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  The kitten squalled in fright when the guard hit Gun’s hand with the butt of his semi-automatic rifle. “¡Pendejo! Es solo un gato. Salga y no regrese aquí.” Jerking his oiled head in the direction of the stable, he gave more orders. “¡Márchese y no mire detrás!”

  Holding the frightened animal to his chest, Gun moved ahead of the asshole guard. “You been in the Army, friend?”

  He was shoved for his attempt at conversation. “¡Cállete!”

  “Hey, think I could have a drink of water ... a bottle of beer?”

  “¡Cállete!”

  Gun held his tongue. He could make hamburger out of this character, but he had Donavon to think about. Nope. Keep it shut.

  The crunching of his escort’s footsteps quieted, and Gun looked over his shoulder. The rifle butt slamming into his left shoulder was his reward for disobedience. Rage and a desire to retaliate were stronger than his fear of the gun-toting prick. Not since his fourth birthday had he let another guy hit him and walk away in one piece. He couldn’t accept an ass-kicking, especially from a son-of-a-bitch like this one. But he had to take it.

  Gun leaned down to toss the kitten out of the way before moving ahead. The gun butt to the back of his neck sent him to his knees and blinded him for a few seconds. Everything in him screamed fight back, but he couldn’t. Donavon. Where the hell are you?

  “¡Párese, cabron!”

  Gun crawled and groped for the side of the building, trying to stand, fighting the reeling and buzz in his ears. “Hold on, fella. I’m going.”

  Was that his voice, a croak? Gun focused on the corral, hoping Donavon would be there and he could make sure she was okay. Nobody around but a couple of stable boys. That warmth crawling down his neck and under his collar wasn’t sweat. The son-of-a-bitch had drawn blood. He shook his head, and blood spattered in a wide arc.

  “¡Idiota!” The guard hissed and hammered the gun butt to his kidney. He couldn’t help it. Gun dropped to the dirt and sucked air. Donavon!

  He didn’t know how long he had sprawled in the dust. He opened his eyes and managed to look around from his prone position. He was alone. The kitten had abandoned him and sat staring at him from an overturned basket. He sat up and rubbed the back of his head. The cut, oozing blood, stung like hell.

  Getting on his feet, he yanked his shirttail from his pants, tore off a hunk, and pressed it to the back of his head. Oh, yeah, a water pump near the corral. He staggered to the pump and worked the handle up and down until water splashed out, leaning down to let the water run over his aching head. He let go of the handle and straightened, combing his hair with his fingers. Christ, what a headache.

  His heart did a little squeeze thing when he thought of Donavon being alone with Armondez. All he wanted to do was grab her and run straight back to Bogotá. Man, he had turned into one soft wussie.

  * * * *

  Ali knew perfectly well why he’d ridden into the jungle when there was a very nice clearing nearby. His hand on her thigh confirmed her suspicion about what was on his mind.

  “Come with me, Bambi.” He dismounted and held his arms up to help her off the horse. “Just over there is a lovely place I want to show you.”

  He pushed the low-growing branches aside and held his hand out. “Come. It’s lovely.”

  Ali squinted, trying to see through the dense grass and trees. What a fool. She wouldn’t do something like this with a hometown boy. Okay, this was different. If he tried anything funny, she was perfectly able to render him unconscious. Plus, men with sex on their minds usually were an easy takedown.

  His hand on her upper arm kept her from tripping over a weathered log.

  “Thank you. Sorry to be so clumsy.”

  His hooded eyes had become glittering slits. “Not clumsy at all. You’re beautiful, passionate, and very desirable.”

  “Well, thank you again.” She bit back a smart remark describing the unlikelihood of him ever knowing that. “So, where is that beautiful scenery?”

  Ali knew that smile, warm with a hint of snake-oil-salesman cunning. He was sizing her up, wondering if she would resist or participate.

  He grasped her hand and led the way under fragrant, blooming trees. They smelled like a jar of warm spice and coffee. “It’s quite steep here, but the scenery is worth taking the risk. I’ll keep you safe.”

  Well, hell. He hadn’t been lying. Below her was a carpet of emerald green barely visible beneath a mantle of white mist. The view was spectacular.

