would’ve let me leave, or even worse, he would’ve tried to come with me. This was dangerous cartel territory. To these men, oaths meant nothing. Pledges meant nothing. Affiliations meant nothing. I would’ve never forgiven myself if something happened to him.
It took a little over an hour to get to the Tlajomulco de Zuñiga address Rosita gave me. The warehouse was hidden three miles down a secluded road. It was everything and nothing I expected it to be. Run-down, gray, plain, and boxy. It blended in as nothing special which was just what he wanted.
