“Let’s go get this over with,” Kara said, cutting her gaze sharply and reaching for her door.
Blake fought the urge to reach for her again, feeling her hurt, knowing she expected something he hadn’t given her. But he would, damn it, and soon. He caught up with her at the front of the truck and when she wouldn’t look at him, he couldn’t take the idea of causing her more pain than she’d already felt this morning. He grabbed her and pulled her close, planting a kiss on her mouth. “One day not so long from now, I’m going to make you my woman, Kara, even if I have to tie you up again until you agree.”
A slow smile slid onto her lips and warmed his heart. “I love this soft, romantic side of you,” she teased.
He laughed and set her away from him when he really just wanted to hold her for the rest of his life. “There’s plenty more where that came from, I promise.” He motioned to the door and they fell into step together, their laughter fading, tension crackling in the air as they headed into what could be a trap.
A few minutes later, they exited the elevator into the lobby of Mendez’s offices. Kara greeted the receptionist with a wave and they headed straight past her desk and down the hall towards Mendez’s office. “Wait!” the woman said. “I’m supposed to buzz Mr. Mendez when you arrive.”
Blake curled his fingers on Kara’s elbow. “Just keep walking.”
“I planned on it,” she assured him.
Once they cleared the hall and found Kara’s desk, there was yet another roadblock. A twenty-something brunette was sitting behind Kara’s desk, her spine stiff, her expression puckered and high and mighty. “Hello, Kara,” she said, a snide bite to her voice.
“Hello, Evelyn,” Kara replied. “I guess they pulled you from payroll to cover my desk?”
“Something like that,” she said, and the inference was that she’d replaced Kara. “I’ll let Mr. Mendez know you’re here.” She picked up the phone and dialed.
Blake didn’t like the feel of this, and a shared look with Kara told him she didn’t either.
“You can go in,” Evelyn said, waving a hand at the door.
Blake motioned Kara forward, reaching around her to open the door, intentionally wrapping her body in his, silently telling her they were in this together, before he pulled it open. Kara walked into the office and Blake followed, shutting the door behind him again.
Mendez sat at his desk, elbows on top, fingers steepled. He gave Kara an up-and-down, lingering on her cle**age in a way that made Blake want to rip his eyeballs out. “I see Mr. Wright’s sense of style has rubbed off on you, Kara,” Mendez commented. “Apparently his skill with a gun has as well.” He motioned to the chairs in front of his desk. “Both of you. Sit down.”
“My father taught me to shoot when I was a young girl,” Kara explained as they moved forward and she settled into a chair. “He believed a woman is supposed to look like a lady but be capable of biting like a shark. He was a fisherman.”
“I read that in your file,” Mendez commented, glancing up at Blake, clearly noticing he hadn’t sat down.
Mendez arched a brow. “Problem, Mr. Wright?”
Hiking his hip on Mendez’s desk, Blake crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Yeah. I tend to get testy when people send me out to the sharks to get eaten. If the same people you suspect of stealing drugs from you are running your trafficking operation, you don’t think that it’s important to tell me?”
“I hired you to find out who is skimming drugs from me. Have you?”
“Funny thing about that,” Blake commented dryly. “The same people I suspect of stealing your drugs almost got you put behind bars last night for trafficking. They’re greedy with your drugs and careless with your business. This shit is way deeper than the pig hole I thought I was wading in. I need facts to continue forward, and I need more money.”
“You do have a profound way with words, Mr. Wright,” Mendez observed, disdain in his voice.
“So I’ve been told,” Blake commented and the only disdain he had was for this man and his cronies. “More money and more information, or I’m out.”
“What did you do with the women?” Mendez asked, shifting the conversation.
“I sent them far away and told them that everyone they ever knew or might know in the future would be slaughtered if they ever said a word about what happened to them.”
“And why not kill them?” he queried.
“I don’t do bloodbaths. Dead bodies come with complications I don’t need.”
Mendez pursed his lips. “I want them dead.”
“Find them and kill them. And good luck. I’m damn good at hiding what I don’t want to be found. Almost as good as I am at finding what others don’t want discovered.”
His eyes bored into Blake’s for several seconds before his attention turned sharply to Kara. “You aren’t offended by the females being sold off by our organization?”
“It’s not my job to judge,” Kara replied coolly. “It’s my job to protect the organization.”
“And why would you be that loyal?” he questioned.
Impressively, Kara didn’t so much as blink. “Because I’m tired of being poor and struggling. I want more.”
Mendez leaned back in his chair, his expression unreadable. Seconds ticked by, which Blake used to envision slamming the man’s head against the desk. He couldn’t help it. He believed dreams could come true if you visualized them often enough.