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Isabella watched all the surveillance tapes and discovered the person returning to the storage area in the museum three more times and labeling crates. How did he know which crates to label? And why did he look so familiar?
She wandered down to the restaurant with all this information tumbling around in her head.
Felix greeted her. “Did the machine Alphonso brought you work?”
“Sí. I was able to watch my movies. Gracias.”
She continued into the restaurant and took a table by the window. It was mid-afternoon. Staring out at the crowded streets and sidewalks made her cringe. She’d have to navigate through the throng to get to the museum and do her research.
Several wait persons hovered around her table filling her glass with water, taking her order, and supplying her with appetizers or botanas. The flurry of people inside and outside was enough to make her wish for her peaceful apartment and the quiet coffee shop on her block that she frequented on Sunday mornings.
Unable to endure any more, she dug pesos out of her vest pocket and left the restaurant. At least the archives at the museum would be peaceful. The exhaust filled air, leached into her lungs causing her to cough. How could people live in this? Today the air seemed unusually thick and toxic.
She fell in step with the wave of people heading toward Templo Mayor. Once through the entrance, she nudged her way through the people and peeled off at the museum entrance. Breathing in the filtered and cooler air, she again broke from the wave and headed to the basement stairs.
Closing the door, she leaned against it a moment before descending the stairs and pushing through the door into the hallway. She preferred the stairs to the elevator. Counting the steps was more calming than hurling downward in a closed box.
Once inside the archive room, she breathed in the musty scent of old papers. Her second favorite scent behind glued book bindings. A vision of a man popped into her mind. Perhaps they both now took second to the earthy scent of Tino.
Her lips heated and her body quivered thinking of Tino. When they both left Mexico, she planned on showing him how much he meant to her and hopefully persuading him to give up hunting down Garza and working for the DEA.
She pushed away from the door and headed to the section in the archive area that held the information she needed to write her research paper. Basically, she’d finished her WIA mission. Her goal was to determine how the artifacts were stolen. She’d discerned that from the videos. But why hadn’t anyone else looked at the videos and determined it themselves?
Prickling sensations crawled up her back. Why indeed? Were the law officials in the pocket of whoever was stealing the artifacts? She knew the curator, Delgado, had connections with WIA and had requested someone help determine how the items were disappearing. Had the officials not even been brought in on this?
All the conversations she’d had with señor Delgado he’d never mentioned the local authorities. With Bastante not knowing she was WIA, it led her to believe Delgado had reason to suspect the director may have something to do with the missing artifacts. The more she thought about all the people who could be involved it became a kaleidoscope of possibilities.
The only positive lead she had on the missing artifacts was the videos showing someone labeling crates after hours.
She played the videos over in her mind. The person who labeled the crates hadn’t come in from the door. The sensor that tripped the lights and the camera came on when the person was in the middle of the storage room. If they’d come through the door, it would have been tripped at the door.
I have to look inside the storage room.
Isabella left the archives and walked down the empty corridor to the storage room. Her footsteps echoed in the silence. The noise made her flinch and search the corridor behind her. No one followed. Why paranoia had a hold on her she didn’t know. She was the only person in this part of the building. All the tourists, guides, and guards were in the upper floors. She was the only one skulking about the basement.
The storage room door had a push button lock. Holding her breath, Isabella punched in the date Bastante took over the position of museum director. The light continued to blink red. She scanned through her memory to other important dates in his life and tried those.
The light blinked green and a click signified she was in when she used the date of his first dig experience. Having read all the information on the man, she’d discovered he liked to keep track of events in his life. The reason she had memorized all his important dates.
She opened the door, releasing cool, musty, underground air into the corridor and across her face. The air was reminiscent of her recent exploits in Guatemala. Stepping across the threshold the overhead lights blinked on. That was what should have happened if the midnight labeler had entered through this door.
There were rows of stacked crates, some open crates with wood shavings spilling out, and material stacked to one side to make more crates. To the left was the service elevator. He hadn’t used the elevator either.
Isabella extracted her LED flashlight from her vest pocket and began a thorough search of the walls of the basement. There had to be another way into the room. She stopped and surveyed the room, replaying the video in her mind.
