Loving a Bad Boy (28 page)

Julio snorted at Francisco’s version of what
happened. “Let me guess, he sunk some of your shipments?”

“
No. For a year, anything
that traveled in the Caribbean was taken. He left no one alive to
explain. To this day we have no idea how he was able to discover
our every move, but he did.”

“
What did he do with the
merchandise?”

“
I don’t know. Once we
baited a shipment, everything was marked so we could trace it, sort
of following the money trail. None of it ever
resurfaced.”

“
Will he harm my men?”
Mentally he tallied the number of men he had on the island and how
many more he could send.

“
It depends.”

“
On?” He suppressed a
growl. Francisco loved creating drama and this was not the
time.

It took Francisco a moment to answer. “On
what he thinks is happening there. If he thinks you are
competition, they would be dead by now. Since that has not
happened, I guess he is gathering info to decide his next
move.”

Julio’s phone beeped. “Okay, hold on a
minute.”

“
Listen to me... Julio?”
Francisco called out in a peeved tone.

Julio read the text message from Pam before
replacing the phone to his ear. “I apologize, I had to take care of
something.” He smiled thinking of the text she’d sent.

“
I understand. But I need
your word that you will not do anything without discussing things
with me. We are at a critical point in negotiations with this arms
deal, nothing can go wrong.”

“
Do anything? What do you
mean?” He glanced at the text again. She missed him.

“
You cannot go over there
without clearance.”

That grabbed his attention. “What? I’m just
going to check on my men, not conduct business. I’m leaving the
middle of this week. Will that be enough time for a clearance?”

“
This is what I say. You
do not listen. I talk. You talk. I say no. You say yes. This is not
good. You must listen and do as I say. I cannot keep you safe if
you persist with these childish tantrums. Even your grandfather
would not be as tolerant as I have been.”

Stung more than he wanted to admit, Julio
swallowed down the flow of curses threatening to spew out of his
mouth. “Okay.”

“
Okay.” Francisco sounded
relieved.

“
Okay, you don’t need to
keep me safe. I own all of my decisions and whatever happens,
happens. No more tantrums. No more arguing. No more making things
hard for you.
I
own my decisions. Understood?” He looked up as Pete knocked
on his door. It was time for another meeting.

Francisco sighed. “I did not mean it that
way. You are still young, still learning our ways. Perhaps if you
had started training in the business as a teen like Carlos, I
wouldn’t worry so much. But I worry. I hope for you to take over my
job as head of the Cartel one day. You know this. Why are you
fighting me on this? Do not go to the Island. You are a Cardenas,
which is different from Tex being there recuperating.”

“
I’m aware of my name and
I understand that you believe only a Cardenas should sit in the
power seat. No matter what I say, that’s what you believe. But you
constantly tell me I’m not ready. I agree. But I’m not going to be
shuffled around like some punk drinking milk. Be glad I’m not
Carlos or Roberto, both were trained to run the business and look
what that brought you. You need to appreciate what I bring to the
table or open me an exit door, because
this
Cardenas won’t be a whipping
post.”

The silence on the other end was telling.
“Yes, you are a Cardenas—”

“
Look, I’m leaving in
three days,” Julio said deciding to give an edited view of the
situation. “There’s more than Tex over there. I sent a nurse with
him. She can’t be harmed. I gave her my word neither she nor her
family would be hurt if she watched over Tex. She plans to stay a
month, so I can’t just pull her out of there without a good reason.
She has no idea about anything we do. She believes she’s being a
good neighbor helping a friend. Once again, if I had known ahead of
time, we wouldn’t be in this situation. But I can’t expect Tex to
fix this mess.”

“
Tell him to
return.”

On the surface, it was a
simple request and probably the easiest to execute.
But what about Pam?
He
needed to be sure she wasn’t in danger because of her association
with him. He owed her for helping with Tex, besides; the need to
make sure she was safe went bone deep, primal even, something he’d
never experienced before.

Swallowing his pride, he exhaled.
“Francisco, I’m asking you to set this up in three days. I have
already given my word on this. Feel free to give me any information
you think will make things go down easier. But I have to go.”

“
A woman, eh? It always
comes down to that. You’re like your Gerald Black in that
regard.”

Julio was tired of the snide remarks about
his stepdad and snapped. “Benito Cardenas, former head of the
Cartel approved of Gerald Black. Let him marry his only kid and
trusted him to raise me.” He bit out. “You need to accept he’s a
good man. Whatever you have against him you gotta let it go. You’re
making mom unhappy.”

Francisco sighed. “I know this. She told me
this herself. It’s hard to know someone else was there for her and
for you.”

Julio’s brow rose. Francisco was old enough
to be his mom’s father. Surely the old guy wasn’t crushing on his
mom. Cartel or not, Gerald would kill him or die trying. And he’d
stand with Gerald on that front.

“
Mom said you came around
from time to time, kept an eye on us. But she needed someone who no
one knew, Gerald took care of that.” He drilled the fact that
Gerald had been there when his mom needed an anchor to
survive.

After a moment or two of silence, Francisco
spoke. “Okay, I’ll get word to him that you are coming to check on
your patient and ask him not to shoot as you walk off the plane.
Hopefully he will listen. I beg you to be careful while you are
there. Make no contacts. Conduct no business. Simply check on Tex
and your nurse, and leave within twenty-four hours.”

