Tempt Me (Tease Me Book 2) (10 page)

It was weird to think back. The Calaveras had been under the eye of the law for years. Alejandro’s father was more reckless than he was. I knew there were files and files on him, gathered by the DEA. The Indy PD only knew the tip of the iceberg when it came to knowledge of the Calaveras, specifically Alejandro. I almost wanted to compliment him on remaining a ghost. I had heard my brother say more than once it was as if the man didn’t exist. Besides catching his lesser dealers every now and then, the law had nothing on him. And no one ever gave him up.

A chill ran down my spine as I was reminded of how nefarious Alejandro was. What kinds of threats did he put on his men to make them never rat him out? Or did they respect him enough to take the heat?
 

When we first made the connection to the recent drug deals in Indy to the Calaveras, two DEA agents came in. I—of course—wasn’t assigned to the case, so I had to find out the details second hand or by creeping. That’s how I knew Alejandro was a frustrating mystery to the law.
 

This house would be news for everyone; no one knew Alejandro resided here, let alone was setting up a warehouse for dealing. I knew this wasn’t Alejandro’s usual dwelling. It was like a vacation home, I supposed. He had mentioned he was in this town on business, though I suspected he enjoyed being here since it was his hometown as a child. Maybe. I wasn’t sure how the life of a drug lord’s eldest son was lived.
 

It was odd to think about Alejandro like that: an innocent child. Though his life had always been full of riches, it was pretty fucked up too. Had he been involved since he was old enough to understand it all? Or had his parents sheltered him from the horrors that went into being the biggest cartel leader in all of Mexico?

I found myself feeling sorry for him again, thinking of him as broken and needing to be fixed. That was fucking ridiculous too.
Grasping at straws again much, Ellie?
Did I want Alejandro to be a good man? Deep down, I knew I did. I wanted to believe he could be good, that he could leave this life and start over…with me.

When I wandered downstairs late that morning to get something to eat, I was informed by the guards that I wasn’t to go outside, per Alejandro. I nodded, knowing that I was unable to ask why in the little broken Spanish I had picked up on. But the look in the guard’s eyes when he repeated Alejandro’s words made me nervous. Had something happened? Was I in danger? I wished I could call Alejandro and check on him.
 

I scratched my plans of lying out on the patio and ventured into the library again. I went to the back, looking over the books. Most were untouched, the spines stiff from not ever being opened. The few that had been obviously read multiple times were kids’ books, with publication dates from years ago. Alejandro had read these as a child.
 

I stared at the painting at the back of the library. This painting, as well as the ones in the dining room and guest room, were all done in a similar style and none were signed. Everyone was beautiful, but each was dark in its own way. I remembered way back to an art class I took in college to interpreting paintings. Was the mystery painter hiding some sort of depression? They were all done by the same person. I left the library and walked through the rest of the house.

There was another painting in the foyer, hanging near the grand staircase. This one was the largest of all. It was of the ocean at night, during a storm. There was a boat getting tossed in the waves. I leaned in and noticed tiny people in the water. They were drowning. There was one person in the boat, almost indiscernible. The rancor on the little guy’s face was clear as he watched his companions drown.
 

Well, that was depressing.

I went back upstairs and into Alejandro’s room. The clothing Alejandro had bought me had been brought to the guest room and laid neatly on the bed. Ever since I had given myself to Alejandro, I had spent the night in his bed. We fucked before sleeping, so it made sense. I wasn’t sure if he considered this his room or our room now. Was it too soon to be thinking like that?

Things happened at breakneck speed between us. With a sigh, I left his room and wandered into the guest room. I gazed out the window that looked over the front yard. A man, dressed in all black, patrolled the lawn. He was holding a machine gun and had a pistol on his ankle. He turned, and the sun glinted off a knife on his belt.
 

I changed into a pair of shorts and a cropped tank top. I went back into Alejandro’s room and closed the door. I knew I wasn’t supposed to be outside, but the sun was too bright and warm. I moved to the balcony doors. I grabbed the knob and held my breath. If I turned it, would an alarm go off?
 