  “This is wonderful.” Ali couldn’t help but smile with genuine pleasure. The place was beautiful, and at the top of a cliff. She looked down in fascination, forgetting for a time where she was and who stood beside her. “I can’t believe it.” She found it hard to keep from testing the echo quality. “A waterfall tumbling off the cliff over there. I love it.”

  Armondez put his arm around her waist and pointed to the trees below. “There are wonderful birds and exotic animals on the forest floor. I want to show you the beauty of the jungle.”

  What the hell was he doing? “I have to tell you. When I’m with a man, I am faithful.”

  “I like your loyalty.” His gaze of hot interest clicked over her face and body. “But loyalties change with enough persuasion.”

  Okay, this sounded like a direct hit at her ability to resist his charms. And there were some. He just had no idea of how to use them. Why would he, when it was easier to take what he wanted and toss the leavings aside? She tried tact again. “I appreciate your hospitality and your compliments, but I think it’s time to go back. Sweeney will worry.”

  Ali hadn’t expected a possessive reaction from Armondez so quickly. He caught her in his arms and covered her mouth with his. He wasn’t a big guy like Gun, but he was strong and forceful. She clamped her teeth together to keep him from slipping his tongue down her throat. Ali stared wide-eyed into his inky gaze. He didn’t close his eyes, either, gazing at her as if he was gauging her response.

  He pulled back, but held on to her. “Sweeney isn’t intelligent enough to worry. He has no idea what he has to worry about.”

  What the hell did that mean? Concerned as she was for Gun, it was imperative to appear strong for her man. “You could be right, but I’m a woman of strong loyalty. If I were your woman, no man on earth could come between us. Right now, I am with Sweeney. Until he gives me up, not even you can come between us.”

  Her resistance seemed to fuel his need to possess her, like some animal he chased. What he said next made her hair sizzle to the roots. This guy scared her. “I don’t want you to leave. You would be very happy here.”

  She put extra effort into her trembling-lip look. “Maybe I could come back.”

  “I’d rather you stayed. You wouldn’t come back. Sweeney would stop you.”

  “No.” Any fool could see her eye twitching. It always did when she lied. “I’m sure he wouldn’t even try. I’ll come back.” She wasn’t lying.

  He perked up, his eyes glowing with pleasure. “Perhaps I can do something to make sure he won’t forbid it.” His straight black lashes lowered to hood those evil eyes again. “You won’t regret coming back to me.”

  Ali’s heart didn’t beat in rhythm for several seconds. Yes, she was coming back. To take his life.

  Chapter 19

  Gun heard Donavon and Armondez coming back. He could hear the horse’s hoof beats before it burst through the tall grass on the far side of the pasture. He leaned against the gate and breathed deep to fight off the vertigo. As he reined the horse in, Armondez looked damned well pleased with him self. Donavon appeared calm, but that didn’t mean anything. He figured the prick had been pretty aggressive and she was pissed off. The idea of her having to fend off the guy was like swallowing battery acid. And, it had been his fault.

  “Hey, there. You’re back.” His greeting to the returning couple had been warm, but it was hard to be cheerful when his head pounded like a jackhammer.

  Gun read the assessing glance Armondez whippe
d over him. His expression almost revealed amusement as he gestured to the rag in Gun’s hand.

  “What’s happened to you, Sweeney?”

  “I fell. Hit a rock.” Gun shrugged. “It’s nothing. Just careless.”

  He could see Donavon’s mind dissecting the situation. But she stayed cool and let Armondez help her off the horse. She calmly walked to him and looked at the bloody piece of shirt in his hand.

  “You probably need stitches. Maybe we had better go back to the city and find a hospital.”

  “You worry too much, honey.” He gazed into her eyes and for the first time noticed they were tilted up at the corners. “I could use a cold drink.”

  She turned to Armondez. “I want to look at his wound, and he needs aspirin.” She arched her brows on the last part of her statement. “And a cold drink.”

  Armondez seemed to realize he needed to be attentive to her partner as well as to her. “Of course, of course.” He took Gun’s arm and attempted to sound sympathetic. “I’m very sorry, Sweeney. What a terrible thing to happen. Come inside and my staff will see to your injury.”