The labeler had his back to the camera when approaching the crates. She scanned the upper corners of the area searching for the surveillance camera. There. In the corner opposite the door and elevator. The person had to come from this area.
Several crates were piled against the wall. Investigating the area around them, she found scrape marks on the concrete the width of the boxes. They’d been shoved. She pocketed her flashlight and pushed on the crate. It moved easier than she’d anticipated. She fell to her knees when the crates slid to the side and revealed an opening four foot tall and three feet wide.
She pulled her flashlight back out, shining the beam into the passageway. Footprints in the dust proved someone had recently used it as entry to the basement storage. Where did it lead to? It had to be an extension of the tunnels being excavated in Templo Mayor. Who found this and why did they keep it a secret?
She mentally thunked her forehead. It was a secret because whoever found the tunnel used it to steal artifacts found in the temple. The people using the hidden entrance to label specific crates had to be part of the museum or part of the archeological groups or a combination. There could be a multitude of people involved.
The flashlight shone down a straight passageway leading...She ducked her head and entered the area. Logic told her to go back and research when the excavation near this passage was done. That would give a clue as to who could know about the tunnel. Then she could check on the whereabouts of all the people involved. But the adventure seeking part of her, who adored Indiana Jones movies, wanted to follow the passage and see where she came out.
Hunched in the secret passage, debating with herself, Isabella gave in to the logic and stepped out of the passage. Shoving the crates back against the wall, she wiped the dust from her hands and left the storage area.
Back in the archive room, she searched for the records and maps of the first excavation teams at Templo Mayor.
~*~
The house was full of Hector’s family. Or those who told him they were family members as Tino manned the gate when Garza ordered him to send Cezar to him. Eventually, Diego relieved him. Rather than return to the house, Tino used the upcoming funeral and chaos to slip away in the darkness. He hurried to the car DEA had stashed for him and headed to his rendezvous with Rico.
Satisfaction hovered on his lips driving through the congested streets. Once he filled Rico in on the new findings, he’d find Isabella and spend some time with her. Try, one more time, to talk her into returning to Arizona.
Tino cursed the Sunday traffic and couldn’t even conjure up a hint of a laugh while watching a mime entertain the people in cars as they crept through the main thoroughfare. He should have taken side streets to the cantina where he’d asked Rico to meet him.
An hour past the time he’d planned to meet Rico, Tino walked into the dark cantina in the Bohu gang’s territory. He didn’t want to be caught in the Alvarez’s distrio and he wanted to get a feel for the mood in the Bohu distrio.
The music was loud, the lights low, and the room crowded. He’d called Rico while sitting in traffic and knew his contact would be waiting, what he didn’t know was where in all these people Rico would be.
It took several moments for his eyes to adjust to the bodies and dim lighting. During that time two women walked up to him, each slipping an arm through his and drawing him deeper into the room.
“I am looking for a friend,” he said, smiling and trying to withdraw his arms from their hold.
“Sí,” said the voluptuous raven-haired beauty on his right arm. She was the kind he’d favored before Isabella. She curved her plump, blood-red lips into a seductive smile and continued moving him to the back of the establishment.
He scanned the people as the crowd surged around them. His mind began all types of scenarios where he ended up dead. The two stopped in front of a booth in the corner. They extracted their arms at the same time bodies moved, and he spotted Rico chatting up another exceptionally well-endowed chica.
“Mi Amigo, have a seat.” Rico waved his hand toward the vacant seat at his booth.
Both girls slid in with Tino, sandwiching him between them. In the days before Isabella, he would have wrapped an arm around each woman. Now, he hoped their strong perfume didn’t seep into his clothing.
“I see you have found a way to be entertained while waiting for me.” Tino stared directly into Rico’s eyes. He wanted privacy to speak, yet the man had surrounded them with women who could be informants for the Bohu gang. He was beginning to wonder if Rico wasn’t playing two sides.
“Señoritas, bring my friend a cervaza then give us some time to conduct business.” Rico kissed the woman next to him on the cheek when she pouted.
Tino gladly hip-bumped the woman on the outside of his booth, pushing her to her feet and standing to allow the other woman out. Once she vacated the seat, he plopped back down on the edge so there was no space for one of them to decide to sit back down.
