what his body couldn’t resist. To his surprise, Angelica accepted his passion with the same intensity.
It was Ari’s face Angelica saw when Santiago entered her. She tried to substitute the moment she had with him for the one she was presently having, but realization took over and reminded her that the thing that had set her on fire was the enemy. In an instant, survival became Angelica’s number one goal, and if it meant sleeping with the enemy, so be it until she was able to come up with a plan. She would outwit the fox before it consumed her whole.
Santiago looked like a man in a drunken stupor as he rode the last tidal wave to ecstasy. Sweat rained from his body, sending heavy droplets down on Angelica. She wiped them away in disgust, wanting it all to be over.
“Take me,” he screamed as his cell phone began to ring. He tried to ignore it, but Angelica’s body was already relaxed and thankful for the interruption. Santiago reached for his pants, retrieved his cell phone and immediately pulled himself away from her.
After missing the call, Santiago made another. Angelica watched as he listened and saw a broad smile cross his face.
“We’re done for now,” Santiago said. He picked up Angelica’s clothes and laid them next to her. “Clean up. We’re going out to dinner.”
Santiago put his clothes on and left the room. Angelica picked up her clothes from the bench and rolled them in a ball. She was angry with herself for letting Santiago have his way so easily, but the truth of the matter was that she was afraid of him.
She slid into her things and went to her room. A hot shower would erase the scum that had infiltrated her body.
The vibration of her cell phone made Angelica jump as it danced across the dresser. She picked it up and smiled when she recognized Edward’s number. There was nothing like a friendly voice to talk to, especially since she hadn’t spoken to her brother in weeks and he had no knowledge of her predicament.
“Edward! This is a pleasant surprise.”
“The phone system works both ways, Little Sis. How have you been?”
“I can’t complain,” Angelica lied. “I’ve had better days.”
“Well, I’ve got some bad news.”
“What kind of bad news? Something happened to Michael?”
“No, thank God.”
“Well, what is it then?”
“Hamilton is dead, Angelica. He was murdered.”
“Hamilton? Dead?” Angelica dropped the phone and sank to the floor.
33
Achill ran through Angelica’s body. All around her people were dying, but she hadn’t expected to hear Hamilton’s name in that context. True, she and Hamilton hadn’t been husband and wife in more than seven years, but she still felt a connection to him.
The phone call from her brother left her numb. Hamilton had been murdered. The details were sketchy, but it was believed that another inmate had done the deed. Her brother would fill her in as soon as he was able to obtain more information. There was nothing left for Angelica to do but head to North Carolina. Hamilton was her ex- husband, and she still considered herself family.
Angelica wasn’t sure how she was going to get to North Carolina. It was too expensive to catch a flight on such short notice, but she was going to find a way. Rubbing her temples, it came to her. She would drive, but she needed to get a car. She knew the person to call. Ari would get her what she needed, but it would be up to her to get beyond Santiago’s net. And she would run away for a second time from the demon that made her life a living hell. She decided to call Ari tomorrow, as soon as Santiago left the house, but now she looked for something to wear.
Going to the restaurant was the last thing she wanted to do, but she pushed her present emergency to the back burner. The one thing she didn’t want to happen was for Santiago to get wind of her mood so that he would start asking a lot of questions. Hamilton’s death was her secret passage out of the house and away from him.
A knock on the door took her out of her reverie. She smoothed down the fabric on her black dress that hit just above the knee and then went to the door and unlocked it. Santiago stood there looking handsome in all black, setting off his fine Latin features, especially his coal-black wavy hair. Angelica pretended not to notice.
“You look amazing,” Santiago said as he stood in the hallway while his eyes roamed the length of her. “We may have to go somewhere swanky with the way you look.”
“Oh, I can change if I’m overdressed,” Angelica said, not wanting to extend her evening with Santiago beyond dinner.
“No need to change. I’ve got to tend to a little business with Uncle Jorge, and it might take awhile.”
Her ears lifted at that bit of information. Angelica wondered what type of business Santiago had with his uncle, especially since his relatives had been running a successful restaurant for over thirty years. If her heart weren’t so heavy with Hamilton’s death laying on it, she’d probably do some investigating of her own.
“Well, I’m ready whenever you are.”
A brisk wind met them as they stepped out into the late spring night. Angelica adjusted her wrap and stood quietly next to Santiago as they waited for Niko to bring the car around. He was not alone. Hamilton’s two goons were in the car-one sat in the front, the other in the back. Both were dressed in black leather jackets with turtleneck sweaters and slacks underneath. They had a sinister look about them, and they tipped their heads when Angelica got in, careful not to let their stares linger too long.
Santiago uttered something to them in Spanish and then introduced them to Angelica. “This is Sammy,” Santiago said of the man sitting next to Angelica, “and up front is Dominic. Old friends of mine.”
Angelica leaned over and whispered to Santiago, “I thought we were going to dinner alone?”
“Sammy and Dominic are catching a ride. They have other business in town,” Santiago responded. Satisfied, Angelica sat back with her hands on her lap.
Light rain began to fall. The pitter-patter of the raindrops pierced the silence in the car.
“Something on your mind?” Santiago asked Angelica a few minutes later. “You’re distant, too quiet. I like my women noisy.” Angelica remained silent while the goons laughed at Santiago’s lame joke.
The drizzle became buckets of water, and cautious drivers slowed their vehicles on the slippery asphalt. Another Spanish conversation between the three men resumed. Santiago caught Niko stealing glances at Angelica. “Keep your eyes on the damn road,” Santiago shouted at Niko as the tire hit a wet pothole and the car swerved to the left. Niko recovered and pulled it straight into the lane.
“Hell, what you trying to do, Niko? Get us killed? I’m gonna…”
“Chill out, Santiago,” Sammy said. “Give the boy a break. It’s nasty outside. We want to get to where we’re supposed to be safely. Everything’s cool, man,” he cautioned.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Santiago said, releasing a huge sigh.
Santiago looked from Sammy to Angelica. He laid his hand on Angelica’s thigh and patted it, and while she wished she had a fork to pierce his hand, she played along because plans for her getaway were formulating in her mind. She didn’t want to give Santiago any cause not to trust her.
Twenty minutes later, they pulled up alongside El Conuco. Niko pulled the car to the curb, but left the motor running. Sammy and Dominic stayed behind while Santiago and Angelica got out of the car. Maybe Angelica was wrong about his being involved in some unscrupulous activity, but nothing explained the twelve-thousand-square- foot house Santiago lived in that sat on a few prime acres of land. She had yet to determine what his real occupation was because he never appeared to be going anywhere fast or at any given time. Whatever he was up to, she wanted no part of it.
Before they entered El Conuco, the scent of food flooded their nostrils and spicy Latin music met their ears. Angelica was suddenly hungry, and a good homegrown meal would satiate her stomach and keep it still while she internalized her grief. Regardless of what Hamilton had done to her, she was unable to imagine him lying out on a cold slab in somebody’s mortuary.
