narrow corridor that was marked only with security cameras.
Knocking on the door was pointless, but she did it anyway, the stout fireproof panels absorbing the sound of her knuckles like they were hungry. To help Benloise's brother out - not that Eduardo needed it - she turned to the nearest lens so her full face showed.
The locks released a moment later. And as strong as she was, even she had to put her shoulder into opening the way in.
Talk about another world. Ricardo's office was minimalist to the extreme; Eduardo's was something even Donald Trump, with his gold fetish, would feel suffocated by.
Any more marble and lame in here and you'd be in a whorehouse.
As Eduardo smiled, his fake teeth were the shape and color of piano keys, and his tan was so deep and uniform, it looked like it had been colored on him with Magic Marker. As always, he was dressed in a three-piece suit - a uniform, kind of like Mr. Roarke's from Fantasy Island, except black instead of white.
"And how are you tonight?" His eyes took a travel down her body. "You're looking very well."
"Ricardo said to come see you for my money."
Instantly, Eduardo went stone-cold serious - and she was reminded of why Ricardo kept him around: Blood ties and competence together were a powerful combination.
"Yes, he told me to expect you." Eduardo opened up a desk drawer and took out an envelope. "Here it is."
He extended his arm across his desk, and she took what he offered, opening it immediately.
"This is half." She looked up. "This is twenty-five hundred."
Eduardo smiled exactly like his brother did: facially, but not in the eyes. "The assignment was not completed."
"Your brother called it off. Not me."
Eduardo put his palms up. "That is what you will be paid. Or you can leave the money here."
Sola narrowed her stare.
Slowly closing the flap of the envelope, she turned the thing over in her hand, reached forward, and put it faceup on the desk. Keeping her forefinger on it, she nodded once. "As you wish."
Turning away, she went to the door and waited for the unlock.
"Nina, don't be like this," Eduardo said. When she didn't reply, the creak of his chair suggested he was getting up and coming around.
Sure enough, his cologne wafted right into her nose and his hands landed on her shoulders.
"Listen to me," he said. "You are very important to Ricardo and me. We do not take you for granted - mucho respect, yes?"
Sola looked over her shoulder. "Let me out."
"Nina."
"Right now."
"Take the money."
"No."
Eduardo sighed. "You do not need to be this way."
Sola enjoyed the guilt that threaded through the man's voice - the reaction was, in fact, precisely what she was after. Like a lot of men from their culture, Eduardo and Ricardo Benloise had been reared by a traditional mother - and that meant feeling guilt was a reflex.
More effective than yelling at them or kneeing them in the balls.
"Out," she said. "Now."
Eduardo sighed again, deeper and longer this time, the sound a confirmation that her manipulation had once again truly found home.
He wouldn't give her the money she was owed, however. Over-the-top office decor and flashback to his childhood dynamic aside, he was tighter than a bank vault. That being said, she was confident that she'd effectively ruined his evening, so there was satisfaction in that...and she was going to take care of what Ricardo owed her.
He could do it aboveboard. Or, as he had chosen, he could force her hand.
That came with a surcharge, of course.
Yup, it would have been so much cheaper for him just to give her the contract price, but she was not responsible for the decisions of others.
"Ricardo will be upset," Eduardo said. "He hates being upset. Please just accept the money - this is not right."
The logical part of her brain suggested that she take the opportunity to point out the unfairness of being cheated out of what she was owed. But if she knew these brothers, silence...oh, the silence...
As nature abhorred a vacuum, so did the conscience of a well-raised, well-bred South American.
"Sola..."
She just crossed her arms over her chest and stared straight ahead. Cue the Spanish: Eduardo broke into his native tongue, as if his angst had stripped him of his English skills.
He finally gave up and let her out about ten minutes later.
There would be roses on her doorstep at nine a.m. She wasn't going to be home, however.
She had work to do.
"What do you mean, they