Brody (12 page)

Brody realized two things at once. One, Rodrigo had never confirmed he was the one doing business with Jeb. Two, the man had it in his head to bed Olivia.

Shit.

Although they had been welcomed in a fashion by Rodrigo, Brody felt far from at home. Two dark-haired, dark-eyed girls came through a door in the back with plates for the three of them. Olivia sat down between them, a trembling in her fingers the only sign she was nervous. Otherwise, she thanked the girls and Rodrigo and daintily picked at her food.

Brody made sure Rodrigo ate before he did. He wanted to be sure they hadn’t put something in the food to make them sick or worse. It was beans, tortillas and rice, standard fare anywhere in Texas or Mexico. However, the food did have a nice kick to it and his grateful belly thanked him.

He’d eaten out on the plains, in jails, in battle, hell, he’d even eaten in a swamp once, but this tavern was a new experience. He was hungry but on edge, the spicy food dancing on his tight nerves. Rodrigo spent his time watching, or rather devouring Olivia with his gaze.

“Señorita, you are with this
cabron,
no?”

She touched Brody’s hand. “
Sí, señor
. He is mine and I am his.”

He had the crazy notion to wonder if she really meant it.

“You are from Texas.” It wasn’t a question and Rodrigo apparently didn’t expect an answer. “But your skin is brown from the sun and your Spanish
es magnifico
.”

“Gracias, señor.”
She dabbed her mouth with her sleeve because she had no napkin to do so. However she did it, Olivia maintained her dignity while using her shirt that way.

“I do not know your name,
bonita
.” Rodrigo ran his fingers down Olivia’s arm. “You must tell me.”

To Brody’s secret delight, she carefully removed the other man’s fingers. To his surprise, she used her mother’s name. “My name is Meredith. And you?”

“You wound me, Meredith. I just want to see if your skin is as soft as it looks.” Another sly smile from Rodrigo. “Your man does not want to share.”

“No, I don’t want to share.” She glanced at Brody and flashed her blue-green eyes at him. “I don’t play that game.”

“Ah, this is tragic. I would be good for you.” Rodrigo winked at her.

Brody had to hold back the growl that threatened.

Who was he to get angry? Olivia wanted the same thing he did—to find her brother. If some two-bit Mexican warlord wanted to flirt with her, then so be it. If she wanted to bed the man to further her mission, then so be it.

If he wanted to tear the man’s arms off for looking at her that way, then so be it.

“And your name,
señor
. You did not give it.” Rodrigo took off his hat and placed it on the table beside him. He was a handsome son of a bitch.

Brody knew his name was unique enough that Rodrigo might have heard it, so he had to give one Liv would remember. “Stuart.”

“Ah, this is a strong name for a strong man.” Rodrigo smiled.

Brody just nodded, not willing to get into a discussion with the man about the name Stuart. All he needed was for Olivia to remember he wasn’t Brody Armstrong.

“Didn’t pick it. Parents gave it to me.” Brody shrugged. “I could pick a different one but I’m used to it. It’s a good name.”

Olivia kept her gaze on her plate, but she answered, “It’s a good name.”

He understood the message and she obviously understood his. They had to tread lightly and keep as anonymous as possible. As far as Rodrigo was concerned, Brody was looking to go into business with him, nothing more.

Before he met Olivia, Brody had it all figured out. He had left the war a wounded man, inside and out. The Rangers gave him a new home, a new purpose, and he fully intended on living as one for as long as they’d have him. Now he found himself betraying the very thing he had sworn to be true to and all because of her.

That didn’t make him any less culpable. He wanted to beat on his chest and declare his territory in the face of a charming, handsome stranger’s flirtatious behavior. Olivia wasn’t his, she wasn’t anyone’s. Brody had to keep reminding himself of that lest she get it in her head to take Rodrigo up on his offer to “share.”

“Elena,
venaca
.” Rodrigo summoned one of the whores from the corner where she sat.

The woman who walked toward them was nothing short of stunning. Brody hadn’t noticed her because she’d been in the shadows. She had long, silky black hair shining in the lamplight. Her equally dark eyes were framed by long lashes, high cheekbones, ruby red lips and flawless skin. He could only stare at her while enduring a kick from Olivia under the table.

