Heated Pursuit (Alpha Security #1)(39)
Penny stopped, noting that her leg had coiled itself behind his knee. Good God. She’d been about to climb the man like a tree. No wonder he’d frozen. They were in public, for God’s sake, with not only Fuentes’s guards surrounding them, but dozens of cameras probably hiding in every nook and cranny and filming the entire show.
Embarrassment coated her cheeks pink as she uncoiled her body from around Rafe. Two seconds from apologizing, she noticed his attention focused over her shoulder.
“What’s wrong?” she asked. His sudden spike of tension told her that she probably didn’t want to know. “Rafe?”
“It looks like Fuentes invited another guest. Show nothing when you turn around, Red. I mean it. Absolutely nothing. And if I tell you to run, you run.”
The urgency in his voice made her want to run right then—and hide. “You’re making me nervous.”
“Then you’re not alone.”
And that made her really nervous.
“Rafael!” Diego’s voice boomed, demanding attention.
Penny turned, attention focused in the direction of Rafe’s gaze. Standing next to Fuentes was a much younger man.
“I’d like to introduce my nephew, Marco.” Diego brought the young man closer. “He has been overseeing the production aspect of our product and will be the one to guide your tour of our facilities. I’d been expecting his arrival sooner, but he had been unexpectedly detained. The matter has now been cleared, and he will be joining us for our discussions.”
Rafe’s fingers dug into Penny’s waist in a supportive hold. To the untrained eye, Rafe looked relaxed, but every muscle was prepped to move fast. “How nice. A family business.”
“And I aim to keep it that way,” the nephew stated matter-of-factly.
When the nephew’s eyes shifted her way, both Penny’s heart and breath lodged in her throat.
“Breathe, baby,” Rafe whispered. His lips brushed against her ear with a soft kiss.
It was the jolt needed to push the air from her lungs before she passed out cold.
Because standing in front of her was the abusive bastard from the alley.
*
Concern for Penny clawed at Rafe’s gut like a wild animal. Though she’d tried to hide her fear back at the pool, he’d seen her cheeks pale as she’d laid eyes on the thug from the alley—except he wasn’t a thug.
A f*cking nephew. There’d never been a shred of information on any living relatives—no sisters, brothers, or even childhood-f*cking-pets. But he couldn’t ignore the possibility. Everything from the forty-year age gap to the twin glares they now fed one another across the desk made the resemblance between them uncanny.
But unlike the alleyway thug, Marco exuded a self-appointed superiority his broken nose hadn’t managed to stifle. He’d even had the audacity to eye-f*ck Penny while Rafe stood at her side. It was a sheer miracle he hadn’t put his fist through the bastard’s face. The only reason he hadn’t—besides Penny’s fist bunched into the fabric of his shirt—was that there wasn’t a hint of familiarity coming from Marco’s eyes. Nothing. Either he was a damn good actor, or he didn’t recognize her as the woman who’d broken his nose and knocked him unconscious.
Despite their good fortune, Rafe still didn’t like her being out of his sight, but he’d had little choice when Diego suggested the three men retire to his office to talk business. He and Penny needed more info if they were to find Rachel and take down the operation. If that meant spending more time with Sick Fuck Numbers One and Two, so be it.
“What we have in place is enough. We don’t need the likes of him.” Marco’s glare flipped toward Rafe the second the office door closed.
“He has a name,” Rafe commented evenly.
“You are what we call an efficiency sucker, Rafael,” Marco snarled. “An efficiency sucker and a waste of time. Everything has already been set into motion. Another player will only further complicate matters.”
The younger Fuentes waited for Rafe to jump to the defensive. He did the opposite as he took a seat and leaned back, propping his leg on his knee. The lackadaisical response had Junior tightening his jaw.
Diego spun toward his nephew. “What do you mean everything has already been set into motion? The final declaration was to go through me!”
“And you put me in charge of production. It’s ready. There’s no reason to wait longer than necessary. We’ve waited too long as it is, and we lose money each day we delay the first shipment.”
“Which is why Se?or Manuel is here to discuss the use of his company.”
“Fuck his company.”
Diego’s eyes went wild. He moved damn fast for a man in his sixties. Coming out from behind his desk and into Marco’s face in seconds, the older Fuentes drilled the muzzle of a Beretta into the kid’s left nostril.
“You have already made personal messes that I have been forced to clean up, and I refuse to let my business become yet another of your blunders. As long as there is life left in this body, you will make no choices without my permission. Is that clear?” Diego snarled. When Marco didn’t answer right away, Diego cocked the gun. “I asked you if that was clear.”
“Claro.” Marco didn’t even blink.
Diego continued glaring at his nephew before pulling the gun away and turning to Rafe with an apology. “This will be cleared up. Immediately. I promise you.”