Fast like.
“Sweetheart—”
“The little boy he once was deserved all those things,” she cried, teetering on the precipice of losing her mind to the agony that plagued her. “But Carlos took him from me, and his men turned him into something ugly, something that he was never supposed to be. By now he’s probably gone after enduring a brutal death…”
Her words faded as my mind whirled.
I had to do something.
If I didn’t, she’d break.
That much was certain.
Nearing the point of shedding tears of my own for what seemed like the hundredth damned time that same day, I slid my hand from her jaw to her hair, clutching a fistful of strands. Gently pulling her impossibly closer, I held her tight against me as she dropped her hands and buried her face in my chest.
A wounded cry ripped free of her throat.
“If his heart truly doesn’t beat anymore, then who will put balloons and flowers on his grave?” Grasping the front of my shirt, she curled her fingers in the fabric and tugged so hard she nearly ripped it right off my heaving chest in a familiar move. “Without him, life hurts,” she cried. “It hurts so b-badly… I just want the pain to s-stop.”
The world around me went into freefall.
Having experienced the same type of grief welling inside her first-hand, I knew her demons were likely taking full advantage of the emotional torment she waded through, tearing her apart even further.
And they would never stop.
Not unless I made them.
It seemed like an impossible task, but it was one I had to conquer come hell or high water. If I didn’t end her suffering, at least temporarily, there was a chance she’d make it cease herself by jabbing a needle into the bend of her arm.
That could not fucking happen.
She’d made it this far…
I would be damned if I let her go back.
Releasing my pretty little pixie’s hair, I dropped my scruff-covered chin to the top of her head and closed my watery eyes. “Where are the girls?”
She shook against me as she fought to get control of the sobs that continued to violently wrack her body, one after the other. “G-Gone.”
I ground my back teeth together, nearly cracking them right in half. “When do you have to be back?
“Morning. Little One will be back f-first.”
I could work with that.
Not that I had any other choice.
“That gives us some time, then.” Taking one of her hands in mine, I laced our fingers together. “Come on, gorgeous. We’ve gotta get moving if we’re going to do this.”
I stepped back, putting space between us.
Carmen jerked her head up in response and stared at me with confused, puffy eyes. “I don’t u-under—”
Unable to resist a second longer, I dipped my head and silenced her stuttered question with my needy lips. Way too many minutes had passed since I’d last felt her mouth against mine, and I was done waiting to taste her sweetness again.
Slipping her hand free of mine, she palmed the sides of my face. I shuddered at the simple touch as her heat bled into my skin, obliterating every ounce of the bitter misery that I’d felt at her absence.
Damn, I’d missed her.
A whole hell of a lot.
Breathless, my woman pulled back, breaking our connection. I growled, low and deep, at the loss of having her exactly where I’d wanted her.
“James,” she said, stunning eyes now filled with something other than overwhelming sorrow. And that something? It looked an awful lot like an ember of heat that was close to exploding into a raging inferno. “I…”
One corner of my lips turned up in a crooked smile. “You missed me, yeah?”
Rolling her eyes, she placed her hands against my chest and shoved me back the slightest bit after taking a shuddering breath. “Such an arrogant man.” Though she tried to appear irritated, I glimpsed the cheek splitting smile she was biting back.
Hard as she tried, she couldn’t hide it.
Not from me.
“Not arrogant,” I replied. “But I am correct.” Wrapping an arm around her back, I pulled her close once more. I couldn’t get enough of her… of us. “Aren’t I?”
At my question, I expected her to roll her eyes again, maybe even tell me to fuck off. But she didn’t.
Instead, she twined her arms around my neck and pushed to her tip-toes. “More than you could imagine, Guapo,” she whispered before pressing a gentle kiss to my jaw. “And more than you’ll ever know.”
Swallowing hard, I fought for air.
She was killing me.
Absolutely killing me.
“Baby,” I said, shaking myself out of the fog that had engulfed me at her soothing words and addictive touch. “As much as I’d like to stand here and kiss you all night, we’ve got shit to do, beautiful girl.”
Teeth sinking into her plump bottom lip, she dropped her arms to her sides and rocked back on her heels. “Si? And what shit would that be?”
Smartass…
I took her hand in mine again.
A nervous smile crossed my face as I hoped with everything in me that I wasn’t about to do something that would cause her further harm instead of bringing her the comfort she desperately needed.
“We’re going to celebrate Alejandro’s birthday.” Those cinnamon-colored eyes of hers that I loved so much flared. “And to do that, we first need to buy him a cake, yeah? So, tell me, beautiful—what kind would he have wanted?”
Mouth opening and closing, she floundered for something to say. Then, shaking herself free of the confusion riding her, she cleared her emotion-clogged throat. “Chocolate. Nothing but chocolate.”
That was all I needed to know.
Not giving her a chance to react, I grabbed my bag from the ground where it sat, tossed it over my left shoulder, and then scooped my woman up into my arms.
A surprised yelp spilled from her lips.
“James! What are you—”
“Like I said, time’s a tickin’, baby,” I interrupted, turning to face the station again. “We’ve gotta roll.”
Her lips curled into a smile that went straight to my heart. Chest filling with fireworks thanks to the explosive emotions she ignited inside me,
