Page 124 of Hit Man

My heart skips a beat as I believe the worst. I draw up beside her, ignoring the loud roaring sound in my ears. It’s like a bomb blast on repeat, its epicenter deep within my heart. I drop to my knees and gently touch her arm.

“Dios, Aubrey.”

Her skin is warm, and it’s all the encouragement I need.

“Mi querida. I thought you were . . .” I stop, breathe. “Are you hurt?”

She turns her head.

“You blew up the hacienda?” she whispers.

Thank fuck. Thank holy fuck.

I watch as she lowers her arms and pushes herself up onto her knees. No blood. A dirt smudge on her cheek is all.

I reach out and wipe it away. “Yeah. Not my best work,” I admit.

“You’ve done this before? Blown up buildings?”

“First things first. Are you injured at all?”

“Just a scraped arm.”

“Can you run?”

“Run?”

“Or do I have to carry you?” I rise to my feet and grasp hold of her, ready to lift her into a fireman’s carry and haul her out of this place.

She leans into me. Her lips so softly brushing against mine. “I’m sorry I broke my promise about leaving. The airport—”

“Shhh. I know,querida.”

“You’re not mad?”

I kiss her lips lightly, gently. “I’m mad, all right. But not in the sense you mean. Mad with need for you. Mad with the possibility of what might be if only I were a better man. I’m mad for thinking this thing between us might work. Take a look around you. This is the life I lead. Danger and disaster is like second nature to me.”

“You can trust me, Diego. If your work is secretive, I’ll keep quiet. If only I understood better . . .”

I pull away and stare down into her beautiful, pained expression. “You build things,” I tell her in a neutral tone, not giving anything away. I gesture to the hacienda. “And I blow things up.”

It’s better this way, I remind myself.Push her away now before you . . . can’t.

She opens her mouth to reply but I cut her off. “Time to get going.”

“Fine. But if you think this conversation is over, it’s not.”

I sigh, and point to the wall. “I’ll help you up. We’ll crawl across what’s left of the roof and climb down the backside of the hacienda.”

A puzzled look crossed her face. “Or we can cut through the banquet room and climb out a window. That would be the easier way out.”

I grab her hand and tug her along behind me. Sure enough, there’s a broken window on the far side of the room.

Before she climbs through, she pauses and turns. “I can’t believe I’m asking you this but you’re not planning on blowing the entire hacienda up?”

I shrug.

“Diego. There are boxes and boxes of pesos in a secret closet beneath the staircase.”