Rico laughed as the three sauntered off. “Mano, you are not very convincing that you are a single man out for some fun.”
“I have too many things on my mind to enjoy a woman’s soft body.” And he wasn’t single in his heart. In his heart, he was already married to Isabella. This acknowledgement to anyone but himself could cause her harm and be used against him.
Rico’s expression hardened. “What has happened in the compound? There have been rumors señora Garza’s nephew is dead.”
“This is true. Sometime toward the end of the party last night someone slipped into the compound and met with Hector, lured him over the wall, and killed him. Garza is pissed and going crazy trying to figure out who it was and how it happened.”
Two of the women returned with the drinks and lingered at the end of the table, swaying to the music and smiling.
“Vamos,” Rico said, swatting the one closest to him on the bottom. She pouted, again, and he grabbed her hand, dragging her down into his lap. He kissed and groped her for what felt like an hour to Tino as he watched the people around them. No one seemed to be especially interested in them. He also didn’t see any activity that appeared gang related.
When Rico released the woman, she blew him a kiss, and strutted off. The encounter must have allayed her worries he would forget about her after their meeting.
Rico slowly drew his gaze from her swaying hips and narrowed his eyes on Tino. “You saw us leaving before the party. We planted several listening devices and cameras in floral arrangements. We were unable to pick up anything. Do you have any idea why that was?”
Tino nodded. He’d guessed right. “Garza does a sweep of the house anytime anyone other than his employees have been in the house. He probably found the devices and disposed of them.”
Rico cursed. “I do not have enough of a budget to lose that much equipment.”
“You would be smart to not bother bugging his house.”
“Do you have any idea who killed Hector?”
“My first thought was Alvarez brothers. Payment for being roughed up. But I learned that someone in the household has connections with the Bohu gang.”
Rico nodded his head. “That is why you wished to meet here. In their distrio.”
“Sí. If they know who works for Garza, my appearance here should stir the pot a bit.”
“And put your head in the noose if Garza finds out.”
Tino shrugged. “If I need to use lowlifes to take down Garza I will. Anyone is expendable when it comes to stopping him.”
“You are very determined to stop Paolo Garza. What makes him any different from any other drug lord?” Rico stared intently at him.
Tino had kept his secret desire to rid the world of Paolo Garza from the DEA. If they knew he was on a one-man mission, they would not have allowed him to join and put him in the exact place he wanted to be.
“Nothing. But you take down one of his reputation and it will make the others extra careful and perhaps slow their business for a bit.”
Rico continued to study him. He wasn’t buying Tino’s answer. He finally lifted his gaze, peered around the establishment, and smiled sardonically.
“I think you are getting your wish.”
Chapter Fifteen
Tino knew all the major players in the Mexico City drug scene and the man stalking toward their table was the head of the Bohu gang. Four of his flunkies lined up behind him like a low budget movie scene.
“What are you doing in our distrio?” Luis Bohu asked, stopping at the end of the table, crossing his arms, and staring with unbridled hatred at Tino.
Tino spun the glass of beer in front of him and peered into the man’s eyes. “Visiting with a friend.”
At that moment, the three women returned. One climbed over Rico’s lap and the other snuggled up to his side and the third one shoved Tino over, draping her body against his side like a blanket.
Luis narrowed his eyes. “Carmelita, how do you know these two?”
The woman who Rico had kissed with passion earlier and had just climbed over his lap snuggled closer to Rico. “He is the second cousin of Rosita and this is his friend.” She nodded toward Tino.
Luis shook his head. “Sister, you are being far too friendly with someone you only know as Rosita’s cousin.”
Tino used his best effort to not snap to attention at the word “sister.” Rico was playing Russian Roulette using Luis’s sister.
Since it was obvious Luis already knew he worked for Garza and he was still alive, a few questions to Luis might just get him some answers.
“Who would want Hector Martinez dead?” Tino asked, playing with the beads dangling between the ample breasts of the woman draped over him.
Luis waved his hand. “You, women, go! Now!”
The ladies scurried out of the booth and away from the area in a flash and the men behind Luis closed in close and tight, their scowls tapping away at Tino’s confidence.
