The Muscle Part One (3 page)

“
T
urn right up ahead
.” Isabel spoke from the passenger seat as Luca navigated the streets.

He followed her instructions, and she turned her face to the passenger window, trying to focus on the people on the other side of the glass, the cars driving past them, anything but the presence of Luca next to her. His big hands gripped the wheel with assurance, his eyes hidden behind sunglasses. His muscled thighs were on full display even through his jeans, and his black T-shirt only highlighted the broadness of his shoulders, the strength of the arms that she’d been intimately familiar with two nights before. It was distracting. And she couldn’t afford to be distracted.

He’d moved his stuff into the house that morning, and while she might have been imagining it, she didn’t think he’d looked very happy. He’d been given the guest room next to hers on the second floor — probably so he could keep an eye on her — and she had been trying to avoid him ever since.

It wasn’t easy given that it was his job to be her shadow, but she didn’t like the way she felt around him. Didn’t like the way her stomach fluttered and her belly tightened at the thought of him, the way her mouth went dry when she focused too long on his lips.

And then there was the other thing, the question that had been swirling around her mind ever since she’d walked into the room and seen him standing near Sofia, ever since he was introduced as her new bodyguard.

Had he known who she was that night on the beach? Had he been getting a jump on his new job? And most importantly, would he tell Diego she’d been out of the house?

She was tired of wondering, tired of waiting for the other shoe to drop, of waiting for Diego to summon her into his study for a fresh round of rebukes over her behavior and a punishment that would be all about showing her who was really in control.

“Did you know?” she said suddenly, turning to look at Luca.

He kept his gaze on the street in front of them. “No.”

She wondered if she believed him, then decided she did. “Will you tell Diego?”

He didn’t say anything at first, and her stomach knotted in anxiety. But there was something thoughtful on his face, and she had the sudden feeling his hesitation wasn’t a power play, that he was trying to choose the right words to say what he wanted to say.

“Why did you do it?” he finally asked. “Why do you do any of it?”

She turned her face back to the window, her cheeks hot. Her adventures were private, something she did for herself, the way some women masturbated or went shopping and then hid the receipts from their disapproving husbands. She felt exposed, naked, at the thought of Luca knowing this about her.

“It’s hard to explain,” she said.

“Try.” It was said softly, but it was a command nonetheless, and she knew if she wanted him to keep quiet about her exploits on the hotel roof, she would need to give him an explanation.

“My father died about a year ago,” she said. “Things haven’t been the same since.”

It was the short version, the only version she wanted to tell. The only version she could tell and remain whole for Sofia. She wasn’t really surprised when he didn’t let it go.

“In what way?” he asked.

“In every way.”

He sighed, and she drew in a deep breath, feeling guilty for being so difficult. He’d been nice so far. Nice and respectful of both her and Sofia. And he seemed willing to keep her secret from Diego. That was something. If all he wanted in return was to understand, it was a small thing to ask, wasn’t it? Besides, it’s not like people were lining up trying to understand her.

“I know what my father did for a living, but he was a good man, a gentle father. He loved Sofia and me. Spoiled us rotten, not just with things but with his attention and praise and love. He loved Diego, too, but I think he knew Diego was more… complex.”

“You seem plenty complex to me,” Luca said, his voice gruff.

“Maybe complex isn’t the right word,” she said. “Unpredictable might be a better one. Dangerous.”

He glanced away from the road to look at her. “Dangerous?”

She looked away, not wanting to reveal too much. “The point is, things were different after he died. Diego took control of the business and the household. He got a little… crazy with it all, I think. With the money and the power and the total freedom to do what he wanted without Papa’s disapproval.”

“What does that have to do with you?” Luca asked.

“Make another right at the light,” she said, grateful for the few extra seconds to come up with an answer. “I’m trying to keep things good for Sofia,” she said. “Trying to keep things normal. It isn’t always easy to do with Diego, but I’m trying, and sometimes I just… well, sometimes I just need to do something for me.”

“Like jump off a roof?”

“Maybe,” she snapped. She hadn’t meant to sound so defensive, and she tried to calm down, to remind herself that Luca wasn’t necessarily the enemy. Not yet anyway. “I’m not allowed out very often, and when I do get out, I always have a bodyguard with me, one who reports to Diego.”

“Like me,” he said.

She’d never had a bodyguard quite like Luca, but she didn’t want him to know that so she nodded. “Like you. And sometimes I just want to… to feel alive. To feel free.”

He didn’t say anything, but when she looked at him, his face was thoughtful.

“Let’s talk about you,” she said, eager to change the subject.

He laughed, and she felt a tingle all the way to her toes. She’d never heard him laugh, but now that she had, she wanted to hear it again and again. “Me?”

“Yes,” she said. “You’ve forced me to tell you my secret.” She swallowed against the lie. He wasn’t anywhere near knowing her deepest, darkest secret, and he never would be if she had anything to say about it. “I think you owe me one in return.”

