Page 67 of Bound By Betrayal

“Already,mija? The blood is still wet.”

“You know we can’t let things like what happened yesterday slide. There’s a breach somewhere, Milly. And if I don’t find it,we’re all in potential danger. And I can’t wait to act until the threat is at our door.”

She walked around the island and cupped my face with her hands. “Que Dios te cuide siempre.” (May God protect you always.) Without another word, Milly kissed my forehead and was gone.

“Can I come with you?”

I twisted in my stool at the sound of Gio’s voice. “No.”

“Why.”

“You know why.” I swiveled back around to my appetizer. “So please drop it, because my answer won’t change. And I will be thoroughly checking to make sure you don’t pull the same crazy shit from last time. Please don’t make me kill you.”

He chuckled and sat beside me, shoving my shoulder. “Fine, this time.”

“Always.”

Despite what I did and who I was, the fact that Gio murdered a man, and it hadn’t fazed him in the least, worried me. Unless he was trying to create a facade to prove he was capable.

“Smells amazing in here.”

My body’s reaction to Kai’s voice seemed wholly inappropriate while my annoying brother was just inches away. I turned to what was quickly becoming one of my favorite faces.

“Hey, kid,” he said, acknowledging Gio with a nod.

“Kai, can you teach me how to ride?”

“Absolutely not,” I answered before he could.

“You know, you used to be fun. I’m disappointed.”

“Yeah, well, I’m sure others would disagree.”

He looked from me to Kai and scrunched his face in disgust. “That’s low. Excuse me while I go puke.”

Gio slid off his chair and sprinted out of the kitchen.

Kai’s warm breath was over my ear, arms around my shoulders. “Mi reina, you left me.” His words oozed over melike warm honey, causing my skin to break out in goosebumps. Something about the way the phrase rolled off his tongue and the things it did to my underwear—I never wanted him to stop.

“I didn’t want to wake you. And your blanket had slipped off, so trust me when I tell you it took a lot of willpower not to slap your tight ass.”

When he laughed, it vibrated down the column of my neck, and I bit my lip to keep a moan from spilling out.

“I can’t think of a better way to wake up,” he said, pulling out the chair Gio had vacated. I ripped a piece of my tortilla and brought it to his mouth.

“I can think of a few. Hungry?”

Kai nodded and grabbed my wrist, bringing the food to his lips while his eyes locked with mine. “Are you dropping hints? Let’s go back upstairs.”

“As enticing as that sounds, we’ve already effectively fucked the day away, and we can’t ignore the bigger issues. I’m going to pay one of my father’s men a visit today.”

“I’m going with you.”

Last week, my first instinct would have been to say no and possibly become defensive at his thinking he needed to protect me or keep watch as if I was helpless.

But today…things were different.

“But first food.”