Luis slapped his hands on the table and leaned toward Tino. “Is that why you are here? To see if I killed Hector?”
“No. I am confident you did not kill him. But you may know who did.” Tino leaned back casually and took a sip of his drink.
“Why would I want to help you or Garza?”
“You would not be helping Garza. It is Hadda who needs help.”
The surprise and fear that flashed across Luis’ face told Tino all he needed to know. The girl and he were lovers. That was why she would risk so much to help him.
“What do you know of Hadda?”
Tino wanted to see if Rico was against him spilling what he knew to Luis. To make eye contact with his superior could tip Luis they were working together. Getting his suspicions aroused would not only put them in trouble but possibly the man’s sister. For the sake of so many, he kept his gaze riveted to Luis.
“I was told Hector and Hadda were close by one of Garza’s men. When I spoke with Hadda she let slip her connection with you. Given the recent developments of a missing shipment that landed in your hands, if Garza learned of Hadda’s conspiracy she would never be seen from again.” Tino studied the man. His scrunched brow and narrowed eyes revealed he was deep in thought.
“Why are you not telling this to Garza?”
“Hadda is a sweet kid who got herself messed up with the wrong person.” He stared point blank at the man. “I do not want to see her suffer for someone else’s stupidity.”
Luis’s face darkened in color and contorted in anger. “You just called me stupid.”
“What would you call asking someone as young and inexperienced as Hadda to steal information from a man known to kill people for lesser blunders?”
Luis stared at Tino for several heart beats. His color lightened and he straightened his body, relaxing the threat.
“All I need to do is tell you who killed Hector and you will keep Hadda safe?”
“As safe as I can. I cannot guarantee if Garza finds out and he sics Cezar after her that I can save her but I will try.”
Rico stirred on the other side of the booth. Tino glanced over and notice him watching someone who had just arrived.
He recognized the person at the same moment Luis let out a curse.
Cezar was moving through the crowd.
“Stop him,” Luis ordered his men.
Tino slipped out of the booth heading for a back door. How had Garza’s righthand man tracked him here? Before he could find Isabella, he needed to check his clothing and hardware for tracking devices.
Seconds from opening the door to the alley a hand grabbed the back of his shirt and hauled him into the men’s baños.
He spun around and encountered Rico.
“What are you doing? You set up a meet in Bohu territory and then have Garza’s righthand man follow you here.”
Tino didn’t answer. He handed his gun and phone to Rico. “Check those for devices.” Then he started striping, feeling the shirt tail and thick places on his clothing for a transmitter. He picked up his shoe and found the small transmitter in the sole.
“¡Coño!” Now he’d have to do some fast talking with Garza knowing he came to Bohu territory. Tino pulled out a knife and pried the device from his sole, flicking it into the toilet and flushing.
“It appears mi amigo that your boss does not trust you.” Rico handed back his phone and gun.
“He does not trust anyone.” Tino shoved his gun into the back of his pants and flipped open his phone. He pressed the icon for Juanita. He should hustle back to the compound and see what kind of trouble he was in, but he wasn’t about to miss a chance to see Isabella.
~*~
Isabella blinked and raised her head from her palm. There it was again the trill of a phone. Her arm tingled as she unbent it to reach into her vest pocket for the phone Tino gave her. Moving her stiff neck and tingling arm, she pushed the button.
“Hello?” her dry throat scratched as she spoke.
“Querida, are you all right?”
The concern in Tino’s voice tipped her lips into a smile.
“Yes. I must have fallen asleep reading all these old reports.” She smoothed loose strands of hair out of her face and was relieved to find her arm beginning to work better.
“Then you are at the museum?”
“Yes.” Her heart raced. “Can we meet?”
“Sí. I will be behind the building in fifteen minutes.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
The phone went silent. She closed hers and stretched her body and arms toward the ceiling. How long had she slept? A glance at her watch said twenty minutes. The information she was searching for should have kept her awake. The long hours and quiet must have played a part in her sleepiness.
Isabella returned the log to its place on the shelf, closed her journal, and studied the area to make sure she didn’t leave any clues to what she was really researching. From the information she’d gathered before falling asleep there were many different parties over the years who worked on the digging. Both archeologist and government employees. The archeologists would know the significance of the artifacts but the government employees would be the ones most likely to steal from the people and stuff their pockets.
