“Thank you,” Cassidy told him softly.
“You don’t have to thank me. I love that kid. I’m just greedy, and I want it all. You, him, us living as a family. I’ll give you both as much time as you need to get used to the idea, but please know that’s the endgame here. You moving in, marrying me, us living together permanently.”
“I love you.” It was all she could say. She wanted to say that she’d move in right this second, but knew she wasn’t quite ready.
“And I love you too,” Leo said. “We’ll figure out a schedule. Me sleeping at your place and you guys staying here. It’ll be fine.”
He sounded so confident, Cassidy couldn’t help but relax against him. She knew things wouldn’t be that simple, but she didn’t have the energy to worry about it at the moment. She’d just had three orgasms and had been fucked to within an inch of her life. She’d worry about logistics later. For now, it was enough knowing that Leo had both her and Mario’s best interests in mind.
She fell asleep listening to the beat of Leo’s heart under her ear, and had never slept better.
Chapter Sixteen
It was three o’clock in the morning, and Lloyd was crouched in a backyard with Martin. It had taken a bit to track down Alice and Julio Hewitt in El Paso. But they’d finally done it.
Nothing had been going right since landing in the States, and Lloyd was more than ready to get back to Jamaica . . . especially since things in Kingston were tentatively looking up.
He’d cautiously contacted a few of the lieutenants, who’d said that a distant cousin of Michael’s would be taking over the organization. Lloyd had claimed he’d taken the money so he could track down G, to avenge Michael. And that he wanted to find Cassidy as well, make her pay for their boss’s death. Everyone agreed that she had to have had something to do with G’s showing up, with Cassidy’s brat disappearing so conveniently shortly thereafter.
Luckily, the others bought his explanation, and Lloyd was more than grateful. That meant he could possibly go back to his old life, working for Jamaica’s newest drug lord . . . as soon as he got his hands on the brat.
Lloyd was aware that Martin still thought he should just kill the kid and be done with it. But that wasn’t enough. He wanted the bitch to know what was going to happen to him. That he was going to be turned into the very thing she hated—a drug dealer. Someone who would kill without remorse. Who would sell drugs to children. Who wouldn’t give a shit about hurting or raping women.
He’d spell it out for Cassidy in great detail before he killed her. Then do exactly what he threatened. The kid would fear and respect him, and would do whatever the fuck he was told.
Lloyd hated kids, but he had a feeling he’d love fucking with Mario. Convincing him that his mother never loved him. Toughening him up. Turning him into a ruthless drug dealer.
But first he had to find them.
And tonight was the first step in doing just that. He was running out of time and money. He’d left most of what he’d stolen back in Jamaica, so he was running low. He should have just enough to pay for a flight to wherever the bitch was holed up, then to get back to Jamaica. Luckily, Coke’s network of pilots was vast. They were willing to fly him and Martin wherever they wanted to go—without asking questions about what they were carrying. They’d ignore a “sleeping” boy for a mere fifty thousand bucks.
“Now?” Martin asked.
Lloyd barely managed not to lash out. He was fucking sick of Martin. The only reason he was still breathing was because he needed his muscle to help subdue and interrogate Cassidy’s parents.
He’d planned to be inside the house by now. It had remained quiet all night—but surprisingly, the neighborhood had been very active. It was a Friday, and vehicles were constantly driving down the street, and there’d even been a party of some sort two houses down. There was no way he was going to risk breaking into the Hewitts’ house while people were around. A neighbor could see them, or one of the Hewitts might make enough noise before they were silenced for someone to hear.
They needed plenty of time to get information from the older couple. And that had meant lying low for hours until he was absolutely sure everyone was sleeping.
“Now,” Lloyd told Martin.
They slowly got up off the ground, arching their backs to work out the kinks in their cramped muscles. They’d staked out the house and decided the easiest way to get inside was through the kitchen window. They’d tested it earlier when it hadn’t looked like anyone was home, and it had easily slid upward. Stupid assholes had left it unlocked. It would be easy to get in without having to break a window or a door.
Within two minutes, they were standing inside the kitchen. Lloyd smiled over at Martin. Maybe things were looking up. Lord knew they’d experienced enough delays and frustrations over the last few weeks. It was about time something went as planned.
The two men tiptoed through the house and up the stairs. The place wasn’t large, and it was easy to find the master bedroom. It would’ve been even easier to kill Cassidy’s parents as they slept, but they needed answers.
Taking out the serrated pocketknife he’d procured once they’d gotten to El Paso, Lloyd flicked it open as he nudged the master bedroom door.
But the moonlight coming through the windows shone on an empty bed.
“What the fuck?” Lloyd muttered. “I thought you said they were home!” he barked at Martin.
“They were! A couple days ago . . .”
“Dammit!” Lloyd cursed.
After looking around the house a bit more, they found a note Cassidy’s mother had written lying on the kitchen table. Directions on how much to water their plants . . . and assurances that she’d be in touch about when they’d be coming back to town.
“Well, shit,” Martin said.
Lloyd’s mind spun. He wasn’t leaving El Paso without finding out where Cassidy was hiding. If he couldn’t get his hands on her parents, he knew someone else who might have an idea where to find the bitch. “Come on,” he told Martin, heading for the back door.
“Where are we going?” Martin asked.
“To find out where that bitch is.”
“But—”
Lloyd had lost his patience. “Her ex!” he bit out, turning to glare at Martin. “I know his name. Michael ordered a thorough background check on Cassidy before she was hired. There are rules about child custody in the US, and I’m betting she had to tell him she’s back . . . and where his son is. We’ll find out where Alfred Pepper lives and pay him a visit.”
“So I’ll still be able to have my fun,” Martin said with a gleam in his eye.
Lloyd shook his head. “Yeah, asshole, you’ll still have your fun. But no killing him until we have the info we need.”
“Of course.”
The two men slipped out of the house, and Lloyd immediately took the burner phone he’d purchased out of his pocket. They had a man to track down and torture before they left town.
Four hours later, Lloyd was beyond frustrated. This was taking too long. He hadn’t expected the bitch’s ex to hold out as long as he had.
Tracking him down hadn’t been difficult at all. A couple of phone calls, a promise to drop off some cash, and they’d had an address. It had been ridiculously easy to break into the asshole’s house. He hadn’t turned on his alarm, and the fence around his property had made it easy to enter unseen by the neighbors.