Chapter 17

Isabella

Emiliano Ruiz.

Ever since I’d felt his stare on me at Ariadna Gia’s birthday party, I’d had a hard time forgetting him. However, other than our brief talk about punch, I was too nervous to look directly at him. Yesterday, at Mia’s I had a chance. To say I was affected in some way by this man was an understatement. I’d thought about him as I readied for bed last night. I also realized that him being older than Catalina, there was zero chance he would be interested in me. That didn’t mean I couldn’t stare.

From the safety of my new office doorway, I could appreciate what a handsome man Emiliano was. I’d never had this unabashed opportunity before. He was obviously distracted by Reina and Celeste turning up the charm.

I nibbled my thumbnail.

Starting at the top of his head, I noticed his dark hair was longer on top than on the sides. A trimmed layer of facial hair covered the edge of his chiseled chin. His brown—almost-black—eyes glistened beneath a prominent brow. My insides twisted as my scan went lower still, to his wide shoulders that tapered into toned abs. A tattoo of a snake’s tail wound around his muscular right arm, disappearing beneath the sleeve of his black t-shirt. His long legs were clad in low-riding blue jeans, and on his feet, he wore black boots.

“The woman I’m looking for.”

The sound of his deep voice pulled me with a jolt from my trance. I quickly brought my gaze up to his. “You’re looking for me?”

“I am.” Celeste and Reina dejectedly turned back to their desks as he came my way.

I sucked in a breath as he came to a stop about a foot away. A fresh, clean scent filled my senses. “Why?”

“Mia asked me to help you with the program she set up. I thought we could look at it together.”

“Liliana and I were about to go out to lunch.”

Em shook his head and turned toward our bodyguards. “Didn’t you receive word. There’s no extracurricular movement for the next few days?”

“Sí, we did.”

I pressed my lips together. “Well, we didn’t ask.” Irritation was audible in my tone. “Honestly, I didn’t realize we needed to.”

Em’s lips quirked in a lopsided grin. “Fear not. You won’t starve. The cafeteria has a taco bar on Tuesdays and Thursdays.”

“Eat here?”

“Or if you prefer, I will be happy to go get something and bring it back.”

“But I can’t leave.” It wasn’t a question.

“You can. You can go back to el Patrόn’s. What you may not do is walk around San Diego with only Horace.”

“Mia said…” Something in Em’s expression darkened, causing my words to fade away.

“Things have changed since yesterday.”

That reminded me of what Isla said. “Something happened at Wanderland?”

“It’s not your concern.”

My fist went to my hip and my volume rose. “If whatever happened is suddenly restricting my freedom to walk the streets of San Diego, then it’s my concern.”

His smile broadened. “What happened to the scared little girl at the capo’s home?”

“I wasn’t scared. And I’m not a little girl.”

“I believe one out of the two.” His smile was back. “As a rule of thumb, I prefer not to be lied to.”

Swallowing, I straightened my shoulders. “I’m not lying. I believe Dario sent me out here expecting me to fail. I’ve decided that isn’t going to happen. And for it not to happen, I need to push my own boundaries. Mia stands up for herself. She’s different.” I shook my head. “Honestly, none of this is any of your business.”

“Why would you think that Dario would send you out here to fail?”

I exhaled. “If you want to help me with the program, fine. Personal information is on a need-to-know basis.” I lifted my eyebrow. “You, Emiliano, don’t need to know.”

“Need—no. Want—yes.”

“I’ll eat tacos.”

He pressed his lips together and tilted his face. “Here’s the thing. Unless there is an emergency, men aren’t allowed any farther into the apartments than the front office or guard stations.” He flashed a predatory smile. “These women deal with men enough. Mia wanted a safe male-free zone.” His eyes twinkled. “It’s not as if anyone would be afraid of me.”

Fear. I was scared at the capo’s house. Maybe it was fear of my father’s reaction, not so much Emiliano himself. Nevertheless, even now, I had the common symptoms of fright: racing pulse, shortness of breath, and fluttering in my stomach.

“Liliana told me that.” I tilted my head. “If you can’t go back there, how do you know about the menu?”

“I usually ask whoever’s working the front desk to get me an order.” He paused. “I could ask you.”

I crossed my arms over my breasts. “Ask Celeste or Reina. They seemed pretty smitten with your attention.”

“You’re not?”

I shook my head. “Nope.” I lied again.

“You won’t get me some tacos so that I can help you get started on the program?”