She walked out of the archives and shut the door. Another click registered moments later farther up the corridor. Pressing her body into a door recess, she peered down the hall. The same night watchman was leaving the room near the elevator again.
Isabella slipped back into the archive room and searched for a camera. That was the only reason she could think of for the man to always be leaving the office when she left this room. There had to be a camera that fed directly to that room and wasn’t part of the regular security system.
A quick peek at her watch had her ending the search. Tino would be there in three minutes. She exited the room and the building using Tino’s method of bypassing the security system at the back basement door.
Out in the exhaust filled air she sneezed.
“Bless you.”
She squeaked and jumped at the voice only a few feet away in the shadow of the building.
A car drove by slowly.
“Don’t look at me. Start walking to your left. I’ll stay in the shadow and join you when the car goes by.”
Isabella turned to her left and walked casually down the sidewalk. The car moved on around the corner and Tino arrived at her side. He took her hand and continued walking.
“I’m glad you had time to see me. It’s silly but when we were thousands of miles apart, I didn’t feel as lonely as I do knowing we’re in the same city and can’t see one another.” She leaned her head on his shoulder.
“I know. But it is for your safety I must stay away.” He released her hand and slipped his arm around her waist, drawing their bodies close.
“My head understands. It’s my heart that has a hard time.” She hadn’t planned to confess this much to him. It had to be as hard for him as it was her, and she wouldn’t compromise both their missions because of her female yearnings.
He kissed her head. “Your big heart is what attracted me to you. But use that fascinating head of yours to keep safe.”
“I’m trying. How much time do we have?” Her stomach was working up to a rumble, but if they could squeeze in time to be alone, she wanted that more than food.
His arm tightened and she felt his steps falter slightly.
“I am not sure. I may have blown my cover tonight in which case I would like to spend tonight in your arms.”
The resignation in his voice stopped her forward motion. “What’s happened?”
“Not here. Rico has reserved a room for us.” He stopped beside a dark colored, older, small sedan. “This is my car.”
He held the door as she slid into the passenger side.
Once in the vehicle, he leaned into her seat, kissing her with the same desperate need coiling in her. When they were both breathing hard, he drew away.
“We have the night, but only if we get off these streets.”
The statement landed heavy and hard in her belly. It was as if he didn’t believe he would be around tomorrow. The thought made her chest ache.
“You sound as if you may be gone after tonight.” Pushing the air up her throat to say the words added to her pain.
“I will do everything in my power to be here tomorrow and many days afterward. Things have happened in the last twenty-four hours that have made the players hard to identify.”
She placed a hand on his thigh as he drove. “What’s happened?”
“When I returned from dropping you off last night Hector was found killed outside the compound. They didn’t call in any authorities. I learned who the snitch was inside Garza’s organization and it caught me off guard. I promised to protect her and when I met Rico in the Bohu distrio, Cezar showed up. I found a tracking transmitter in my shoe.” He glanced her direction as they moved with ease through the lessening traffic.
“Garza?” Fear for Tino had her fingers digging into his leg. When his muscles flexed, she released her hold, scolding herself for allowing him to witness how the news affected her.
“That would be my first guess. But I do not understand why he was tracking me unless it was a test. He allowed me into the locked room that is the hub of his drug trafficking. The device could have been planted to see how soon I ran to someone like the Bohu or even Rico to see if I would leak the information.” His rambling conversation led her to believe he was talking through the problem. It was something she did with her cockatoo, Alabaster, a time or two.
That he trusted her enough to run all this by her made Isabella feel good. She recognized the street name. “Where are we going?”
“To the JW Marriott. They won’t think to look for either of us here and it isn’t in anyone’s territory that I’ve been connected with.” He brushed fingers down her cheek. “I want to spend time with you to tell you everything to keep you safe without having to watch over our shoulders that someone may be spying.”
She kissed his hand. “Me, too.”
He parked the car in front of the tall professional looking building. A valet opened her door. Isabella stepped out and waited for Tino to hand the keys and a tip to the valet. She knew walking into such an upscale hotel with no baggage would appear odd but this wasn’t a time to worry about appearances.