He might appreciate the way Elena looked but that didn’t mean she stirred his loins. Matter of fact, they weren’t even twitching at the sight of the most perfect woman he’d ever laid eyes on.

Brody didn’t want to think about why just yet.

Rodrigo swept his arm toward them. “Elena, this is Stuart and Meredith, who are my guests tonight.”

Brody didn’t think they were guests in truth and he knew Rodrigo didn’t either.

“You have horses,
sí
?” He’d probably heard them ride up but he asked anyway.

“Yep. They’re outside at the hitching post.” Brody assumed one of Rodrigo’s men had already searched the horses and knew very well what they had and didn’t have.

“
Bueno
. Elena, show them where to put their horses, then give them a room. Make sure they enjoy themselves.” Rodrigo’s smile appeared to be more like a baring of teeth. “In the morning maybe we do business.”

Brody understood that now their meal was over, Rodrigo was dismissing them. It stuck in the ranger’s craw, but he could do nothing but thank his host and follow the beautiful Elena out the door with Olivia on his heels.

He felt Rodrigo’s gaze on him, watching as any predator would from the cover of the shadows. Brody would sleep with his pistol in his hand and ammunition in the other.

Olivia was in a bad dream. The delicious food sat like a rock in her churning stomach. She followed Brody and the incredibly beautiful Elena outside, wondering if she’d see the sun rise again.

Rodrigo made her skin crawl each time his gaze or his touch fell on her. He was probably in cahoots with the men who’d killed the real Stuart and Meredith, her parents. But it was more than that, it was something inside her that recoiled from him. Something instinctual, protective.

Now they were to actually sleep in this tavern, knowing he was downstairs with his men, ready to kill them or something worse. It might be funny if it wasn’t true. She wouldn’t be able to do anything but sit up with her pistol close by.

She tried not to think about the woman ahead. Elena. When she’d approached the table, every man’s face looked stunned. Even Olivia had been struck by just how lovely Elena was.

That didn’t mean she had to like the woman or the fact Brody looked as if he’d been pole axed. Olivia would not admit to him that she was jealous, but she was.

The night air cooled her overheated face a bit, but she still felt hot and out of control. That had been the strangest meal she’d ever eaten, with the strangest company. She kept reminding herself it was for Benjy and that her own discomfort was minor compared to what he had already endured.

“The horses can stay behind the tavern with the others.” Elena’s English was lightly accented but soft as butter. “They will be safe there.”

Olivia didn’t bother to tell her no one, and nothing, would be safe in this pueblo. She didn’t think it needed to be said. This was not a place anyone would choose to be. Perhaps not even Rodrigo.

They walked toward a small stable, which was nondescript but relatively clean. They brought the horses into two empty stalls in the back. At least half a dozen horses were already sleeping or munching on feed. Mariposa didn’t want to go into the stall and Olivia didn’t blame her.

After some careful coaxing, the mare finally stepped in and let Olivia unsaddle her. The simple chore gave her a few minutes of normalcy in an otherwise far from normal week. Brody was talking softly to his own horse in the stall next to her. It was comforting to have him near, much as she wanted to be angry with him. He was putting his life at risk the same as she was.

When she stepped out of the stall with her saddlebags, she was startled to find Elena right in front of her. She stared at Olivia as though studying her face.

“Your name is Meredith?”

“Um, yes, Meredith.” Oh, how it hurt to say her mother’s name.

After another few awkward moments, Elena turned away and Olivia was able to take a breath. The look on the other woman’s face had been recognition. How was that possible? Olivia had never been to Mexico and she was fairly certain Elena had not been anywhere near the Graham ranch.

What did the recognition mean? Did Elena see something in her face that reminded her of someone else? Could she possibly have seen Benjamin?

Olivia wanted so badly to ask but knew it wasn’t the time. If she even tried, no doubt the woman would stop talking to them and they might even be dead before the moon was high in the sky. No, it wasn’t the time but her heart actually ached to ask about her brother.