  As if he entertained them every day, Armondez jawed continually as they walked away from the corral and around a stone pathway into a side garden. Tree bough leaned over the path to lace into each other. The temperature dropped fifteen degrees.

  Even with his eyes feeling like burning coals, Gun noticed the abundance of color along the path. Orchids seemed to flow from the trees and every pot for miles around. Of course, it might be that his brain was temporarily scrambled.

  Donavon’s expression wasn’t hard to read. He would have bet his next paycheck she was dying for a piece of that gum she always carried. She looked anxious and disgusted by Armondez’s lack of concern as he handed her a purple bloom. Her smile was fixed as he rambled on.

  A half-hour later, they sat comfortably in the heavily shaded garden. The pain had subsided enough for Gun to enjoy his cold water. Donavon was still inside the house, on the phone talking with a doctor, asking if she should bring him in. She had been gone long enough for him to be concerned with her absence.

  Armondez apparently was waiting for her, too. “I appreciate your help on my problem, Rodriquez.” The slender man smiled at the forward way Gun had addressed him.

  “I would be remiss in my duties as a host if I didn’t. Besides, a man always comes to the aid of a friend.” He gestured to his own head. “How is the pain now?”

  “Bearable, thanks.” He touched the bandage one of the many maids had taped to his skull after cleaning the gash. Why the hell was he being so nice to him? The bastard wanted something. “Well, that’s damn nice of you.” He took a swallow of the icy water and nodded. “If there’s anything I can do in return, let me know.”

  The heat seemed to have dropped another ten degrees in the garden. Gun almost dozed off while the self-confident drug lord talked. He spoke of the country being taken over by outsiders and the plight of the poor. Gun almost choked on his water after that line.

  The steady tick-tock of an old standing clock reminded him Donavon wasn’t in the chair she had been in. He began to worry about her. The concern lifted when she came back to the garden.

  She sat in the chair next to Gun and checked his bandage. “The nurse at the hospital said it would be wise to bring you in, especially if you felt nauseous or dizzy and light-sensitive. Are you feeling any of that?”

  Gun grinned at her, liking her less-than-tender way of questioning him, but her eyes reflected her concern. Damn. She liked him. “Naw, I’m fine. We’ll go back as soon as I finish my water.” He arched his brow and looked at Armondez. “You okay with that, Rodriquez? I really would like to hit the shower and get into clean clothes.”

  “Yes, I’m fine with that.” Armondez leaned forward to stare at Donavon’s bodice. “You’re carrying Sweeney’s blood.”

  She lifted her hand to her breast and nodded. “He’s lost a lot of blood.”

  “I’ll have my driver take you back shortly. Relax until he returns from another job.” He leaned back and gazed at her with possessiveness blinking like a neon sign in his eyes. “This is my favorite place to spend the early morning hours.”

  He opened a crystal cigarette box and offered one to Donavon. He smiled indulgently when she declined, and lit one for himself with a gleaming gold lighter. “I can hear the wild cats while they make a kill.”

  “That must be great on the old appetite.” Gun looked out at the area Armondez had pointed to, a narrow clearing through the damned jungle. “I hear one now.”

  “That’s my leopard, Pizzaroh. Mealtime for him.”

  Ali had been quiet, and that bothered Gun. She ended her silence with a sage remark. “As long as he doesn’t have the run of the house.” She stood and glanced around. “I’d like to wash my hands.”

  Jumping to her tune, Armondez moved to the doorway and gestured with an artistic motion of his hand. “The facility is three doors down on the right, Bambi.” His black gaze followed her. “Shall I show you?”

  “Oh, I believe I can find it.” She lowered her long lashes and looked demure. Demure, his dying ass. Her voice was low and silky. Hell, he knew she could scream like a wildcat. “Excuse me.”

  Gun was close to tripping Armondez, knowing the bastard’s mind was probably still in Donavon’s jumpsuit. He appeared to be in deep thought and dropped down into the chair she had been sitting in.

