“That depends…” Narrowing my eyes, I peered at his nametag. “Tomás. What’s the most expensive scotch you have?”
Dropping the rag, he glanced behind him at the rows of liquor bottles spanning the length of the bar. “I think we have some Johnnie Walker Blue. You sure you can afford it, mami? It’s twelve hundred pesos a shot.”
I had no intention of paying for it, but he didn’t have to know that.
“Make it two.”
I didn’t have to wait long before he set two shot glasses and a bill in front of me. “Twenty-four hundred pesos.” I raised an eyebrow, and he shrugged. “I have rules against running tabs for Johnnie.”
I let out a heavy sigh. I’d hoped to coax the information out of him, but it was obvious he’d played this game before. He was good, but I was better.
“I’m the exception to your rule.”
He snorted, turning away to take another drink order. “Says who?”
“Cristiano.” The name rolled off my tongue with ease. “Care to ask him, or would you like me to?”
Tomás froze, the woman waving money in his face forgotten. My pulse raced as he turned his narrowed eyes back to me. “Who are you?”
“I’m someone who’s going to have your ass fired if you don’t tell me where to find Cristiano in the next five seconds.”
“I don’t know where he is.”
“Four.”
Bending down, he dug a beer bottle out of the cooler and popped the cap. “I said, I don’t know.”
“Three.”
“You’ve got cojones, you know that?” he growled, handing the bottle to the annoying bitch with the fistful of pesos.
“Two.”
He was in my face before I could hit one. “I haven’t seen him tonight, but I can take you to his office.” He held up a hand as I indulged in a victorious smile. “You’re on your own after that.” After stopping to have a few heated words with one of the other bartenders, he rounded the corner and glared at me.
I slid off the bar stool and turned halfway around when I remembered the scotch. Grabbing a shot in each hand, I spun around and slammed into a wall of hard muscle.
“What the hell was that?”
“Why? Are you jealous, papi?”
“No,” Brody bit out through clenched teeth. “I’m tired of standing over here with my dick in my hand while you run a solo operation.”
Glancing down, I cocked an eyebrow. “You really shouldn’t have your dick out in here. It isn’t that type of club.”
A low growl rumbled in his throat. “You know what I mean, Adriana. What the hell were you trying to sell over there?”
“Nothing. I was buying.” I held up the glasses. “Two shots of Johnnie Walker Blue.” Noticing they were half empty and the front of his shirt was soaked, a wicked smile curved my lips. “Well, now I guess it’s technically only one shot of Johnnie Walker Blue.” Shoving a glass in his hand, I pinched his drenched shirt between my index finger and thumb and winked. “But if you want the other one, you’ll have to suck yourself.”
The cords in Brody’s neck strained so hard, I was afraid they’d snap. As entertaining as this was, I caught Tomás’s impatient stare out of the corner of my eye. Clinking our glasses together, I poured what was left from mine into his and tucked the empty one into his shirt pocket. “Try not to get yourself killed while I’m gone.”
I took one step before he grabbed my arm and snapped me back. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“To get information. You really should keep up.”
“Not without me.”
I laughed, and then his eyes darkened. Holy shit, he was serious. “I don’t think so.”
“Is that him?” he asked, nodding toward Tomás. “Is that your fiancé?” He growled the word with such contempt, I found myself torn between being wanting to laugh in his face and wanting to kick his ass.
I settled for jerking out of his hold and crossing my arms over my chest. “Ex-fiancé, and no. That’s a random bartender. However, he’s taking me to Cristiano’s office.”
“Then I’m definitely going.”
“Okay, pump your brakes, caveman. I can handle this myself. Besides, if you think a Muñoz associate is going to say shit with you in the room, you’ve lost your damn mind.”
I realized that was probably the wrong thing to say the minute his face turned blood red and a vein in the middle of his forehead started pulsing. “He’s a fucking Muñoz?” he roared. “Are you crazy?”
“Would you keep your voice down?” I hissed. “Yes, but he’s not a part of this.”
“You can’t be that stupid.”
This fucker wants to die tonight.
“Look, gringo,” I warned, jabbing a sharp nail into his chest. “Cris would never hurt me or betray me. I’m safe with him.”
“So now he’s Cris, huh?”
I threw my hands in the air. “Dios mío, I can’t win with you.”
“¿Vas a venir hoy?” Are you coming today?
I glanced over my shoulder to where Tomás impatiently tapped his toe. Shit. I’d forgotten all about him. Scrubbing a hand over my face, I steadied my voice, leaving no room for argument. “Look, this might be our only chance to find out where Ignacio is hiding. Don’t screw this up for me, Brody. You’re not the only one who has a score to settle.”
He stared at me before finally exhaling a hard breath through his nose. “If you’re not back in ten minutes, I’m coming after you.”
I didn’t say anything. What was the use? He’d only argue and waste more time. Besides, I knew his threat was empty. Cristiano had guards stationed at every possible entrance to the second level. He’d never make it past the dance floor.
Without another word, I walked away, following Tomás through a secured doorway, down three darkened hallways, and into a familiar elevator that let us out in front of an ominous black door.
He stopped so suddenly I almost barreled into the back of him. “I need a name.”
I blinked up at him, debating what to say. The one on my tongue burned and to speak it out loud felt like serving myself up on an altar of the damned. But, to cross that threshold, I knew there was only one answer. “Marisol.”
“Stay here,” he instructed as he knocked an intricate code on the door and waited. Eventually, the door clicked, and he disappeared inside.
I hated the way my stomach seesawed back and forth while I waited for him to return. A few moments later, the door opened, and Tomás nodded. “Go on in.”
Blowing out a nervous breath, I pushed my shoulders back and moved past him, the words I assured Brody now singing in my ear like a taunting child.
“Cris would never hurt me or betray me. I’m safe with him.”
However, the moment I stepped into his office, my past circled around me.
It watched.
It waited.
And then it swallowed me whole.
“Marisol Muñoz. I’ve been waiting for you.”
Chapter Twenty-Three