The vibrant colors of the furniture and plants in the lobby along with the marble floor added a posh feeling.
“May I help you?” asked a young woman professionally dressed in a suit with a Marriott name tag. She stood behind a registration counter to their right.
Tino approached the counter and handed over a credit card. “Therese, we have a terrace suite reserved.”
Gauging from his request, Isabella reasoned, Tino had stayed at this hotel before. Was it this trip or another time?
Therese slid his card through a machine and flashed them both a bright smile. “Mr. and Mrs. Konstantine we are pleased to have you as guests in our Mexico City establishment.”
Tino scribbled on the paperwork and took the key card from the young woman. “Send up two medium-well steak dinners, por favor.”
He captured Isabella’s hand and led her to the elevators. Once inside, he pulled her into his arms. His hands were everywhere at once. The upward movement of the elevator and his kiss made her light-headed. She pushed back, gulping for air. At that moment the elevator stopped. Her empty stomach bounced up into her throat.
“Querida, are you ill?” Tino held her chin in his hand as he studied her face. The elevator doors whooshed open.
“No. Just the upward movement, you taking my breath away, and an empty stoma—”
Tino swept her up into his arms and carried her to a door. He slid the keycard into the slot and turned the latch.
Her first glimpse of the room stole away all her words. A long bank of windows framed Mexico City’s night lights. Tino placed her on the over-stuffed, green sofa. He closed the door then knelt on the floor in front of her.
The concern and love in his eyes made her misty with emotion. Could their hearts survive the lives they lived?
He unbuttoned her vest and slid it off her arms. “We have twenty minutes to take a shower before the food arrives.”
The thought of lathering his muscled body forced her empty stomach to the back of her mind.
“I think we can get showered and be ready for dinner.”
Tino stood, drawing her to her feet. “You do know I plan to do more than shower with you.” He placed a kiss on her nose moments before plucking her glasses from her face.
Her body quivered with anticipation. “I was hoping you had other ideas.”
They walked through a room with a king-sized four poster bed and into a bathroom with a large glass shower.
“You first.” Tino slipped her cotton shirt over her head, kissed her bared nipples, and unfastened her khakis sliding them and her panties down her legs to her walking sandals. He left her pants bunched around her shins as he, one by one, took off her sandals and slid the garments over her feet. Standing naked in front of him, she was glad her father talked her into laser surgery on her eyes. She was able to watch his gaze leisurely travel from her toes to the top of her head. A feat before surgery she would not have been able to witness in focus.
Tino placed his hands on her shoulders and spun her. His fingers nimbly scaled her braid and soon her thick wavy hair cascaded over her shoulders.
“Get in the shower.” Tino’s command came out harsh sounding due to the emotion constricting his throat. How this woman, unlike any other he’d fancied before, could have worked her way into his heart and his very being still astounded him.
She peered at him coyly over her shoulder and sauntered into the glass shower. The illusion she was on display for him jolted his miembro.
The water sprayed her body. He slowly undressed watching her soak up the cool water and peer out at him, her intelligent eyes drinking in each inch of skin he revealed. His mind went back to their meeting in Guatemala. She was nearly blind without her glasses.
“Querida, how is it you see so well now?”
“Daddy insisted I have laser surgery so if I lose my glasses again, I can see. I still need them for reading but it has been wonderful, like now to see things, I didn’t before.” She opened the glass door. “Do you want me to wait for you to start soaping up?”
Her question was all innocence but the gleam in her eyes was pure passion.
“You may start without me.” He turned from the shower to open a complimentary toothbrush and use it. He turned back around and was struck again at how this woman surprised him. Her front was covered with lather. Her eyes were closed as her hands ran slowly up and down her body, dipping between her legs.
He wasn’t going to torture himself any longer. He opened the door quietly and placed his hands over hers, guiding them to her breasts. Her hands slid out from under his, and he enjoyed the feel of her slickened skin under his fingers. Her small breasts fit in the palm of his hands, the peaked nipples hard. He ran a hand down her belly to the curls at the juncture of her legs. She sighed and leaned her head on his shoulder.
Not one to miss any opportunity, he kissed her neck, jaw, and temple.
“Turn around.”