“To be fair,” he said, “your exploit at the pool wasn’t really a secret. I was there.”

“Even so, I think we need to level the playing field.”

Something guarded dropped over his face, and he clenched his jaw. She was surprised when he nodded. “Okay.”

“Why did you take the job?” she asked. “You must know what my brother does for a living.”

“It’s none of my business,” he said. “I’m just a guy who needs a paycheck.”

She thought about the way he’d gripped her hands when he’d pinned her to the sand at the beach, how safe she’d felt under the guardianship of his body, and knew without a doubt that he was something more than just a man who needed a paycheck.

“What did you do before this?” she asked, then pointed to a line of cars and buses parked outside Sofia’s school. “It’s right there. Just pull up next to the curb.”

He followed her instructions without saying anything, and she turned to him as he put the car in Park.

“So?”

“So what?”

She smiled. It felt good. “You’re not going distract me. What did you do before this?”

He tapped one big hand on the steering wheel of the red sports car. “I worked in a… similar capacity for someone else.”

“As a bodyguard?”

He met her gaze, his eyes as blue as the Miami sky overhead. “You sound surprised.”

“A little,” she said.

“Why?”

She shrugged. “I get the feeling there’s more to you than that.”

“Than what?”

“Than being a bodyguard.”

He lifted one dark eyebrow. “Because bodyguards are dumb.”

“That’s not what I said, and it’s not what I meant,” she said.

“Don’t assign me qualities I don’t have.” His voice was a warning. “You’ll only be disappointed. I’m just a man who needs a paycheck, like I said. There’s nothing more to it than that.”

She opened the car door, trying not to show her disappointment. “I’ll be right back.”

She walked to the front of Sofia’s school and joined the mothers and nannies in line for pick up. Why was she disappointed?

Don’t assign me qualities I don’t have. You’ll only be disappointed.

She didn’t expect anything from him — didn’t want anything from him — so why did it feel like a blow off? And why should it matter? He couldn’t blow her off if she wasn’t interested in the first place.

And she wasn’t. She definitely wasn't.

She signed her name and showed her ID, and a moment later, Sofia came skipping down the hall, ponytail bouncing over her Star Wars backpack.

“Hey,
nena,
” Isabel said, bending down to kiss her sister’s forehead. "How was school?”

Sofia sighed. “Boring.”

Isabel laughed. “Boring, huh?”

“Yeah. And Sara took my seat at lunch, so I had to sit with kids I didn’t know.”

“Well, maybe you’ll make new friends,” Isabel said as they headed for the door.

“Who came with you?” Sofia asked.

“Luca,” Isabel said, guiding her toward the car.

“The new one?” Sofia asked.

“That’s the one.” Isabel tried to keep her voice light. What was wrong with her? Why was she acting like some kind of moony-eyed schoolgirl? Just because she and Luca had one normal conversation didn’t make him some kind of knight in shining armor. After all, he’d been hired by her brother, which meant he was more likely one of the villains in a story that already had too many of them.

“How long do you think he’ll last?” Sofia asked.

“I don’t know.”

L
uca was standing
outside the closed door to Isabel’s room, listening to the soft murmur of her and Sofia talking inside. Isabel had made Sofia a snack when they got home, and the two of them had hurried up to Isabel’s room. Luca had felt like an asshole following them, but it was his job, and as much as he wanted to give Isabel privacy, he wasn’t about to have her go missing his first week.

She sighed when she saw him take up position outside her door. It had been soft and breathy, and his cock had stirred at the sound of it. He wondered what she would sound like when he opened her thighs, buried his face in the crease between her legs.

“Sorry,” he’d said, trying to distract himself from the image. “Boss’s orders.”

“It’s okay. I’m used to it.” He hated the resignation in her voice, mostly because he couldn’t imagine what it would take for her to be resigned. She had so much spirit, so much fight. But he heard all her battles, all her weariness, in the sigh.

He thought about their conversation in the car. He hadn’t expected her to be so… sincere. Between the drug empire run by her brother, the crazy acting out, and the elaborate house, he’d pegged her for a spoiled rich girl. Now he wasn’t so sure, and alarm bells clanged a warning in his head as he thought about her full lips, turned up in a smile when she laughed, her legs bare and brown under the dress she’d been wearing in the car.

He couldn’t afford to like this woman. Any other woman. But not this one.

“Boss wants to see you in the study.”

The voice took him by surprise, and he looked up to find Robert approaching from the staircase.

“Should I…” Luca gestured toward the door of Isabel’s room.

“I’ll stay,” Robert said. There was nothing nefarious in his voice, but Luca found that he didn’t want to go. Didn’t want to leave Isabel and her little sister in the care of one of the beady-eyed men who roamed the Fuentes estate at all hours of the night, guns holstered 24/7 at their sides.

He nodded anyway. A job was a job.

He headed for the stairs and made his way to the first floor, then turned right down the long hall that ran the length of the west wing. The study doors were closed, and he knocked softly, waiting for some indication that he should enter.

