Black Hills Desperado (Black Hills Wolves, #3)(7)

Xio screwed up her face. Right. Her alter ego had a point. “Excuse me? Did you say Magnum isn’t the Alpha?

“I did.”

“Hmm. I guess things change.” She picked up a strand of her hair and examined the ends. Her nervousness about going home catapulted. Who was he and would he give her a chance? Would he like her, or despise the burden she was, as his predecessor had?

Perhaps going home wouldn’t be so bad now. A new Alpha. A fresh start. She had already begun to change with each mile that passed. Starting with learning Chinese. How much had they said the program cost on television? Small change, considering what she was used to spending. She turned to him and smiled. “Can I please have four hundred dollars?”

Marcus choked. “That’s an expensive book.”

“It’s not a book. Please. I need this to make a new start.”

He reached over and grabbed his wallet out of the glove box and thumbed through several bills before extracting and handing them over. “Here.”

She eyed him skeptically. “You aren’t going to ask what it’s for?”

“If you wanted me to know, you’d have told me. It must be important, so go on. Go get it. I’ll wait for you in the Mustang.”

She eyed the bills in his hand. That was some trust. How did he know she wouldn’t take off now that she had money in her pocket? Maybe because he knew as well as she did, there was more to the attraction than mating pheromones. There was a pull, something neither could resist, and she could run, but eventually, she’d turn and head back to him, unable to resist. Well, that and she could get herself killed if she didn’t stick to the plan, which was to go home and hide.

“I know what you’re thinking, and you can pay me back when you get a job. Go on, and stay out of trouble in there. I won’t be able to bail you out again. Not a government man anymore.”

Yeah, because of me. She had no intention of getting into trouble and ending up dead, and she could tell him she didn’t need to get a job. She had more money—in her brother’s name—than she knew what to do with.

Diego had never known about her using the money he’d given her for expenses to buy businesses throughout the West. He’d assumed her money came from her robberies. He’d thought she’d had expensive taste in hair stylists and clothing—much more than she really had. She’d cut corners and invested his money wisely, turning small amounts into substantial ones. Over the years, her companies had become a brand name. Snow’s Convenience Stores weren’t just in the Black Hills—they were all over the West.

In addition to the stores, she’d made several foreign investments and quadrupled her profits every time. Xio had kept all of it a secret by using an alias, knowing that if she ever needed to leave Diego, she would have to have funds to support her.

The bank jobs? Well, the first robbery she’d done on a dare, and to impress Diego. Later, she’d hit them for a more noble cause, or at least she’d convinced herself it was, choosing only the banks in Mexico that cheated the small folk.

And the one in El Paso that got her into trouble and put Marcus on her tail.

She’d gone after El Paso only because Diego had wanted her to, and when he wanted something, he got it. A smart person never said no once he’d asked for a favor. That was a good way to end up dead, and she liked breathing a little too much.

The money from the robberies? She’d given that to the impoverished people living in the tiny villages that dotted the Mexican landscape. It made her feel like a good girl, even though she knew she wasn’t. A part of her had craved the life she could have had if fate had dealt her a different hand. So she pretended to be more than she was, and the locals elevated her onto a pedestal, singing praises to her name. Their admiration became an addiction as strong as any narcotic. Over time, her reasons became less noble and more a way to chase the dragon that rewarded her with what she craved most.

Love.

After the disaster in El Paso, it had been a mistake to cross the border and hit an American bank again. But the carrot the FBI had dangled before her proved to be too irresistible, and she’d been bored—in need of a fix.

The Feds thought they’d recovered the cash from the bank robberies at Diego’s estate and she hadn’t denied it, letting them assume that was where her ill-gotten gains had gone. They’d gotten back one hundred times what she’d taken, and as far as she was concerned they were square. Paid in full—with Diego’s money from his own vaults. He didn’t trust banks.

I wouldn’t place bets on it.

Shut up!

Xio leaned over and gave Marcus a quick peck on the cheek, then bounced from the vehicle before he had a chance to grab her and take it further. Since that kiss they’d shared behind the Dumpster, he hadn’t been able to keep his hands off her. It was like he needed assurance she was really there, beside him. He was always brushing up against her, touching her arm or the small of her back. Always in contact. Like a mate would be.

Shit. She’d have to break him of that habit, and quick. Xio wasn’t ready to mate, settle down and start making babies. She doubted she’d ever be. If he was following her to the Black Hills for that reason, he’d be seriously disappointed. Not that she wouldn’t be all over him if she was that kind of girl. The man was everything a woman could want—well, a woman with domestic ambitions anyway.