Antonio glanced at Ida. “Help her get ready for bed.”
“Sim, senhor.”
“Wait, I’m capable of doing everything,” Dr. Bennett protested, scooting to the edge of the bed and kicking off her atrocious looking footwear. He’d seen those worn at hospitals. It was jarring to see them on her, and she seemed to be attached to them.
Ida was shuffling through the shopping bags and picked up a pajama set, then she looked pointedly at Antonio.
He turned away to stare out the window.
“Why are you still here? To tuck me into bed?” There was a hint of sarcasm in her voice. She must be more alert than earlier. But why indeed was Antonio still here?
“He takes his responsibilities seriously,” Ida told her.
That was a lame excuse, but after spending almost forty-eight hours in the doctor’s company, he found himself reluctant to leave her alone. Perturbed by that feeling, Antonio walked to the door and pulled it open. “Take your rest. Tomorrow, you start working for me and fill me in.”
“Oh, you believe me now that I’m not Charles Bennett?” she derided.
“No, but I’m willing to take that risk.”
She laughed darkly. “Oh, that’s rich seeing that my head nearly got blown off earlier tonight. I’m the one risking more in this scenario.”
“You got shot?” Ida gasped.
“You weren’t the target. It was Sousa,” Antonio said, but his tone was so unsure that his housekeeper narrowed her eyes at him. Great. Now he was the bad guy.
“Whatever helps you sleep at night,” Dr. Bennett yawned.
Antonio stepped toward her. “You’re not going to try and convince me?”
She contemplated him for a beat, and then said, “I’m not sure what kind of voodoo your hacking whiz kid has, but I saw correspondence from Charles Bennett and Doctor Z going back almost two years.”
“So?”
“I wasn’t at the CDC then,” she stretched and yawned again. “Goodnight, Mr. Andrade.”
Not willing to be summarily dismissed, he said, “Be ready to work tomorrow.” Without waiting for her to respond, he stepped out of the room and firmly closed the door.
He heard her gripe to Ida.
“Is he always such a tyrant?”
“You’ll get used to it,” said his housekeeper.
Antonio would have been amused at the exchange if he didn’t have several more pressing matters on his mind.
He dug out his phone and found a message from Martinez. “We need to talk.”
There was no getting out of it. “Tomorrow. Ten a.m. Be at Andrade Industries.”
Martinez confirmed and Antonio marched straight past the staircase to the opposite hallway. He was glad the others were not around. He had no time to answer questions right now. He passed the room that he always kept empty across from his master bedroom, the one he intended to keep the doctor in. He always liked having some distance from people who stayed at the villa. Even Luis.
But apparently, he didn’t mind if it was Dr. Bennett.
Keep your friends close, enemies closer?
The next day, Antonio was in the dining room by seven thirty. He wanted to catch up with work in the office and come home by lunch time to orient Dr. Bennett with her new duties.
Ida came around the table and lowered a French Baguette. Breakfast was frequently bread, jam, and some cold cuts.
She took the seat beside him. “It’s good to have you back, Antonio. We’ve hardly seen you in the past year.” Ida called him by his first name when it was just the two of them, though she called him Senhor in the presence of others. It irked him, because he considered Ida family, just like Luis and Renata.
“We’re building our European presence,” he said as he buttered a crusty slice. “I see more travel in the future once our products pass clinical trials.”
“Have you ever thought of slowing down? Maybe get married. Have babies? You’re forty-two.”
“That again? I thought you would have gotten tired of asking me that.”
“I just didn’t like the company you kept.”
“You’re not seeing Claudette again,” Antonio said. “I don’t even know where she is.”
Ida huffed a breath. “I’m not talking about that blonde. I’m talking about the random women you bring home.”
Antonio chuckled. “I don’t sleep with them all the time.”
“Yes. Yes. You say it’s just for show … you want to keep the playboy image so respectable women will stay away.”
Was that why he did that? He always thought it was because he liked women in general. A corner of his mouth kicked up.
“That smile of yours,” Ida grumbled. “Such a playboy.”
“He learned that from the maestro,” Luis said as he joined in the conversation and took his seat on the other side of Antonio.
“Quite the reputation too,” Ida chided. “You corrupted Antonio.”
Antonio grinned. He was hardly a saint.
“Did you hear the U.S. captured Carillo?” Luis said suddenly.
He stilled and shook his head. “What happened?”
“Apparently he went after the Alcantara children and Miss Ortega.”
Concern for the woman who should have been his bride rose inside him. “Is Ariana okay?” he asked tightly. “Was anyone hurt?”
“From the news report I read, the women fought back just in time for the DEA to swoop in.”
“How …?”
Luis put on his spectacles and swiped through his phone and handed it to him, showing the news article from the San Diego Times. He quickly perused the news. It didn’t say much, only that the cartel capo was caught on Alcantara land and the DEA was tipped off. Antonio was sure there was more to the story and his immediate concern was Ariana, no one else. He didn’t want to regret leaving her in Walker’s care.
Feeling eyes on him, he looked up to see Ida staring at him disapprovingly. “She’s no longer your concern.”
“I know that.” He scowled. “I just don’t want her to suffer for her brother’s sins. She doesn’t deserve it.”
“She’s out of your reach now,” Ida said.
Antonio lifted the coffee cup to his mouth and took a sip as he contemplated his other concern. John Garrison and his men. Were they alive? Did they suffer casualties? A darker thought occurred to him.
