She poured herself a bowl, coming to sit across and down a few spaces from me. Her back wasn’t totally toward the doorway this way and she kept looking over her shoulder.

“They’ll be a while.”

Man. I had soup and a guy was being tortured thirty yards from here.

I didn’t know what to do with that information.

She moved to tuck some hair behind her ear, but it was all pulled up so her fingers finished the motion anyways before falling back to her bowl. She hunched over it, her head down.

“You’re fluent?”

She looked up. “I went to boarding school. Private tutors, too. And then when Raize came, he and I practiced both languages. He knew Spanish, but it was choppy. He got a lot better fast. I like to think I helped him.”

Right. The time he went down in search for his mother.

“I’m sorry about your mother.”

She didn’t look up, and she didn’t respond. She stirred her soup.

I stirred mine, too.

Then, fuck it. My stomach growled and I decided then and there not to let what happened in the garage get in the way of me eating. I needed to eat. Raize would be pissed if I didn’t so I forced that out of my mind, the smells, the sounds and I focused on where I was. Right here.

In this kitchen. Which was lovely smelling.

With Raize’s sister. Who had cooked for everyone and was so shy, I was having a hard time knowing how to react around her.

I tasted the soup. It was made of beans and vegetables. I was guessing both came out of cans since there’s no way there would’ve been fresh vegetables here or that the guys considered picking any up. It was delicious.

My stomach growled even louder.

Verónica heard and she looked up. “You guys eat a lot of fast food.”

“This is a novelty. Gracias.”

She gave me another shy smile. “De nada.”

We both ate in silence for a bit longer.

“You and my brother are close.” She lifted her head a bit higher, sitting up, and added, “I’ve never seen him like this.”

“Like what?”

I was suddenly desperate for anything she had to say about how her brother was when she knew him. I knew he wasn’t the same, but it was like a thirst was just teased and I realized I was dying for it now. My mouth was almost watering.

“He was,” she looked down again, but kept speaking, “hard. He talked to me, but that was it. He stayed away from our mother. He was quiet. He did his job, but I could tell that the other men didn’t want him there. They feared him. When Marco found out who Clay was, I’d never seen my brother like that. He killed everyone.”

My mouth dried.

I didn’t think she was talking about Marco.

“I missed him when he left, then I heard that he was alive. I was happy.”

“When they brought you from Mexico, you acted like you hated your brother. What changed?”

Her eyes jerked to mine, and she stared at me. “I love Marco, but I’ve always been scared of him. He’s never done anything to me except keep me away from everyone. Abraham was kind to me when he was around but then Marco started sending him away and for longer times. I’d lost hope until I heard the men talking about The Scooper and Abraham was sent off again. I knew something had changed. I didn’t know what. No one would tell me and one of the maids came up to me with a phone yesterday. She gave it to me and it was Abraham. He told me what happened, with my father, my mother. I knew it was Marco who killed them, and then Abram told me that Clay was coming for me. It wasn’t hate that I felt for Clay. It was guilt because I know that the maid who handed me that phone will die. Her entire family might die because she helped me.” She lowered her face again, her voice coming out in a whisper. “I cannot even think of her name right now because it tears at me.”

“I didn’t know about the girl,” a low, masculine voice from the doorway.

Raize stood there, a towel wrapped around one of his hands.

Verónica jumped up, scooting back her chair. She went to the kitchen. “Would you like a bowl of soup?”

His eyes went to me, but he shook his head to his sister. “I’m not hungry. Thank you, though.”

She nodded, her head going back down. She stepped back from the counter, one of her hands covering the other, hanging low.

“Where are the others?”

He answered me, “They’re coming in.” He said to his sister, “They’ll be starving, V. They’ll appreciate the food.”

Her eyes lifted and she gave him a small smile. It was a small beam, but it was something.

He went back to watching her in silence. And she was doing the same, but looking at the ground. She’d peek a look every now and then.

And yep, this was a family thing. I was seeing it now, but I also knew my man by now. I knew what he was covering under that towel, and I knew he needed me. So knowing all of that, I finished my soup, stood, gave it to Verónica with a thank you and a smile. She returned with another one of those beams I was quickly learning were hers.

I took Raize’s other hand.

“Come on,” I murmured, taking him upstairs and to the farthest bathroom.

Once inside, he saw that I had our bags brought up here. I say that like I had anything to do with it. I didn’t. But I’d walked through the hallway earlier and saw someone had brought our bags to this room, so this was ours. We weren’t on the main floor, but we had a patio and our own bathroom.

I wasn’t complaining.

The patio would give Raize his needed exit, but judging by the slump of his shoulders, I was guessing he wasn’t expecting anything to go down.

“The guy?”

He drew up short, giving me a look.

Right.

I wouldn’t ask anymore about him, so I went into the bathroom and turned the shower on.

Coming back, letting it warm, I took the towel off of his hand and winced. “These are fresh?”

“He tried to make a run for it.” Raize’s head lowered to my shoulder, resting his forehead there. “He went for Abram’s gun. I fought him.”

I pressed a hand to his forehead, lifting his head up so I could gaze directly into his eyes. “I’m sorry.”

He blinked. “For what?”

“For this being your family reunion.”

He touched my hip, pulling me closer to him. He started to pull me down onto him, but I held back.

“I was thinking of taking a shower?”

“I’m too tired for a shower.”

I stepped back, tugging at his hand. “Come on.” I pulled him up and he followed me inside. The steam was filling the room and there was no fan. I shouldn’t have, but I didn’t care that night. I shut the door, locking it, and then Raize’s lips were on mine.

Tired or not, we needed each other.

RAIZE

This woman.

I couldn’t get enough of her.

I was pumping into her from behind, holding her up against the shower wall and she was like ecstasy to me. One taste and I was hooked. I needed more, just more.

Just. Fucking. More.

She gasped, her neck arching. She reached back for me, one hand grabbed onto my shoulder. Her other hand was against the wall.

I sank right back inside, knowing that was home to me.