“Come in.”

He opened the door and stepped into the room, surprised to find not Hector, but Diego Fuentes. He was sitting behind the carved desk smoking a cigar, the smoke swilling upward toward a ceiling fan making slow circles over his head.

“Please, sit,” Diego said, gesturing to one of the chairs in front of his desk.

Luca unbuttoned his jacket and sat down, extending his hand. “Luca Cassano.”

Diego ignored the hand. “I know who you are."

Unlike Hector, Diego spoke in perfect, unaccented English. Then again, so did Isabel. He wondered how long the Fuentes family had been in Miami, how long it had taken Silvio Fuentes to build the empire that funded the luxury surrounding them.

Luca waited, because that’s what you did with men like Diego. It wasn’t a show of weakness. It was a show of intelligence. Anyone could come into a situation like this one showing off. It took patience to be still. To wait.

“How are you finding your accommodations here?” Diego finally asked.

“They’re fine,” Luca said. “Thank you. I’m looking for more permanent housing. I should be out of your way before too long.”

Diego waved away the statement with his cigar. “Stay as long as you like. All the better to keep track of the
punta
that is my sister.”

Luca’s body tightened at the word. Punta. Cunt. Bitch. That’s how Diego was talking about his sister. About the beautiful, wild woman who spoke so sweetly to Sofia, who was so dead inside she flung herself off rooftops to feel alive. He wanted to punch something. To pummel Diego until he lost all his teeth, until he wasn’t coherent enough to speak a bad word against Isabel.

But he didn’t say anything. That would have been stupid. He was already beginning to realize the situation was more volatile than expected. More dangerous. He’d dealt with men like Diego before. Their ego was a weakness. Using that weakness took time and manipulation.

“I take it you've met my sister,” Diego said.

Luca nodded.

Diego narrowed his eyes. “Man of few words?”

“I find I learn more when I listen,” Luca said, trying to keep his voice from being cold.

Diego leaned forward. “Just be careful where you’re listening.”

Luca gripped the wooden arms of the chair, counting silently in his head, breathing in and out in an attempt to keep himself from reaching across the desk and ending Diego with a couple well-practiced maneuvers. He was confident he could hold his own with any man, especially one like Diego, a man with soft hands who had other people do his dirty work. But there were innocents here.

Sofia.

Isabel.

Acting rashly would put them in danger. And that was something he would not do.

“I take it Hector has filled you in on my sister’s history?” Diego asked, stubbing out the cigar.

“He gave me the broad strokes,” Luca said.

“Did he tell you my sister likes to run away?” Diego asked. “That she likes to steal my car? Dance like a whore?”

Luca considered his answer. Diego was getting more incensed as he talked about his sister, his eyes glittering like dark marbles. He sniffed, and Luca wondered if he’d been doing coke.

“He didn’t go into detail,” Luca said, wanting to get Diego off the topic of Isabel, which seemed designed only to malign her, “but I understand my job is to keep an eye on your sister, make sure she stays out of trouble.”

Diego stood, paced the room, gestured with his hands as he spoke. “It’s not as easy as it sounds,
carnal.
” Luca flinched at Diego's use of the Spanish word for “brother”. Diego was not Luca’s brother. Not in this lifetime. “She’s a handful, my sister. Likes to keep us running.”

Luca wanted to ask why it was so important that Isabel stay on the property, why she couldn’t go out with friends or shopping or to the beach by herself, but he knew instinctively it would not be a welcome line of questioning.

“I’ll make sure she’s accounted for at all times,” Luca said. It was the most general answer he could give. And it was the only one, because he was already starting to doubt his ability to be complicit in the plan to keep Isabel Fuentes prisoner in her own home.

Diego met his gaze, and Luca had to hold back a wave of revulsion. “See that you do. I’m not going to keep hiring guards to keep the little bitch in line.”

It sounded like a threat, and Luca didn’t want to think about what it meant for Isabel if he left. This was all a lot more complicated than he’d imagined, and he had the sudden feeling that he’d been pulled out to sea, dragged beyond the breakers by a riptide he hadn’t seen coming. He would have to swim against the current to get back to shore — and he was starting to wonder if he’d have to carry Isabel on his back while he did it.

“Will do.” Luca stood, anxious to get away from the man pacing the room. “Is there anything else?”

Diego’s eyes were wild, like he was spoiling for a fight, trying to come up with some new rant. A few seconds later his shoulders relaxed slightly. “That’s all. Hector will talk to you about your pay.”

Luca nodded, buttoned his jacket. “Thank you.”

He walked past Diego on his way to the door, grateful for the handgun in the holster under his jacket. Using it on his new boss wouldn’t be ideal, but it was always an option. He half expected Diego to strike out like some kind of rabid animal as Luca made his way from the room, and he kept his guard up, prepared to take Diego down if it came to it.

It didn’t, and Luca stepped into the hall and straightened his jacket before he headed for the stairs. This was not what he’d signed up for.

Not at all.