Fuck. I shouldn’t. If it did…well, I didn’t know what would happen. Yes, things seemed more intimate between Alejandro and me. I trusted him, felt safe around him. Did he still expect me to obey him like I was just his sex doll?

My hand fell from the door knob. I sighed and looked around the room. There was a sitting room attached to the master bedroom, separated by two glass doors. I went over to it and looked in. There was another bookcase, a dresser, a desk with a leather chair, and a matching leather sofa. Alejandro never told me not to go in here. It was fair game, right? Besides…if he
didn’t
want me in here, he would lock the door.

I pushed down on the lever handle. To my surprise, the door opened. I pushed it, letting it swing on the hinges before stepping in. My stomach fluttered like I was doing something I wasn’t supposed to do, and suddenly I was afraid of getting caught. I walked in, looking around. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary at first.
 

There were papers neatly stacked on top of the desk. I leafed through them. Everything was written in Spanish. Even if I did know the language, the messy handwriting would still be hard to read. It matched the scrawling cursive on the note Alejandro had given me along with the roses.

Things were written all over the page, with notes in the margin and arrows going to different paragraphs. I ran my eyes over his words before flipping to the next page. I gasped when I saw the rough sketch of the setting sun over the ocean. A woman stood on the shore, her back to me. Wind whipped her hair over her back. A man stood in the water, with his hands outstretched to the woman. The drawing was done in pen and not complete, but it was beautifully haunting.
 

“Oh my God,” I whispered. I moved the paper closer to my face. “Alejandro is the painter.” I stared at the drawing for a few minutes. Then I blinked and set the papers down and turned, inspecting a bookshelf that was behind me. It housed books much like those in the library; they were there for looks but not for reading. They were dusty, which surprised me. Shit. Maybe this wasn’t somewhere I was supposed to be. If the furniture in here didn’t get dusted, it was because the staff wasn’t allowed in.

I should leave. I knew I should. But it was tempting to snoop. I felt shitty admitting that to myself, though it was so true. I ran my hands over the books and immediately knew something wasn’t right. The books were too heavy and didn’t move. At all. I grasped one and pulled.

It was fake and attached to the shelf. My eyes widened. I ran my hands over the rest of the books. Holy shit, this wasn’t a bookshelf! It was a false front to a safe of some sort. I stared at it, knowing better than to try and find the hidden latch. Even if I found it, there would be a thick steel door behind the shelf, one requiring a finger print scanner and blood of my first born—at the least.
 

I swallowed hard and went out of the sitting room, quietly closing the doors behind me. I had taken in enough new info to cause my head to spin. The hidden safe shouldn’t have surprised me, not one bit given who Alejandro was. But the paintings…

Is that what Alejandro meant when he said he had other aspirations? Did he want to be an artist? He had gone in the way opposite direction. I flopped down on the bed. How should I bring it up to him? I didn’t want to say I went into the sitting room. I didn’t want to tell him I snooped through his notes and discovered the drawing.

I could just ask about the paintings. Say I liked them and wanted to know the artist. Then he’d take it from there, right?
 

The sunset came and went, and Alejandro still hadn’t returned. The unease grew inside of me as each minute passed. I wanted him here, with me, where I knew he was safe. I wanted him to hold me close again and kiss me like it might be the last time. Fuck. It just might be the last time. There was a price on his head, put there by other dealers and the police.

I had stayed in Alejandro’s room, watching TV and drinking wine, for the rest of the day. The sheets smelled like sex and Alejandro’s cologne. It was intoxicating as hell.
 

When the clock struck nine PM, I got up to go downstairs. I was hungry and wanted to find something to eat. I opened the bedroom door and jumped back, heart skipping a beat, not expecting to see a guard outside the door. He was tall with dark skin. His head was shaved, and he was covered with tattoos. His jaw was set, and his dark eyes shifted all around. He had a row of scars along his muscular arms. If he wasn’t ordered to protect me, I’d be scared shitless of him.

