Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 108405 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 542(@200wpm)___ 434(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108405 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 542(@200wpm)___ 434(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
“Expensive.” I adjusted the knot of my tie. “She has a credit card with her new name on it and nothing but time to kill.”
“Welcome to married life.” He clinked his drink with mine. “I hope she at least pays off the card both timely and abundantly.”
“Do you think there’s any woman who denies me?” I asked with a dismissive wave. “I have access to the best pussy in the world. The girl doesn’t even come close. I needed the connection to her family—that’s all.”
“I’ve heard Costa’s daughter is quite the beauty, though.”
An ember of fire lit at the base of my chest. I breathed through my nose, calming my instinct to put him in his place. He should be so lucky to ever lay eyes on Natalia Cruz de la Rosa. I forced out the only acceptable response. “Exaggeration. She’s a plain and boring brat.”
“Nonetheless, she has brought you even greater fortune and power,” he said with a sip. “I’m happy you could make it tonight.”
“How happy?” I asked, ready to move on from the subject of Natalia. “I’m looking for the Valverde family.”
“Now’s not really the time, de la Rosa.” With a tissue from inside his jacket, he patted his hairline. “Have you gotten a chance to visit the silent auction?”
“Now is exactly the time.” I had a low tolerance for political smoke and shadows and would sooner be back at the hotel working than shoveling this bullshit, but I’d exhausted all other options. “The sooner I get what I need, the sooner I’ll leave.”
“I never had any association with Valverde,” he said out of the side of his mouth, “and that’s the God’s honest truth.”
“Then give me the name of someone here who can help me.”
“I haven’t even heard the name Valverde in years. How would I know what you need?”
“Wrong answer. Try again, compa. Give me a name.”
He forced a smile that couldn’t even pass as an attempt at genuine and raised his cocktail across the room. To me, he spoke under his breath. “See the gentleman in the wheelchair to the left?”
I followed his gaze to a man in a bespoke suit with wrinkled skin and thinning gray hair. Despite his sunglasses, I knew the face underneath was hard as nails. It’d been years since I’d seen him, but I recognized him instantly. “El Búho,” I said.
“Once wise and all-seeing.”
“Now blind and senile,” I said, frustrated by yet another useless lead.
I’d gone to The Owl as a twenty-something in need of help, and he and his family had done everything they could, but it hadn’t been enough. I appreciated the man he’d been, but at almost a hundred years old, I’d heard through the grapevine that his mind was worthless now.
Sanchez clucked his tongue, shaking his head. “Not so fast. Those secrets are still in there, and he just might be out of it enough to share some.” The senator shrugged. “But what’s true and what’s lies? You’ll have to decide for yourself. He’s your best bet at information here, though.”
I started toward the old man, but Sanchez called me back. “He’s on a tight leash. Family doesn’t let him talk to anyone anymore.”
Sure. But I wasn’t anyone.
My phone buzzed in my shirt pocket. I slipped it out and kept the screen close to my chest as Natalia’s name flashed. Well, well. It wasn’t the ideal place to talk, but the fact that she’d called at all was reason enough to pick up. I did love when she obeyed—almost as much as when she didn’t.
I got Max’s attention and nodded toward the man in the wheelchair. “Bring me El Búho. I need a few minutes alone with him.”
I’d barely put the phone to my ear when Natalia blurted, “I have to talk to you about Pilar.”
My free hand curled into a fist as lust rooted itself in me. Being called upon by Natalia for help was one of the sweetest things I’d experienced to date. It would be my perverse pleasure to hear Natalia ask me to deliver a certain fate to the woman-beating molester.
I smiled to myself then schooled my expression for anyone who might care enough to take note. “Good evening to you too,” I responded.
I thought I detected a sigh as she said, “Good evening.”
Recalling Alejandro’s account of her best friend’s bruises and the cowardly fiancé was enough to turn me from doting husband into Manu’s personal nightmare. I tugged at my collar as my chest burned. “I’ve already spoken with Alejandro.”
“And?”
I excused myself from the senator and made my way through the crowd with Daniel at my back. He opened the patio door for me, and I stepped out onto a balcony.
Two women in gowns smoked between sips of martinis. My presence was enough to get them to stub out their cigarettes and clear the area. I gave Daniel a nod, and he returned inside. I could speak freely to my wife knowing he was guarding the door.