Page 30 of Rio (Knight Empire #3)
RAQUEL
Rio drops me back at my hotel, but we barely exchange a look. He waits outside in the Jeep until I make it through the lobby doors.
My heart races. It feels light and fluttery, and me? I feel wicked, sinful and dirty. After that scorching hot time in his hotel room, I’m thankful to be in my own space. Away from a man I’m deeply attracted to, but a man whose values I abhor. A man who comes from an empire I abhor.
That man does things to me, he’s in my mind, under my skin, imprinted everywhere he’s touched me. It feels impossible that I’ll ever get him out of my system.
I was torn. My body had other ideas, but my mind was fixated on that damn injunction.
He kept talking about it being a coincidence, us meeting three times now. Like life is trying to tell us something.
I flip on the air conditioning. The place is already hot and sweltering, adding to the heat simmering under my skin. But it’s late, too late, and I don’t have much time. Alma wants the injunction served tomorrow.
I take a cold shower—because I need one. Then I get to work.
***
It’s two in the morning and I’m rechecking my notes, making sure I have enough photos, enough written statements, enough evidence. Then I panic, Pierce’s words echoing in my head. Make sure this is watertight.
That’s when I see the folder Rio gave me. I skim through it. It’s detailed with more figures and data. It’s solid information. This is good. Really good. I wish I’d looked at it earlier. I probably would have but the constant interaction with that man during my short time here has fried my brain.
After tonight, after we kissed, and touched, and fondled, and wished we could do more, my brain was even more frazzled than ever.
I struggled to get this done, but now that I have his report in my hands, maybe I can use parts of it.
He’s trying to help. Maybe he’s doing what he can—as a representative for Knight Enterprises, sent here by his father—to do the right thing.
I’m doing what I do best. Speaking up for the people who don’t have a voice. I pull what I need from his file, and at four a.m, I crash out on the bed, completely exhausted.
The next morning, I’m up at eight, and I tell Alma that I need a few more hours to work on this.
A little after noon, I’m ready. I head to HQ, to meet Alma and we set off for the construction site.
When we get there we’re told by one of the workers that Orlando isn’t around.
He gives us the name of a small café off the roadside, where Orlando’s having lunch with some of his colleagues. We head there.
“That must be them,” Alma says, pulling up on the side of the road. I see Rio, and immediately freeze. I was hoping he wouldn’t be here. I don’t want to do this in front of him, even though he’ll find out soon enough. I feel like a coward, because after last night this also feels like betrayal.
I inhale a breath, remind myself of why I’m here, and get out of the car. I walk toward them with purpose, the injunction folder tucked under my arm. No heels today—just sneakers. Dirt roads make wearing heels impossible.
The men are seated at a shaded café table, laughing over cold beers and grilled fish.
As I get nearer, my gaze falls on Rio’s broad, muscular back under a casual white T-shirt.
His dark hair is slicked back. Thankfully he’s not facing me and won’t see me coming.
I try to push aside the memory of his kiss.
Of how he looked at me. Of how he wanted to talk last night.
Tomas leans back in his chair, looking cautious, not entirely at ease.
Beside him sits Orlando, the foreman. He was the one who fumbled his answers at the community meeting.
I step into the shade of their umbrella.
Alma stays close. I’ve asked her to record me handing over the injunction.
Tomas is the first to look up, squinting.
“Can I help you?”
Rio takes off his shades, and stares at me his eyes widening in disbelief. His bronzed forearms on the table suddenly flex. “What are you doing here?” His voice is like ice.
I don’t answer him. Instead I face Orlando. Voice steady. “Orlando Rivero, you’re the site foreman for Delport Realty?”
The man’s eyes narrow. “You know who I am. What can I do for you?”
“Raquel Monteiro. I’m legal counsel for EcoGuardians,” I say clearly.
“I’m here to serve you with an injunction regarding the continued development of your beachfront property—Blue Star Eco Resort.
Effective immediately, all construction, excavation, and marine work must cease until further notice, pending legal review. ”
The table quiets.
“What?” Rio snaps, sitting up suddenly. Tomas slumps back in his chair, watching in silence. The foreman rises.
“What is this? What the hell is this?” He grabs the folder, flipping through it fast.
Rio glares at me, shock all over his face. “You didn’t say a word about this.”
I face him, trying not to flinch under his hard stare. The foreman mutters, “This is an emergency injunction filed with the Belizean Environmental Court?”
“It is indeed. You’ll find all relevant documentation inside—including aerial images, reef samples, and sworn community testimony.”
Rio leans back, hands laced and behind his head. Looking defeated, and pissed. “You have got to be kidding.”
“Does this mean what I think it means?” the foreman asks.
“You’re seriously doing this?” Rio asks. “You’re shutting us down?”
Tomas still hasn’t said a word.
I nod. “We are.”
“But we’re close to finishing. The place needs to open next month,” the foreman cries.
The expression on Tomas’s face is still unreadable. Then Rio stands slowly, pushing his chair back. We’re almost eye-level now, heat rising between us like steam from an electric kettle.
“Raquel,” he says tightly, “what are you playing at?”
He so did not see this coming.
I turn to Alma. “Did you get the recording?”
She nods and puts her cell phone away.
Rio’s voice lowers. “A word in private?”
We step away from the table.
“Again, you could have come to me about this. No notice. No warning.”
“We’re not on the same side,” I remind him.
He shakes his head. “You blindsided me.”
“You work for a company that blindsides entire ecosystems.”
“You should’ve told me.”
“That I was going to serve you with an injunction? Why?” I throw back.
“Because then I wouldn’t have kissed you.”
“I tried to keep away from you.”
A line forms on his brow. For a few seconds he’s speechless. Then he scrubs a hand across his beard. “This, after everything. I didn’t even see this coming.”
I round on him. “Did you even pay attention at the community meeting? Did you hear the man who needs to buy bottled water now because of your site runoff? You said you’d make it right. Have you even been back to check?”
“I haven’t had time,” he murmurs, a vein throbbing across his temple. “The old man keeps me so busy, I haven’t managed to even get out.”
“That should tell you something.”
His expression is undecipherable. I don’t know what he’s thinking. He’s silent, examining me like I’m an oddball. Someone he’ll never understand.
“Must you completely halt construction?”
“We’re stopping construction because you’re illegally operating without proper environmental clearance.
Because your machinery is already causing damage,” I continue, seething with a rage that builds the more I talk, and the more that contemptuous look on his face grows.
“You tried to fast-track permits through people who don’t speak English and you hoped no one would notice! ”
“We did no such thing.”
“Do you even know what was done when your back was turned?” I’m shaking with anger at his ignorance.
Around us, locals watch from shaded stalls. I hear whispers in a language I don’t understand. Glancing at the table, Tomas flips through the folder. The foreman’s already on the phone.
Rio drags a hand through his hair, furious. “You didn’t have to do it like this.”
“I did,” I say quietly. “Because doing it any other way would’ve meant backing down. You always worry about the optics. That’s not what’s important here. Doing the right thing is all that matters, and the sad thing is, you don’t even know that the right thing is.”
He stares at me for a long moment. Then he lets out a sharp, humorless breath.
I’ve seen and heard enough.