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Cartel King

BOOK ONE SNEAK PEEK

ENRIQUE

She’s going to fall off that fucking ladder.

I slow my pace to a jog as I approach a house with a woman far too high on her ladder, leaning far too much to the right as she tries to fish something out of her gutters. She’s got to be about five-five to my six-three.

I could reach whatever she’s fishing around for. She’s more likely to fall off and break something. I should mind my own business and keep going with my run, but there’s no way I’m doing that. I wouldn’t if it were a woman of any age, and I wouldn’t if it were an elderly person, either.

If it were a guy my age, maybe I’d let him deal with it, but for her—there’s something in how she’s reaching. Some frustration I can feel even from here. I approach slowly as I walk up the driveway. I’m only halfway to her when a humongous dog comes bounding toward me.

No wonder there’s a baby gate across the entrance to her open garage.

The massive beast doesn’t bark, but he growls.

It’s a Mastiff, much like the one Laura Kutsenko has, except this one is a different color and easily weighs about fifty pounds more than her giant companion.

I wonder if this one is as much of a love bug as Laura’s.

At least, that’s what she’s always claimed.

The woman on the ladder speaks to her dog, giving him a command.

“Hush, Constantine. Lie down.”

The dog immediately obeys, but he inches closer to the baby gate, still growling at me. It’s only then that the woman notices me. She grips the ladder as she jerks away. I hurry over and grab the ladder, tempted to demand she come down from there.

“Who are you?”

If anybody’s going to do the demanding, apparently it’s her. Not that I can blame the woman, since I’m a complete stranger.

“I’m Enrique. I saw you as I was running. You looked a little wobbly up there.”

“Well, I was okay until I was startled—but thank you.”

Dismissive is the only way to describe her now. I don’t blame her for that either. She’s a woman in a precarious position with a strange man looking up at her. Now that I’m certain the ladder won’t fall over, I step away. I don’t need to look like a perv staring up her shorts.

“Would you like some help? I can easily reach whatever you’re going for.”