“Funny, it seemed to me like you and your badge you don’t give two fucks about were in charge.”
I force myself to calm the fuck down. “You were in charge,” I say, my voice low, terse. “Miguel was nervous around you. The men listened to you, not him. If you’re the head of that cartel—”
“I am not, nor will I ever be, the head of the cartel.”
Frustrated, I rotate away from him. He catches my arm and turns me to him. “I am not the head of the cartel, Lilah.”
“Then explain why they respect you more than him.”
“Because I am the rightful head of that empire, and it is an empire. Therefore, I am far more respected than Miguel. If I said I wanted him out, he’d be out. But you know that won’t happen. They inherited him. I inherited my father’s empire. That is just a fact.”
“Do you take money from the cartel?” It’s a question I’ve never asked him before and I don’t know why. Maybe I just didn’t want to know. But I have to know.
“Never,” he says with absoluteness. “Not one dime. I make my money in oil, Lilah, and only oil. You know that.”
“Why was he there tonight?”
“For the same reason, my father didn’t want me to marry you. They’re afraid of you. And even more afraid of me with you.”
“He’s afraid of you, Kane. Miguel is afraid of you. How do you know he’s not behind your crash? You have to deal with him.”
He slides a hand up my back between my shoulder blades and pulls me snugly against him again. “I know. And I will. You know what else I know? You made me look good tonight. The men respected you. You owned Miguel. And you fucking own me, Lilah Love.”
“I’m still pissed at you, Kane Mendez.”
“Show me.” His mouth closes down on mine and that’s all it takes.
Because I love Kane Mendez. I have always loved Kane Mendez, and I’m not sure there is anything he could tell me that would drive me away. It’s what he doesn’t tell me that infuriates me. And it’s that anger I make damn sure he tastes on my tongue, in my kiss, and in the way I tug at his clothes, and not gently.
He will tell me the truth. One way or the other.
And he kisses me with a message, too. I will not leave him. He won’t let that happen. That message catches hold and takes over because he almost left me last night. And with that, I can’t get close enough to him. We end up naked on the bed with him on top of me and I don’t even care if there’s a power play in that, and there is. This is Kane. He’s all about power, and last night, he was power personified. He can have control. For now.
He presses inside me and all I can think is that we might not have ever been like this again. I grab a handful of his hair and tug. He leans in, his mouth next to mine, his breath hot, and I say, “Sometimes I hate how much you make me need you, Kane.”
“I will never hate you needing me, Lilah.”
And then he is kissing me and we are most certainly not fucking. It’s something way beyond that.
When it’s over, when we’re on our backs side by side, breathing hard, I look at him and say, “Kane—”
He rolls to his side, hand on my belly, and says, “Yes, I need to deal with Miguel but you know how this works. If he goes, someone has to take over. It can’t be me.”
“Who then?”
“There’s no one I think can handle it well enough to leave me the hell out of it. Not right now.”
“There has to be someone.”
“No one that is ready. I’m trying to change that.”
I twist around to face him. “How do you know Miguel didn’t try to kill you?”
“I had reason to believe he didn’t.”
“Had?”
“I’ve reconsidered.”
“My God. Then you have to get rid of him.”
“As I said, it’s not that simple.”
My cellphone rings. “Damn. I have to get that.” I roll off the bed, grab my robe, and pull it on as I rush to the office and grab the phone. The call ends before I manage to get my hands on my cellphone. I glance at the caller ID to find Jay on the log. There’s a text as well from Kit. The general gist is that he has a folder of information from the lockbox and he’s bringing it to us.
My phone starts ringing again with Jay’s number and I answer with, “What’s happening?”
“Marilyn said she’d only take the polygraph if she had something in writing that says her name will not be leaked to the press. She’s worried about her job. I told her I was certain you’d assure her of that.”
“Perfect. You did good, Jay.”
“She seems innocent and scared, Lilah.”
“Birds of prey are beautiful as well, but they will eat your face off. Don’t let her eat yours off.” I hang up.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Once I disconnect with Jay, I step back into the bedroom where Kane still lies naked, an arm under his head, in deep thought.
“Regrettably,” I say, easing a knee onto the foot of the bed to grab his attention, “considering your current state of undress and the fact that I want to know what is in your head right now, Kit is on his way over. I had him break into the mail center and grab the contents of Marilyn’s lockbox.”
“I heard,” he comments. “A regular felon, Lilah Love,” he says. “And as for Kit, of course, he is. I’ll get dressed.” He stands up and starts the hunt for his clothes. “I told him not to show up without food. Let’s see if he came through. I don’t trust anyone else to feed us right about now.”
“Good point,” I say, starting to get dressed again myself as well. “Why is it you trust Kit so much? Not that I don’t. I do. It’s just rare for someone who isn’t me to have your trust.”
He’s in his pants and he pulls his shirt over his head. “I helped his family years back. Since then, he’s been loyal in so damn many ways, we’d need a bottle of wine for me to begin to get into details.”
“How’d you help his family?”
“His mom had cancer. They didn’t have the money for treatment.”
I finish dressing and study him. “Is she alive now?”
“She is. She’s doing well.”
I cross and stand in front of him. “You did a good thing, Kane.”
“I’m not my father.”
“You don’t have to keep telling me that.”
“Don’t I?” he queries.
“No. You just have to tell me who you are.” I press my hand to his chest. “I don’t want to fight with you, and I don’t want to leave you.”
He catches my hip and leans in and kisses me. “I wasn’t going to let you.”
I decide right then that the day he replies any other way, will mean we’re in real trouble.