She took a few minutes to swallow the frustration and fear before she walked into the other stall. Elena was there, her hand on Brody’s arm. A surge of annoyance rushed through Olivia at the sight.

“Are you finished yet?” She hadn’t intended to snap at them, but she did anyway.

Brody’s mouth tightened. “Just about. Anxious, darlin’? You want to find our bed?”

“Of course, honey. I always want to find our bed together.” She turned her gaze to Elena. “Can you take us back now?”

Elena looked between them before she nodded. “You must be married. Only married people fight like this.”

Olivia was startled by the other woman’s observation. Did they fight liked married people? She didn’t think anything at all of how much they tussled verbally. Yet others must have seen something there. The question was, were they right?

Olivia didn’t want to think her heart was involved yet, but she knew she was kidding herself. No matter how angry she got at Brody, he had wormed his grumpy way into her heart. He was smart, strong and honorable, the kind of man her father would have wanted for her had he lived.

Her heart was caught between pursuing what she felt for Brody and her love for her family. She had to find Benjy, to find the people who’d murdered her parents, before she could even think about what she might have with the ranger.

There was the possibility he didn’t want anything to do with her. She had to stop thinking about the future and concentrate on the present. She was in a Mexican pueblo, at an outlaw’s tavern, and now her horse was going to be left out of her reach, unsaddled and unprotected. There was definitely enough danger and fear to keep her occupied without thinking too much about other things.

If Brody wanted to bed the beautiful Elena, Olivia had no say in the matter. He was a grown man and she was not his wife or even his intended. She was simply the woman who had found passion in his arms. That was a bitter truth to swallow.

“Ah, Meredith?”

She realized she’d been staring at Brody, and he’d called her mother’s name more than once.

“What?”

“You plan on sleeping out here?” He gestured to Elena, who hovered by the door, watching them with her dark gaze. “She’s waiting for us. Are you ready?”

Olivia stared at him, as the events of the several days rushed through her mind. She trusted him. She
trusted
him. They would do what they’d come to do. They had to.

“Yes, I’m ready.”

Walking back to the tavern was harder the second time. She knew who and what was in there. Her free hand shook and she clenched it into a fist to hide the trembling. She refused to let Rodrigo see how scared she actually was.

Elena’s long braid swung back and forth across her back, following the gentle sway of her hips. Everything she did seemed graceful, an incongruous quality against the backdrop of the dark place she existed in.

Conversation was down to a murmur when they walked back in. If she had more gumption, she would have ordered a drink of whiskey. But she needed a clear head. Everything depended on whatever plan Brody had, the one he wouldn’t tell her about.

By the morning, she would know. He could count on that. Olivia would not allow another hour to go by without having the truth from the ranger.

Elena nodded at the overly large bartender as she walked directly to the stairs. Every eye in the room was on them, like a pack of rats watching fresh meat march past. If they had Rodrigo’s permission, they probably would have taken out their pistols and knives.

Rodrigo had put a spell around the newcomers, protecting them, for now. Olivia understood clearly that the outlaw’s protection was a temporary thing that he could snatch away any second. Her pulse pounded through her as they walked up the stairs. Sweat tickled down her spine and between her breasts. It even pooled in her palm as she held onto the leather saddlebags.

It took only seconds to reach the top of the stairs, but it felt much longer. There was an open railing overlooking the tavern, allowing all those below to keep watching them. Olivia wanted to scream at them to stop staring but she focused on Elena’s braid; the tick-tock motion held her gaze.

The pretty woman led them to the end of the hallway to the last door on the left. If they stayed in that room, they would have no way to leave without everyone seeing them. Rodrigo could choose to put a guard at the stairs, thereby completely cutting them off from even going to the outhouse.

Olivia’s mouth dried up like Texas dirt in the summer. They were going to be prisoners in the outlaw’s tavern. Was this Brody’s plan? What was he thinking about when he devised it?

Her mind swam with questions she couldn’t voice aloud. She pressed her lips together and kept walking. When they arrived at the door, Elena opened it and gestured for them to walk inside.

Olivia wanted to run in the other direction but she stepped into the room. Brody followed her in and when she turned around, she realized Elena had entered the room, shutting the door behind her.