“How do you find out the truth? Ask the Virgin Mary?”
Cain had to laugh at that one. “You need more sleep if you’re this punchy, but to answer your question, I see only one way. I’m going to ask Rodolfo as soon as I get a meeting with him.”
“He’d just tell you?”
“Probably not, but I want to send him a message that he has a mutiny brewing in his house.” Cain helped Emma up and put her arm around her shoulders.
“It’s me, baby. Could you not be so cryptic?”
“The rabid dog he’s been feeding and training all these years has finally decided to break his leash and bite his master. Anthony wasn’t at the airport on Rodolfo’s orders—he was there at Juan’s. I think he’s back and Anthony is with him.” Cain smoothed the blankets over them and opened her arms to Emma once they were settled in the bed. “You wanted to know what could harm us the most. If I’m right, it’d be that.”
“And if it really was Rodolfo?”
“If it was him I’m going to feed him that shit he sells until he chokes on it, then ship him back to Mexico in a crate of bananas to give his nephew a hint of what’ll happen to him if he comes back here.”
Emma rested her head in the bend of Cain’s shoulder and kissed the side of her neck. “See, and you said you didn’t have a plan.”
Chapter Forty-Four
“Where are you going?” Dallas asked from under the covers. She watched Remi walk out of the bathroom toward the bed, her hair wet from a shower. “After last night you’re supposed to be in here with me.”
“Can I tell you how good you look in sheets?” Remi joined her when Dallas held up the blanket.
“You smell nice.” Dallas went willingly when Remi took her in her arms. “If you’d woken me up, I could’ve helped you get that way.”
“What’s wrong?” Remi combed Dallas’s hair behind her ear and kissed her. “I’m sorry I got up without you.”
“That usually means you didn’t—”
Remi stopped her from saying anything else by kissing her again, only this time longer and more passionately. “I wake up early every day no matter what’s going on, and since I’m a little ADD, I get restless. You looked so peaceful I didn’t want to disturb you, but last night was wonderful.”
“You’re not sorry?”
“So sorry that I want us to repeat it tonight.” Remi ran her thumb along Dallas’s lips. “It doesn’t have anything to do with sex, but everything with having you here with me.”
“Can we have that talk today?” The night before, Dallas had lain in Remi’s arms, and it had felt so good she came close to crying again. But like Remi said, it had nothing to do with sex. For once she felt safe enough to simply put her head down and rest. With Remi, the last thing she wanted to do was leave.
“Cain called and I’ve got to head out for a meeting, but I had Juno clear the rest of my day so we can talk.” Remi ran her hands down Dallas’s back to her butt, then lifted her closer. “While I’m gone I want you to do me a favor.”
“What?” When Remi lay flat on her back Dallas was happy to spread her legs and straddle Remi’s waist. The new position let her lick Remi’s nipple, getting it wet. She blew on it and it puckered. “What can I do for you?” Her question had more to do with other kinds of favors, if Remi was interested.
“Make your Christmas list early.” Remi’s voice cracked on the last word as Dallas repeated her action on the other breast. “When I come back, I want you to tell me what you want changed in your life that would make you happy.”
Dallas sat up and smiled. In the daylight she could see Remi’s face and how much desire it held for her, but she saw more. Not only lust shone in the uniquely different colors of blue and green, that kind of caring was the biggest turn-on Dallas had experienced in her short life. And it evidently drove Remi’s need to free her from whatever haunted her.
“When you come back?” Dallas asked as she rocked against Remi’s lower abdomen, guaranteeing she’d need another shower. “I’ll do whatever you like.” She eased down and kneeled between Remi’s legs. “But you need to come right now.” She thought her play on words was lost as Remi moaned instead of laughed.
They touched, but their union was different in the light of day. It was still hungry, yet it felt like nothing Dallas had shared with anyone. For the first time she experienced what it was like for someone to make love to her. Remi touched her like someone who cared about her pleasure because she cared about her. Remi didn’t want to possess her, but to express how much she wanted her in and out of bed.
As they stood in the shower together, Remi held her under the spray and kissed every part of her face with soft, gentle movements. “You know,” she said when she kissed a spot over Dallas’s left brow, “if you keep crying every time we do that,” she moved to the right one, “I’m going to develop a complex.”
“I wish I could explain it better, but I promise, you’re not doing anything wrong. You’re doing everything so right I’m having a hard time processing it.” Dallas leaned back and ran her fingers along Remi’s collarbone. “Does that make sense?”
“You make perfect sense.”
They finished showering and Dallas borrowed Remi’s robe to head into the kitchen. Surprisingly, the sight of Emil sitting at the counter having coffee and reading the paper didn’t startle her as much as she would’ve thought. He was polite and pointed out where the mugs were so she could pour two cups of coffee. He stopped her as she started back.
“I almost forgot.” He held up a small gift bag. “I don’t know if Remi mentioned it, but I’ve got a hobby.”
Dallas blinked a few times but stayed quiet as her brain flipped through the possibilities of what Emil would find fun, considering he looked like a brick wall. Granted, he appeared to have broken his nose a couple of times, and he had a small collection of scars on his face, one thick one that ran though his left brow, but it somehow made him seem more genuine.
“Is that for me?” Dallas asked.
“I thought you’d like it.”
For such a big guy Emil had a soft voice. Dallas put the cups down and accepted the bag. Inside was a wide tan alligator belt with his name stamped in small letters on the inside next to the buckle.
“You made this?” she asked, getting a shy nod. “It’s beautiful, thank you.” Even though he was sitting she still had to tiptoe to kiss his cheek. “I love it.” To her astonishment he nodded again and blushed.
“Morning, Emil,” Remi said as she entered the kitchen. “That color looks nice on you.” She pointed to his face.
“Leave him alone. You can’t tease a man who comes bearing gifts.”
“If you sweet-talk him while I’m gone, maybe he’ll make you a matching pair of boots.” Remi lifted her foot to show off her usual footwear. The black boots matched the pair Emil, Mano, and her father had. “You two relax and I’ll be back in a couple of hours.” Remi kissed Dallas at the door, then stopped a floor down to pick up Simon.
Cain had called that morning and wanted to review a few things she needed her and Mano to take over. She knew Mano had been working closely with Muriel to keep Richard in their sights until they closed the casino deal. Nunzio might have owned it, but it wasn’t his signature they needed when it came time.
“We’re not going to the house?” Remi asked when Simon turned right toward the Quarter.
“Cain’s at the Pescador with your father. She said she had an outing last night and needs a meet with Rodolfo.”
“She wants us there?”
“The last thing Cain Casey needs is a backup or someone to hold her hand. She wants your father to set it up since he knows Rodolfo better. If she has to talk to him, it’s about Juan, and neither of them have anything to do with us.”
Remi rested her hand on the top of her boot, since she’d pushed the front passenger seat all the way back so she could cross her legs. “I wouldn’t mind going to do both, if she asked. I’ve enjoyed working with her. Cain’s got a lot to teach.”