I didn’t know his name, and he didn’t appear to speak any English. I smiled and pushed my shoulders back. He stepped aside, letting me through. I could feel his eyes on me as I hurried down the hall. The floor vibrated under his weight as he followed me. I picked up the pace, mind flashing back to my one-on-one training at the police academy.

The guard stayed in the kitchen as I rummaged through the fridge, pulling out left over ground beef. I put together a taco and stuck it in the microwave, feeling the guard’s eyes score into me. His close proximity made me fear something horrible had happened and I was in real danger.

The guard never made direct eye contact with me, but he stayed within several feet of me at all times, which made going to the bathroom fun. I turned the water on before I sat on the toilet to pee.

When he followed me up the stairs, I had the urge to run. I didn’t like him being so close behind me. Something about him unnerved me, and it was more than just the stereotypical criminal way he looked.

“Night, uh,
noche
.
Buenos noche
,” I said and went to Alejandro’s room. I stepped inside and closed the door. I locked it on impulse. I stood back, staring at the door. I wanted Alejandro to come home now more than ever. Call it intuition, but that guard just unsettled me for no logical reason.
 

It hit me then that I must really feel for Alejandro. If he could make me feel safe, then I trusted him and more than just liked him. I picked up the bottle of wine that I had left on the dresser and pulled out the cork. It was already half empty. I didn’t bother with a glass. I put it to my lips and took a long drink to calm my nerves. I sat on the bed, sipping the wine, and flipped through channels.
 

At midnight, I washed off my makeup and brushed out the curls. I changed into a black, silk nightgown that was so short it barely covered my ass. I pulled one of Alejandro’s button-up shirts from his closet and put it on, only buttoning one button under my breasts.

I finished the wine. I was tipsy but not drunk enough to pass out. Still on edge, I paced around the room, stopping at the glass doors that led to the balcony. I cupped my hands around my eyes and stared at the water’s edge. I longed to be down there, away from the creepy-ass guard and feeling free.

I smiled when I thought about being on the shore with Alejandro. That was where everything changed. The beach and the ocean and the star-studded sky would always remind me of him. My heart fluttered at the thought.

“Fuck,” I muttered out loud as my feeling for Alejandro hit me like a ton of bricks. If I had thought it possible, I might have let myself believe that I loved him. Not enough time had passed for that. I had burned old, boring Ellie to the ground, but part of her rationality stuck with me. You couldn’t fall in love with someone you’d only known for days. You just couldn’t. Right?

I narrowed my eyes, staring at a black mass on the beach. Was it moving? I scuttled to the nightstand and flicked off the light. Then I flew back to the window and looked outside. Holy shit, it was moving! The mass took on the outline for a person. The shadow moved, and a red dot hovered near their head. My blood ran cold. Yes, that was definitely a person smoking. The glowing red end of the cigarette was like a beacon in the night. What the fuck? I swallowed and narrowed my eyes. Were they watching me?

No, I told myself. It’s okay. It could just be a person walking along the shore…lovers maybe, looking for a section of private beach to lie down and fuck. The figure moved, coming closer to the house. It was too dark. I couldn’t tell exactly what was happening. Ugh! I needed something with night vision.
 

My heart raced, and my mouth went dry. Alejandro wasn’t home, he was having me closely guarded, and someone was creeping outside the estate. I held my breath to keep it from clouding the window. It looked as if whoever was outside was looking at the house. Shit! They could have night vision! I dropped to the ground, too afraid to move. I closed my eyes in a long blink, scared that if I opened them I would see a laser hovering over my chest.

The floor vibrated, and a low male voice grumbled something in Spanish. Sweat broke out along my forehead. Someone was walking down the hall, getting closer and closer. They stopped outside the door and twisted the knob.

“Ellie?” Alejandro’s voice came from the hall.

“Thank God,” I said and scrambled up. I stumbled on my way to the door, and my fingers didn’t seem to want to work. When I finally unlocked the door, Alejandro burst in. His eyes swept the dark room.

“What the hell?” he demanded. I closed the door behind him and grabbed his hand.

“There’s someone out there!” I whispered, pointing to the beach. Alejandro jerked his hand out of mine. He reached behind him, grabbing a gun.