he leaves the bedroom.
I have no doubt Javier won’t restrain himself forever.
That’s not my greatest concern here.
The fact I don’t want him to is.
6
Javier
“Joaquin can’t locate Perez,” Diego says early Friday morning when he and Lorenzo check in with me.
Fuck.
Joaquin’s my best lieutenant. If he can’t find Perez, no one fucking can.
“Send him more men,” I order. “I want him found today.”
Diego nods as my attention is drawn to Emilia who exits the bedroom. It’s just after six and I know she didn’t get a lot of sleep last night. I know this because I didn’t either. Lying next to her all night proved more difficult than I imagined.
She eyes me with a glare before looking at my brothers. “Lorenzo. Diego,” she greets them before carrying on her way to the kitchen without waiting for them to respond.
“I see things are going well,” Lorenzo says.
“We’re on track,” I say, watching her until I can’t see her anymore.
“Good to hear,” Diego says, his features pinching with the serious expression that’s his trademark. My youngest brother carries the weight of the world in ways even I’ve not thought to. “Her brothers aren’t too fucking friendly over this Perez bullshit.”
I arch a brow questioningly.
“They’re threatening to take matters into their own hands if you don’t deal with it fast,” he elaborates.
Mateo and Cruz Sanchez have become headaches I want to eradicate once and for all. I can’t, though. It’d cause bigger problems within the cartel if I do.
“We need a meeting with them,” Lorenzo says, looking pained just to utter the words, let alone go through with it. He has less patience for Emilia’s brothers than I do.
I nod. “Set it up. This afternoon, before the dinner.” Our families are coming together for a dinner tonight ahead of the wedding tomorrow. I don’t ever look forward to any dinner, but even less so to this one.
We finish going over what needs to be taken care of today and they leave. I go in search of the woman who has taken over too many of my thoughts.
I find her in the kitchen talking with the chef I employed for the weekend. They’re discussing what Emilia would like for breakfast, and while she doesn’t look at me, the change in her body language and breathing tells me she’s more than aware of my presence.
It’s in the way her body slowly angles itself my way while her breaths quicken.
Emilia might be telling me she doesn’t want me, but she’s lying. I just need to figure out whether that’s a lie she believes or not. If, as I suspect, it isn’t, we’re on track like I told my brothers. On the other hand, if she does believe it, I have a hell of a lot more work ahead of me than I thought.
When the chef starts preparing her meal, Emilia makes a move to exit the kitchen. I allow her to slip past me without a word, but I follow her into the bedroom.
“I hope you don’t plan on ignoring me all day,” I say as she opens the closet.
She looks at me, her eyes filled with rebellion. “I plan on showering, dressing, eating my breakfast, and going into work. None of that requires a conversation with you.”
I close the distance between us. Gripping a handful of her hair and her waist, I pull her against me and growl, “I should bend you over and fuck you senseless for that.”
She sucks in a breath and my eyes fall to the rise of her chest. “You should take your hands off me is what you should do.”
Tightening my hold on her, I say, “If I thought for one second that you really wanted that, I would.” I pause. “You’re not going into work today. You can work from here.”
She jerks so forcefully that she manages to turn in my arms, her furious eyes coming to mine. “You can’t control me, Javier. Least of all when it comes to my work.”
“It isn’t my wish to control you, Emilia, except when it involves your safety. When it comes to that, I will enforce my directives however I need to.”
Her eyes widen. “Your directives? Oh my God, no. I do not take orders from you!”
“You do when it comes to this.”
“Or what? You’ll handcuff me and keep me locked away?”
“You’re catching on fast.”
With a shake of her head, she turns back to the closet, yanks a dress out, and pushes past me to stalk into the bathroom. “Try handcuffing me. See