She spun and he rubbed his front against her as he lathered her back with the earthy scented soap. Soon his front was as frothy as Isabella was all over.
He captured her luscious lips in a kiss and backed her against the shower wall. Without releasing her from the kiss, he grasped her bottom and slid her up the wall far enough he could ease her down over his throbbing miembro.
Entering Isabella was like returning home from a long trip. The last six months apart, he’d been restless and felt like something was missing. The missing piece was this woman. He realized it the day he drove her back to the hostel. Ever since the day she walked into the hotel in Guatemala his life had gone from empty and filled with revenge to a desire to rebuild his family and be faithful to Isabella. Now he understood the things his abuela and mother had told him about finding the person who makes you whole.
Isabella took control of the kiss, wrapping her legs around his waist, giving him deeper access for his strokes.
“Oh!” She pulled out of the kiss, her head resting back against the wall.
“Querida, do you wish to finish here or on the bed?” He kissed her neck and licked the water from her jaw.
She shuddered and her body clenched him. Her orgasm brought him to completion as well. He pressed her body to the wall when his legs started to shake.
“Stand and I will rinse you.” He kissed her eyelids and moments later they fluttered open.
“I forgot how making love to you can make my heart and body soar.” She drew in a deep breath and slowly released her legs from his waist.
Once she stood without wobbling, Tino nudged her under the spray of water, making sure she was thoroughly rinsed. She did the same for him, only taking more care with certain areas on his body that were coming alive once more from her attentiveness.
Knocking echoed from the other room.
“Our dinner.” Tino wrapped a towel around his waist and exited the bathroom. He would have rather helped Isabella dry, but he’d heard her stomach growl several times since picking her up at the museum.
After the earlier surprise this evening, he snatched up his gun as he walked through the bedroom. At the door, he left the chain attached until he was sure it was indeed room service. A young man dressed in a uniform of the hotel showed uneven teeth as he smiled and waved a hand at the rolling cart covered with dishes.
Tino opened the door allowing the man to enter. He closed and locked the door as the waiter pushed the cart to the chairs in front of the window.
“Ezzabella, bring me my pants, querida,” Tino called not wanting to leave the man alone in the room. Being paranoid would keep them both alive.
Isabella came out of the bedroom wearing a white robe with the hotel logo on the breast. She handed his pants to him. He pulled out a tip for the waiter and signed for the food.
“Gracias.” The man smiled and walked toward the door. Tino followed, unlocking and letting the man out, then relocking and bolting the door.
He turned back to the room. Isabella sat in one of the chairs, lifting lids and inspecting the food. The aromas made Tino’s stomach growl. He couldn’t remember when he ate last. Since finding Hector’s body he’d been on duty until he walked out tonight to meet Rico. His stomach squeezed with uncertainty. By now Cezar would have reported that he’d met with Luis Bohu.
Either his cover would be completely blown or he would have to come up with a believable excuse for his apparent desertion from Garza.
“Hey,” Isabella’s quiet voice invaded his thoughts.
“¿Sí?” He walked over to the chair across the cart from her.
“You look lost. What are you thinking about? Us?”
The fear and uncertainty in her eyes shoved his other concerns to the back of his mind until later. When she was fully sated.
But he couldn’t quell her fears just yet. He placed a finger to his lips and picked up the backpack he kept in the DEA car. He pulled out a device to check for transmitters.
Sweeping the device all around the cart and doing a visual inspection, he came up empty. The fact it was clean led him to believe that tonight he could enjoy time with Isabella and forget his problems for a few hours. Something he hadn’t had the opportunity to do for six months.
He replaced the device and cupped the back of Isabella’s head, drawing her lips to his for a soft, romantic kiss. He drew away and sat across from her.
“To answer your question. No. I have only happy thoughts when I think of us.” He took her hand and kissed the knuckles. “I was thinking about how I will get back on Garza’s good side after Cezar caught me with his enemy tonight.” He shook his head. “I will worry about that tomorrow. Tonight is for us.”
“Eat. I heard your stomach on the drive here.” Knowing the suite was safe, he planned to focus on Isabella and their future tonight. Having found a woman to complete him, he wasn’t about to let anyone keep them apart.