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I nod. I’m not about to tell Enrique—or Luis, for that matter—just how far I’ll go to protect Lucy. They’ll want to know why, and I’m not prepared to tell them I’ll kill Domingo and marry their sister if the fucker doesn’t step aside soon.

Am I stalking her?

Some people would say yes.

I’ve followed Luciana whenever I can for the past week.

Most of the time I’ve been invisible, but I’ve found reasons to show up in her path.

We happened to go running along the same trail.

We happened to be at the same grocery store.

We happened to be at the same bookstore.

That’s when I let her see me. Each time I kept the encounter brief.

Little more than a smile, a greeting, and a nod because she had guards with her.

I don’t need any of them questioning me, but I made sure I’m on her mind nearly as much as she’s on mine.

I’ve also watched her inconspicuously. With everything escalating and the increased danger around her father, I’m unwilling to trust her safety entirely to other men.

It’s ridiculous since these men have protected the Diaz family for years—decades in some cases.

I know it’s completely irrational, but now that I’ve found Lucy, I won’t risk losing her.

If she glared at me in anger or disgust, then maybe I wouldn’t be so insistent upon my silent mission.

But heat flares between us when our gazes meet.

I’m certain I’m not imagining it. At the grocery store, I wandered over and helped her reach a box of cereal from the top shelf.

One of her guards could’ve—should’ve—helped, but none did.

Her fingers brushed my fingers as I handed it to her.

She didn’t have to do it, but she wanted to touch me.

I nearly hefted her over my shoulder and made off with her.

Right now, I’m watching her slip into the backdoor of an apartment building in a quiet suburb.

It’s not where she lives, but it’s somewhere she’s visited before.

I’m certain of that since she knows where to look when she sweeps her gaze around the area.

I also know where to hide since this isn’t my first time here.

She’s visiting Luis, who’s back yet again.

The guy is a fucking yo-yo. He and Enrique were here three days ago for their father’s birthday.

It went off without a problem since we locked Miguel in a warehouse storage room for a few hours when we got back to Bogotá after our brief cruise on the lake.

Then we dumped him outside the prison just before dawn.

Luis and Enrique went back to New York, but Luis arrived here this morning.

I’m dying to know what they’re talking about, but I can’t follow her in. I refuse to bug her place, her car, or her purse. I might be her shadow, but I won’t violate every bit of her privacy. She’d never forgive me for that, which would make wooing her impossible.

There’s just something about her.

Something that feels so right.

Not just physically, but far more. The way she pushes back against what I say.

Most people wouldn’t dare. Nothing about me invites a discussion when I give an order.

She has no such reservations about disagreeing with me.

I know from Enrique how intelligent she is and driven.

I respect her dedication to her family and her willingness to sacrifice.

I admire her courage to accept a fate she doesn’t want.

Her doubts about Domingo are clear whenever she talks about him, even if most people can’t see what’s so obvious to me.

I know I’m at an advantage because I know far more about her than she does me. Before meeting her, the things Enrique told me about his sisters were only mildly interesting. I didn’t give them much thought, but he’s always been proud whenever he talks about Catalina and Lucy. Now I understand why.

Luis’ll kill me if he discovers I’m surveilling them because neither he nor Enrique ordered me to watch Lucy.

However, Enrique told me to protect her if anything goes wrong.

How can I do that if I don’t know where she is or how to get to her?

I doubt that’ll be strong enough reasoning if they discover what I’m doing, but I think it’s justified.

If I stick with that and don’t deviate if they question me, then maybe they’ll believe me.

Rationalizing.

If I can convince myself, then maybe I can convince others.

Since I can’t even explain to myself my compulsion to see her and watch her, I know I’m nothing more than a fucking stalker.

I keep going around and around in my head as I wait.

There’s plenty I could and should do right now.

Things that would keep my mind off Lucy.

Instead, I’m sitting in my car, waiting.

I watch Lucy and Luis leave the apartment together and get into a car Luis drives.

Finally, I can concentrate on something besides my spiraling thoughts.

I let them get ahead of me before I pull out.

I know Luis’ll spot me in an instant if I’m not careful.

I’m not in my usual car, which isn’t flashy, but it’s definitely nicer than most cars on the streets.

I’m in the inconspicuous one that blends in.

It looks like a run of the mill car in Bogotá.

I stay five car lengths behind them, sometimes six.

But I make sure I don’t lose sight of them.

They pull up to the gate of a country club I belong to.

Motherfucker. Now this car will stick out.

There’s no way I can enter with this vehicle.

I look around and find street parking a block away.

It’ll raise some eyebrows, but I have no other choice than to walk up to the gate.

I can’t wait around for one of my guys to bring my car or chauffeur me inside.

A taxi is not something I can do, even if they’re so much more convenient than having to find street parking.

“ Hola, Seńor Cardenas. ”

“ Hola, Armando .”

I know the guy since he’s on my family’s payroll. He’s an informant, so he won’t think twice about me showing up in a less than conventional style. He’ll understand something’s going on, but he won’t ask what.

I wander into the clubhouse and look around. It takes less than a heartbeat for me to spy Lucy in the restaurant with Luis.

Fuck.

