CHAPTER 1
Ramos sat at the bar, waiting for Shelby and Manetto to finish up their meeting. Shelby hadn’t wanted to come, and he couldn’t blame her, but she didn’t have much of a choice when it came to Manetto. Neither did anyone else who worked for him.
It wasn’t like this was anything that could get her killed, but with Shelby, he never knew what to expect. She was a valuable asset to Manetto, the local crime boss, because she could read minds. Who would have thought? Even after a few months of working with Shelby, the fact that she could read minds still blew Ramos away.
And to think that it had all happened because she’d gone to the grocery store for some carrots. That was the day a bank robber shot her. It was the bullet wound to her head that had given her this ability. But it wasn’t until Ramos had tracked her down for Manetto, that she’d told the big boss her secret.
It had given Manetto a reason to let her live, and now she was a member of his organization, even though she worked for him under duress. She even called him “Uncle Joey,” mostly to make him mad, but Manetto took it all in stride, and continued to coerce her by any means necessary to do his bidding.
Since Ramos worked for him as well, it also meant that he had shared some intense moments with Shelby. In fact, he’d nearly died a few times saving her life. It even looked like he had a soft spot in his heart for her, and that irritated him more than anything.
There didn’t used to be anything soft about Ramos, but with Shelby in his life, he’d changed. Of course, their relationship had never gotten physical, since she was married with boundaries he had to respect. And he was a notorious hit-man for a crime boss, so long-term relationships weren’t part of his life.
Still, he liked to push her buttons as often as possible, just to see if he could wear her down. What could he say? He was one of the bad guys, and he had a reputation to uphold.
Tired of sitting, he stood, turning his back to the wall and facing the growing number of people crowded into the club. The usual Tuesday night gathering was just starting to get rowdy, and he kept a vigilant watch for anyone too interested in the room behind him where the meeting was taking place.
A group of people to his left shifted, giving him a perfect view of a beautiful woman with wavy, shoulder-length, dark hair. She glanced in his direction, and his breath caught. What the hell? She held his gaze and raised one sculpted eyebrow in a clear invitation to join her.
Ramos let out his breath. After Mexico, he thought he’d never see her again. If she was here, that meant she wanted something from him, and it couldn’t be good.
Ramos sent her a nod, then caught Ricky’s attention and motioned him over. After Ramos instructed Ricky to take his place standing guard, he made his way through the crowd toward the woman.
As he reached her, she inclined her head toward an empty table in the back where it wasn’t as noisy. With misgiving, he nodded and followed behind, taking a seat beside her.
“It’s been a while,” she said, her voice just as sultry as he remembered.
Ramos nodded, allowing a rueful smile to play on his lips. “After Mexico I didn’t think I’d see you again.”
“No doubt,” she agreed, a small smile twisting her lips. “I’m glad you made it back home safely. I even heard you caught the assassin that came after you.”
He narrowed his gaze. How did she know that? “So why are you here? I thought we were even.”
“Can’t a girl stop by to say hello?”
“Maybe,” he chuckled. “But we both know you’re not that girl.”
She shrugged, then shifted in her chair to get closer to him. “Let’s just say I need a favor, and I would be extremely grateful if you could help me out.”
“You? That surprises me. We both know you have plenty of resources without asking me for help.”
“That’s true. But don’t forget that without my help, you might not have made it out of Mexico alive.” Her dark chocolate eyes held a challenge, but he caught a glimpse of vulnerability that pricked his conscience. She was right, but he’d hoped they were even after the deal they’d made.
Several months ago, he and Manetto had gone to Mexico to find Manetto’s niece, Kate, who’d double-crossed Manetto and run off with a lot of money. Naturally they’d gone after her to get it back, only to run into Manetto’s old flame who needed help getting out from under a drug cartel. They’d had to take on the cartel to save her life, and the life of her son.
Manetto might not have gotten involved, except that she’d told him the boy was his son as well. To make matters worse, she told Manetto that the cartel was holding their son hostage, and things didn’t look good.
After that shocking revelation, Manetto decided to take matters into his own hands. With his resources, he was willing to spend whatever it took to protect them both, even if he wasn’t sure the boy was his.
That’s where Sloan came in. Ramos met her the day he’d gone to the home of a known arms dealer hoping to find a few mercenaries he could trust. Sloan was there, meeting with the dealer, and looking for information on the cartel.
The moment they met, an undeniable attraction sizzled between them, hitting him like an electric charge. He’d never had a reaction like that before, and it took him by surprise. The revelation that she was interested in taking down the same cartel seemed like a twist of fate. He never dreamed that she was hiding anything. In hindsight, he should have known it was too easy, but he’d been blinded to the truth by his attraction to her.
They’d worked together night and day like a well-oiled machine. She knew things about the cartel that he didn’t, and he had the resources that she lacked to buy the guns and mercenaries they needed to get the job done.
Planning everything together quickly led to a more intimate relationship. In fact, they could hardly keep their hands off each other. Their affair was both exhilarating and heady, especially given the risks they were taking and the real possibility of death. He’d never felt so free and alive before in his life.
It was only after they’d taken the cartel down that Ramos discovered the appalling truth that she was a U.S. agent. Even some of the mercenaries he’d been fighting with were part of her team, and he and Manetto had just helped them fulfill their assignment.
She’d used him. And, like a festering wound, the pain it brought was still there.
Right before he’d left Mexico, she confessed that she never could have taken down the cartel without his help, but she’d never meant to get so involved with him. He may have thought she’d used him, but she felt they’d shared something special.
That did little to appease the betrayal Ramos felt, and he’d wanted nothing more to do with her. But the damage had been done, and now the agents had both him and Manetto on their radar.
So Ramos struck a deal with her. If she really meant what she’d said and wasn’t using him, she’d do everything she could to keep her agency off his back. She’d surprised him by quickly agreeing to all of his demands.
He’d had to leave Mexico in a hurry after that, because Shelby needed protection from a couple of cartel members who’d gone to the states after her. They’d discovered that Manetto had managed to pilfer several million dollars from the cartel, which he’d stashed in Shelby’s bank account for safe keeping.
At home, he’d found that Sloan’s people had been hounding Shelby, but once the problem had been resolved, they’d left him and Manetto alone. He’d figured that Sloan had kept her word, but he’d vowed to never get involved with her again.
Now here she was, asking for his help.
He let out a breath and glanced her way, feeling the same stirrings of desire that had held him captive from before, and found that he couldn’t turn her down, at least not until he knew what she was up to.
“What do you need?” he asked. The slight relaxing of her shoulders gave away her relief that she’d gotten through to him. But he wasn’t about to commit to anything yet.
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