“You still know nothing about this guy?” Alejandro asks as I sit at the desk in my study, his concerned face filling the screen of my laptop. It’s been four days since we arrived in Dallas and I’ve spoken to him at least twice a day, but I’ve avoided a video call because looking him in the eye while I’m spending every spare second I have either fucking—or thinking about fucking—his daughter is killing me.
“No. I swear this guy has at least two dozen fake accounts, all of them with different IP addresses. He uses a sophisticated VPN—”
“Jax,” Alejandro interrupts, shaking his head. “This is me you’re talking to. English?”
“He basically knows what he’s doing and is good at covering his tracks.”
“Fuck.”
“He’s not that good though. I spoke to Jessie earlier and she’s on this guy too. We’ll find him.”
“Hmm,” Alejandro rubs a hand over his jaw. “That’s if it is the same guy. This could just be a random creep from the internet. Alana tells me there are loads of guys who do this kind of shit to women.”
“Yeah, unfortunately so. Where are you at anyway? Any leads your end?”
“Nothing new,” he shakes his head in frustration. “I have shaken down every single asshole we know. So he’s either someone or no one.”
“Yep,” I nod my agreement. In my experience, if Alejandro hasn’t found this guy in a matter of days then it it’s because they are either so big they have the resources and the reputation to cover things up or they are so insignificant that nobody knows who they are.
“As soon as I have something more, I’ll let you know,” he adds.
“Same.”
“How are Lucia and Matthias?”
I try to keep my voice as steady as I can. “Good.”
“I spoke to them earlier, but you know Lucia, she always puts on a brave face.”
“They’re both fine, amigo. I promise you.”
“Good. Matthias is loving those horses.” He laughs. “You better be prepared to take him back out there on vacation.”
“Yeah.” I laugh too. If I have my way that kid will be coming here every single year with his momma and me.
“I need to run. It’s way past the twins’ bedtime and I can hear them causing hell out there,” he says, rolling his eyes.
“Say goodnight to Alana and the boys for me.”
“Will do.” He leans over and switches off the screen and I lean back in my chair, hit by a wave of guilt. I have been far too distracted by Lucia and not focusing on finding out who tried to kill her.
My job here is to protect her though, right? And what better way to do that than be by her side every possible second? With that in mind, I stand up and head outside to find her.
It doesn’t take me long to find Lucia. She is sitting around the campfire with the ranch hands. My father is there too, but I suppose I can’t be too pissed about that because he does this almost every night.
I take a seat beside her and the way she smiles at me makes my cock twitch in my jeans.
“You want a cold one?” Cody asks her, holding up a bottle of beer, and she nods before taking it and twisting off the cap.
“So, you work for Lucia’s dad, right, Jax?” Cody asks as he takes a seat opposite us.
“Yeah,” I say before taking a slug of my beer.
“And you’re learning the family business?” He flashes his eyebrows at Lucia.
“Yep,” she says with a nod and a smile.
“So, you’ll probably take over one day?”
“I hope so,” she replies.
“And then you’ll be Jax’s boss?” Cody grins.
She gives me a sideways glance. “I guess so.”
“You kind of already are,” one of the other guys—Caleb—interrupts. “I mean if Jax works for your dad and it’s your family business, right?”
She chuckles softly as she takes a drink of her beer.
“Yeah,” Cody agrees. “You’re Jax’s boss.”
“I guess I am.” She turns and arches one eyebrow at me.
I narrow my eyes in warning but she turns back to her captive audience.
“Wow! Jackson Decker taking orders off a girl fresh out of college.” Caleb starts to laugh. “No offense, Lucia,” he adds quickly.
“None taken.” She smiles sweetly and I remain silent, sipping my beer and letting them talk shit.
“Can you tell him to go get us some more beers?” Caleb laughs louder now. “We’re running low.” He’s drunk so I let it go.
She bites on her bottom lip and turns to me. “Hmm?” she purrs. “What do you think, big guy? Is that in your job description?”
I remain silent. I don’t give a rat’s ass what these jackasses think of me. They don’t know that this is my ranch and I could toss every single one of them out on their asses if I wanted to. I’m secure enough not to care who they think I take my orders from. The truth is, if Alejandro were to hand over his empire to her tomorrow, then she would be my boss, and that would be fine by me.
So, I let her be Lucia—the spoiled daughter of Alejandro Montoya—because that is her armor. It’s who she pretends to be when she’s around people she doesn’t really know or trust. When she is the spoiled little princess of one of the richest and most violent men in California, then she is invincible and nobody can hurt her. But when she is just Lucia, the little girl from Chicago whose family made her feel like an outcast, who never felt good enough for anything or anyone, well then the whole world can get to her.
“I don’t think he wants to,” she says, turning back to the guys.
“But you could make him though? He has to follow your orders, right?” Caleb says.
She turns to me and grins, her full lips dusting over the top of her beer bottle as she prepares to take another drink. She looks me right in the eyes. “He sure does,” she purrs.
I arch one eyebrow at her as I down the last of my own beer. I know the game she’s playing. I know exactly what she’s looking for. If she’s lucky, I’m feeling just about annoyed and horny enough to give it to her.