I can’t just wander over and join them. Sitting alone without my laptop is too conspicuous. I should’ve brought the damn thing with me since that’s my usual cover.

“Esteban!”

I swing my gaze to two guys I know, and I force myself not to cringe at how loud the guy was. Lucy immediately looks in my direction, the surprise obvious on her face before she catches herself. Luis is more discreet as our gazes meet. I know he’ll watch me from the corner of his eye.

The only upside to Pedro Gonzalez recognizing me is that he and his cousin are sitting at the table next to Luis and Lucy, and the only seat available is close to Lucy. There’s a party of five that must have taken the fourth seat, so I have no choice as I weave my way through the tables.

Both men stand to shake my hand before I sit.

The staff must have shifted this table to accommodate the larger party next to us because I nearly bump into Lucy as I pull my chair out.

I barely take a breath before Pedro launches into a story about some house party he went to in Monte Carlo last week.

I couldn’t give a shit, but I nod as he speaks.

I won’t get a word in edgewise, so I don’t bother trying.

Instead, I strain to hear Luis speaking.

“Ana, you need to set the date. The sooner you’re married, the sooner you’ll get out of Bogotá for a few weeks.”

“You still haven’t told me why I need to travel. More specifically, you haven’t told me why my travel needs to be on my honeymoon.”

“You’ll be safer once you’re an Aguilar.”

“I will never not be a Diaz. You know that. I’ll be Luciana Aguilar Diaz.”

“Adding Domingo’s family name will shelter you as much as having him at your side will.”

I watch them from the corner of my eye as I force my hands not to curl into fists.

“I’d be safer in New York with you and Kiko.”

“Then convince Domingo to spend more time at his place up there.”

“Convince him? He’s not exactly giving into my wishes these days.”

What the fuck does that mean?

“He would if you’d set the damn date.” Luis’s voice remains calm in case anyone can overhear him, but I sense his impatience with his little sister.

“If you think adding him to the family is such a benefit, you marry him. Oh, wait. That’s right. You love your wife and are blissfully married.”

“I didn’t love her when we married. I didn’t even know her, but I gave her a chance.”

“Maybe I could be blissful if I didn’t know him.

Blissfully ignorant. But I do, and I will never love him.

Luis, I can live with that. I don’t have to love or be loved in my marriage, though I’d prefer it.

There’s just something that’s making me drag my feet.

I don’t know what it is, but something keeps telling me this is a huge mistake. That voice is even louder than ever.”

Lucy shifts in her seat, and it brings her closer to me. Does she know I can hear them? Is it a signal? Wishful thinking.

“What did Domingo do?” Now there’s an edge to Luis’s voice.

“Nothing. It’s just a feeling I have. It’s not like I’m baiting him, but the more impatient he’s growing, the more I’m seeing hints of a man I don’t know that I can live with.”

“Are you afraid?”

I want to know the answer to that question. It’ll determine whether Domingo dies tonight.

“No.” Lucy’s quick to answer, and it makes me wonder if she’s covering up something.

“I barely got the question out before you answered. You don’t want to marry him, yet you defend him. Or are you hiding something, Ana?”

“I don’t want to cause trouble where there is none. I just think he’ll become insufferable. We’ve been making plans, and he never asks what I want. He just tells me how things will be for the ceremony and the reception.”

“He probably knows if he doesn’t do it, no one will. You definitely haven’t taken the initiative.”

I pretend to look for the waiter, but it allows me to see both of them.

Pedro’s still yapping about God only knows what, but he’s keeping his brother entertained.

I can focus on Lucy and Luis as I gesture for the server.

They pause the conversation as the waiter passes them, and there’s a moment where I can’t hear them as I order.

“Fine. Papá wants the wedding in six weeks. I’ll tell Domingo to book the church for that Saturday.”

“Sooner if it’s available.”

“Luis, what the hell is going on? I’m telling you I have doubts, and you want me to run down the aisle even faster.”

“I already explained. You’ll be safer.”

I can see Luis give his younger sister a pointed look, and she sits back in her chair.

As I hand the waiter my menu after the others order, I see her mouth “Humberto.” I see enough of Luis’s profile to observe him cock an eyebrow.

Lucy’s gaze darts around the restaurant, starting away from me.

She looks at me, and I know she’s aware I can hear everything.

I assume Luis knows too. She doesn’t linger over me, her attention back on her brother.

“Fine. I’ll find out how soon Domingo can book the church.

It won’t matter that the invitations are last minute.

Anyone who receives one to the reception will drop their plans to see if the jefe’s younger daughter is knocked up and showing yet.

That’s what they’ll all assume if we rush the event.

Eloping would only make it worse, and there’s no way papá or Domingo’s father would accept missing the chance to flaunt their wealth and power.

The ceremony is a formality. The reception proves we’re married. ”

The idea she might carry another man’s child makes me want to smash everything in sight.

Domingo’s parents will pressure her since a child will truly bind the families, and they need the alliance more than Josue.

It’ll be good for Josue’s business, but it’ll keep Domingo’s family from extinction.

That’s what they’re on the verge of if they don’t resolve things with the jefe de jefes .

Hopefully, Josue will know I act alone and won’t blame my family for what I’m about to do. There’s not a chance in hell Lucy is marrying someone else.