My arms fell to my sides as I peered around his solid body and met Liliana’s gaze. “What do you think? Since we’re apparently forbidden to walk outside, should we get Emiliano lunch from the cafeteria?”

Liliana smiled. “Em, yes.” She turned to José. “You, no.”

To my astonishment, José smiled. “You know how I like my tacos.”

“Oh, does this mean I’m also getting Horace’s?”

He nodded. “Gracias.”

Fifteen minutes later, Liliana and I were back in the front office with food for everyone, including Reina and Celeste. Instead of taking ours to our offices, Liliana, Reina, Celeste, and I went into a conference room I hadn’t noticed before.

As we sat with our to-go containers and bottles of water, I remembered my question to Em. If he wouldn’t tell me what had changed, I could find out another way.

After taking a bite of the delicious food, I hummed.

“They’re good, no?” Celeste asked.

“Oh my gosh. This is the best taco I’ve ever had.”

Liliana smiled. “Luz makes the tostadas herself. None of that store-bought crap.”

“She could open a restaurant.”

“We all tell her that,” Reina said.

I cleared my throat. “If it’s none of my business…” I had everyone’s attention. “Did you two work at the club last night?”

They both sat straighter. Celeste was the one to answer. “We did.”

I lowered my voice so the men wouldn’t hear. “What happened? Isla said something about after what happened at the club last night, she had trouble falling asleep.”

They both seemed to relax. Reina looked out the door toward the men and leaned forward. She spoke quietly. “Two of Kozlov’s men made it past security. It all started around two this morning.”

Liliana gasped.

“Who is Kozlov?” I asked.

Celeste rolled her eyes. “You have some catching up to do if you’re going to work with us.”

“Great. Catch me up.”

Celeste went on to tell me about the bratvas in California. Apparently up until recently, there were two. Ivan Kozlov was the head of one. He was assassinated Tuesday night. The Russians at the club were there to ask el Patrόn for clemency. He wasn’t at the club, but his brother, Reinaldo, was in town for a big meeting. The men were taken downstairs. Rei showed up to question them.

“Nobody trusts them,” Reina said. Her smile broadened. “I’m sure Rei got the truth out of them.”

Celeste giggled.

“What do you mean?”

Liliana answered, “Rei Roríguez is well known for his success at interrogation.”

“What does he do?”

The other three looked at one another and shook their heads.

“How am I supposed to be caught up if you don’t tell me?”

Reina asked, “You’re a Luciano, right?”

I straightened my shoulders. “Yes. I don’t know what that has to do—”

Liliana laid her slender hand on the table. “Rumor is that Dante has a similar reputation.”

“Dante oversees Emerald Club.”

“Seriously,” Celeste said. “Izzy, it’s time for you to wake up. Rei tortures answers out of people. The only thing different in his interrogations and your uncle’s is the language they speak as they cut off body parts.”

My stomach twisted. “Dante is my cousin. And I can’t…”

“You could ask Julia,” Liliana said. “Nicolas sent her into the private bathroom to thank Rei for his help after one of his questioning sessions. She said the water was red from all the blood.”

I pushed my container of remaining food away. I remembered Julia. She was the one who was accepted to school and wanted to be a nurse. “Did she?”

“Did she what?” Celeste asked.

“Thank him?”

Reina pressed her lips together. “No one refuses Nicolas Ruiz. He knows how to make life unbearable.”

“But Rei is married.” I pushed my chair back. “Jasmine married a killer.”

“I don’t think they were married at that time,” Liliana said. “As for marrying a killer, I did. So did Camila and Cat. We don’t judge.”

“Did…” I could hardly formulate a question. “Did you see the two Russians after they went downstairs?”

“No, Nick cut off entry. They closed down everything except VIP. At three we were all escorted back here. There was a rumor that el Patrόn was brought in through a back door.” Reina shrugged. “The fact they made it in at all had us all pretty wound up.”

“The Russians didn’t make it to the back rooms, did they?”

Celeste and Reina shook their heads.

“There was an incident a few years back,” Liliana said. “Russians killed two women in the back. Shot them up with a lethal dose of heroin.” She turned to Celeste and Reina. “If Nicolas or anyone else at the club does anything to make life unbearable, come to me. I’ll talk to Mia. You know we’re here for you.”

They both nodded.

I stood and reached for my water bottle. “I think I’ve had enough catching up for one day.” I gestured toward the food container. “If anyone wants that, I’ve lost my appetite.”