  The lovely garden sitting area took on a supercharged atmosphere in Donavon’s absence. The heavy wine decanter clinked against crystal as Armondez filled two glasses. “I know why you’re here.”

  The air collapsed around him while Gun reached for the right answer. “Just a friendly visit between friends. And we’re grateful for your hospitality.”

  “Very good, Sweeney.” Armondez’s eyes glowed like black fire. “And to show you how much I appreciate you bringing Bambi to me, I’ll send you home with a gift to your liking.” A sip of wine, a brief smile, and his offer. “I’ll see that you have any drug you want for the next five years.”

  Gun exhaled in relief. “That’s one hell of a gift to give a stranger.” He had to ask. “What do you want?”

  “Bambi.”

  “My Bambi?”

  “You’re surprised?”

  “No, but I’m not letting you take my lady for a pissy five-year supply.”

  “Not enough?”

  “Not even close.”

  “One million dollars.” Armondez didn’t disguise the anger in his voice. “And the drugs.”

  “I have a million dollars.”

  “I’m running out of ideas and patience.”

  Gun set the water glass down and smiled at his agitated companion. “I think you’ll have to take this up with Bambi.”

  “She’s afraid of seeming disloyal to you.”

  “You’ve talked about this?” No wonder she’d looked so hot under the collar when they came back to the stable.

  “Briefly. She believes she owes you an allegiance of some sort.”

  Gun rubbed his jaw and looked toward the hallway door. “Okay. I can’t speak for her, but Bambi isn’t for sale. At any price.” He could see all kinds of reasons to hit the guy in the mouth and kick the hell out of the narrow-faced snake. “You want her, you ask her. Nice.”

  A gleam of attitude found its way into Armondez’s eyes. “You’re not committed to each other? A couple?”

  “Not exactly.”

  “You don’t love each other?”

  “I don’t know how she feels, but yeah, I guess I do.”

  His heart jumped crazily in his chest. The light footstep in the hall echoed out into the quiet heat. She’d been listening. There was no way in hell he would allow this freak to ever touch her again.

  “Don’t let me interrupt.” She glanced from one to the other, but smiled at him. “Are you feeling better?”

  Armondez answered for him. “He’s fine. A light lunch should perk him up considerably.” He snapped h
is fingers, and several young girls appeared as if they came out of the walls to do his bidding. “Inform the cook we are ready for our meal.”

  The smallest of the pair stared at him and stumbled to her knees as she tried to leave. Armondez leaned down to grab her arm and hiss into her face as he moved her to the doorway. “You are leaving tonight, or I would punish you until you begged for mercy. But your new employer wouldn’t want lash marks on your tender hide.”

  Gun caught Donavon’s hand when she stood up. She fully intended to intervene. He would spend the next thousand years remembering the mix of pity and rage in her blue eyes. Squeezing her fingers, he would give her something else to be mad about.

  “Did someone say lunch?”

  Chapter 20

  What was Gun made of, this dark rogue with hot metal for blood and a darker sense of humor? Ali had wanted to deck him a short time ago for being an uncaring pig. But his whisper that everything would be all right exposed his softer side.

  Even at that, she fought the ache of being helpless to aid the terrified girl. Instead, she had to sit in mute acceptance while pretending to enjoy Armondez’s company. Eating the food on his table was out of the question. Her only desire was to get away from this man who should be hissing instead of incessantly talking.

  She wanted to see him cry with pain and fear and be photographed in the act. Like the pictures she had found while rummaging around in his bedroom on her current trip to the facilities. She had taken a detour. There was a pair of bloodstained cotton panties on the floor, partially hidden by the comforter. A very small pair of panties. After a fast, angry search, she found hallucinogenic drugs and hypodermic needles in a drawer, along with a huge dildo and a Taser. She rewashed her hands and went back to the dining room.

  Her stomach churned with anger and anxiety. She worried about Gun. Of course, the big jackass would swear he was in great shape, but his sleepy appearance told her he was injured.

  “Doesn’t the food suit you, Bambi?” With the sleek grace of a python, Armondez picked up a small gold bell and rang for a staff member. A solemn-faced woman in a starched white uniform hurried into the room to stand near him, gaze fixed on the floor.