Accepting the change of heart gracefully,
Julio modulated his tone. “Seventy-two hours. Make it three days
because of travel,” he said, thinking of what he planned to do with
Pam.

“
Travel from Miami to the
Bahamas? What kind of rationale is that? He’s not stupid, not in
the least. You want to spend time with the girl, do it in
forty-eight hours.”

“
Thanks, I appreciate it.”
He clicked off. Not going was not an option, so he refused to dwell
on the rhetoric.

Chapter 18

Pam looked in the mirror again, biting her
lip. She had done her best. After spending an hour curling her hair
and putting her outfit together, she was as ready as she could be.
The purple dress clung to her skin, highlighting her curves and
complexion. After a quick glance at her watch, she smiled. Julio
should’ve landed by now. Their short conversation from last night
echoed through her mind.

“
I’m coming to see you
tomorrow
.” Even now, remembering how his
voice had deepened made bumps rise across her arms and stomach. She
could barely respond, but she did.

“
Good. I mean…it’ll be
good to see you.”

“
Miss
me
?” Did she ever? He had no idea how much
she looked forward to the setting sun that signaled a call from him
within a few hours.

“
Yes, I do miss you
actually. I don’t know why since you’re so bossy
.” The way he'd taken over her research by sending Tex and
the other guys along with her, had become a running joke between
them.

“
Ah… you still complain
about that? I promise to make it up to you. All night long. Will
that make it better
?”

Heat raced up her face as she clamped her
thighs together to ease the throbbing ache. The man used his words
as an effective weapon to stoke her lust. He kept her on the edge
remembering how good it was between them. She had to stop thinking
about sex if she planned to keep her panties dry. Worse, she liked
him. A lot.

A quick slide of her tongue moistened her
lips. She placed the comb on the dresser and headed toward the
living room, where Tex sat working on his laptop. She stood in the
entryway, assessing the space. The décor had a typical Caribbean
flair of bamboo with floral print cushions, similar to what the
Golden Girls’ had in their living rooms. Ceramic tile covered the
floor, with scattered rugs adding splashes of color. She had
prepared an island meal of peas and rice along with a pot of stewed
conch. It had become Tex’s favorite and he’d been asking her to
prepare it for him again.

“
You look nice. Is that
for me?” Grinning, Tex looked over his shoulder at her.

“
Yep. Haven’t I dressed
like this every day since we’ve been here?” she asked in a dry
tone.

He chuckled. “I wish. But no. Normally I get
to see those lovely legs and thighs of yours. I hope you’ll go back
to dressing half naked when he leaves.”

“
Yeah, right,” she sassed
as she walked in his direction and sat in a nearby chair. “Tell me
about him.” She had made the same request the day Julio called her
his woman.

“
Nothing much to tell.
He’s my friend and a good man.”

“
That’s what you said
before.”

“
I’m consistent.” He
smirked.

“
I like him,” she said
into the silence. “I hope he’s not playing a game.”

Tex turned around to face her slowly.

She swallowed hard at the serious expression
on his face. Intuitively, she knew she was not going to like what
came out his mouth next.

“
Go slow. Don’t be so
quick to give up your heart. Take this for what it is. Two people
attracted to one another, enjoying one another’s company. No more.
No less.”

Her stomach clenched at the truth and
concern underlying his words. “I don’t know if I can do that. I
don’t know how to do anything half-way, you know what I mean?”
Despite the nausea churning in her stomach, she forced herself to
continue. For some reason she couldn’t explain, she needed Tex to
understand this fact about her. She did not do fluff relationships.
The appeal escaped her. One night stands? She’d never had one
before Julio, and he’d come back every night until she'd left.

His eyes searched hers another second or two
before he wiped his hand over his face and slumped in the chair.
“Are you in love with him?” he asked from behind his fingers.

“
No….but I do like him.”
She more than liked him, but wasn’t sure what to call it, but now
wasn’t the time to get into semantics.

He squinted at her. “What
does that mean?
I
like him, but I’m not all dressed up to see him.”

She choked back a laugh and twisted a few
strands of her hair. “It means there’s potential to become
something more. I like talking with him and being with him. Not
love, but if we tried, it might slide into that later—why are you
shaking your head?” she asked frowning.

“
No. No. No. Why’d you
have to make it more than it is? Why do y’all do that? A brother’s
having a good time, enjoying your company and then, Bam! Y’all go
and change up, wanting more.” His frowned deepened. “What if he’s
not feeling you like that? We’re on an island, where you gonna go?
What you gonna do til he leaves?”

His questions were similar to the ones she'd
been asking herself for the past three days. She still had no
answers. Although they hadn’t known each other that long, she felt
a strong connection to him from all their night-time conversations.
Not a day had passed since she found her mom’s journal that he
hadn’t called, talked to her, made her feel special.

The thought of Julio not liking her the same
way she liked him hurt. She couldn’t get past it, had no protection
against it. When had her defenses crumbled to this degree? Like
those sneaky things that crept up on you without permission, she
was stuck with feelings for someone who probably viewed her as just
another conquest.

That wasn’t supposed to
happen.
This is so high
school
.

Her heart thumped so hard in her chest, she
was certain Tex could hear it. Should she mention the “my woman”
comment? No. It’d hurt worse if that was common slang for Julio.
What if she told him how often they talked? Would it matter?
Probably not. Instead she opted for safety. “I don’t know. What
should I do?”