Heated Pursuit (Alpha Security #1)(21)
“While I do not agree initially to those measures,” Fuentes said, addressing Rafe, “I would like to extend to you an invitation to my home. Maybe we can search for a viable solution and build a partnership that would appease us both. A few days, so that we can reach an agreement.”
Diego’s dark, soulless eyes settled on Penny. “And I insist that you bring your beautiful se?orita. It has been far too long since a striking, vivacious woman has graced the grounds. My only stipulation is that your security stays behind. As you pointed out, I am a man in need of keeping many secrets and the location of my home is one of them. I’ll have one of my men meet you at my private airstrip and they’ll escort you the rest of the way.”
Rafe stayed silent for so long Penny nearly pinched him. Finally, he accepted Diego’s hand. “Name the meeting time and we’d be pleased to join you.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Rafe enjoyed a good silent moment. He far preferred it to incessant ramblings and incoherent speeches, which is why it took him off guard when ten minutes into his and Penny’s drive toward the city’s posh tourist district, he felt ready to burst from his skin.
Curses. Mutters. Mumbles. Even the mother of all rants. He didn’t care which avenue Penny chose to take, he just needed to have some kind of clue as to what was going through her mind. But it didn’t look like that was about to happen. From the driver’s seat of their rented luxury car, Chase glanced back, no doubt coming to the same damn conclusion.
Thirty minutes later, they pulled up to the hotel where Rafael Manuel and the lovely Nell Hanlan spent their nights while on vacation. Through the lobby and the elevator ride up to the penthouse suite, Rafe kept an eye on the stiff set of Penny’s shoulders while ignoring the growing tension in his own.
They were supposed to set up a meet, get the intel they needed, and then coordinate the takedown of the entire Fuentes organization with every available government agency. End of operation. Game over. Bad guy in f*cking jail. None of them had seen this shift in the plan.
When they finally entered the suite, the looming silence shattered with Trey charging across the room like a bulldozer.
“What the hell were you thinking, Ortega?” Trey demanded. By the look on his face, he’d been brewing a foul mood probably since Rafe and Penny had left the club. “Do you seriously think I’m going to allow you to sweep Penn into that psycho’s lair with a f*cking army much less with no one as backup? What shit have you been smoking?”
Rafe kept his head cool. “In case you misheard, it wasn’t exactly my idea.”
“But you f*cking agreed!”
“Allow him?” Penny’s gentle tone froze all five men to their spots. Instead of shrinking as she kicked off her heels, her stature grew. She glanced pointedly at each of them before landing on Trey, and never once raised her voice. “If Rafe had insisted on bringing any kind of security, it would’ve made it look like he had something to hide.”
“Yeah, but he didn’t need to agree to letting you tag along,” Trey argued.
She shrugged. “Fuentes likes women. Isn’t that why we thought sending me into the club with Rafe was a good idea to begin with? We got his attention. We got in. I’m not going to question why, and having been after this guy for months, neither should you.”
“We shouldn’t, but we are,” Stone interjected. “Too many innocents have been affected by Fuentes. We’re not eager to add to the tally.”
“My name was added to that list the moment the bastard took the only family I have left!”
As the rest of the team focused on Penny, Rafe’s gaze cut to his best friend. If he didn’t know Trey so well, he would’ve missed the minute twitch of his left eye. Faint, quick, and only happening once before Trey pulled himself back together, the brief flicker was his friend’s only physical show of weakness.
Rafe treaded carefully, clearing his throat. “I think what Stone means, Red, is that playing arm candy for a few hours is a hell of a lot different than having you under Fuentes’s roof—literally.”
“Then I won’t do it.”
“Thank f*cking God,” Trey mumbled.
When Penny folded her arms across her chest, fluffing up the already impressive view, Rafe knew there was more. “If you can tell me right now there isn’t the slightest chance Diego will rescind his invite if I back out, then I’ll stay behind.” No one could make that claim, and the grim smile on her face indicated she knew it. “No? Then I’m going.”
Stone perched on the edge of the couch. His gaze was stern, but his voice surprisingly gentle. “You have to understand something, sweetheart. We have no idea where the Fuentes compound is. The entire international alphabet-f*cking-soup has been trying to track the bastard down for years. We’re their last line of defense before they have to tuck tails and admit they’ve f*cked up.”
She tossed her hands up in the air with a growl. “Which is why it doesn’t make sense that you’d be willing to risk the chance of Fuentes telling us to bug off! You’ve never gotten this close before.”
Trey intervened. “You’d be going into this op dark, Penn—no backup if things go to shit. No support. We can’t send you in with wires or run-of-the-mill tracking chips, because the paranoid bastard has the capability of finding them. It’ll just be you and Rafe. And if things go to hell, it’ll be the two of you and the Honduran rain forest.”