Page 43 of Rio (Knight Empire #3)

RAQUEL

I read Dani’s text:

You’ve been quiet. Are you OK?

I should respond. This is the third one she’s sent me, and I was so busy in Belize, first with the injunction, then with Rio, to reply. I don’t want to let anything slip about me and Rio, so I text back and tell her I’m fine. I tell her that I’ve had a busy week in Belize working on a case.

Just as I set down my phone, an email pings through. It’s from Alma. She says the court has paused enforcement of the injunction pending supplemental review of jurisdictional scope and site-specific evidence.

Hmmmm. Not what I wanted, but, this is normal. The Belize judiciary wants more evidence before making the injunction permanent. These things happen. It’s a procedural issue. I feel confident we’ve done enough for now. At the same time Rio calls me, and my pulse races.

“Hey.” His voice is slow and gravelly, and it excites me. I could talk all night to him. “The inunction has been paused.”

“I know. Alma told me.”

“What does this mean?”

“It’s routine. These things happen. They need a few weeks to check a few things. It might be to do an independent verification of the submitted evidence.”

“Well, I’m coming home,” he says. “Back to New York.”

“You are?” My heart flips in my chest.

“The old man says there’s no point in me wasting time over here.”

“When?”

“Why, you miss me, baby?”

Baby. Ordinarily, I hate a man calling me that, but coming from Rio, it hits different. “I do.”

“I want to see you again. I miss you.”

My heart does another flip. I press my thighs together as the anticipation of seeing him again starts to build.

Suddenly, the Santos project I’m working on falls to insignificance.

It’s been difficult getting back into work mode, not only because of Pierce, but because what Rio and I had in Belize was magical.

I want to experience that all over again.

“I miss you.” I smile, because it feels right, and it’s true. I’ve been wondering what it would be like to make this man a permanent fixture in my life.

“Can you come here? Matteo and Enzo have gone to Italy to see my mom.”

I jerk to attention. He doesn’t talk much about his mom, or his childhood, and when he does, I take notice.

“I could fly over,” I say, liking the idea the more I think about it.

“We’ll have the entire apartment block to ourselves, and I will do unspeakable things to you in the pool and on the rooftop garden.”

I love the sound of that. “You promise?”

“I promise.”

“I’ll come. I’ll be there.” I don’t need a reason, or for him to beg.

“One more thing … it might be an idea to wear a disguise,” he suggests. “Maybe a wig and shades—”

“A wig and shades!” I cry. “Am I acting out a dirty little fantasy of yours?”

I hear his low, filthy laugh. “Could be. You can act out any little fantasy you want. It’s more in case Dex drives past and sees you.”

“I’ll be in disguise. Don’t you worry.”

I hang up, giggling as I think about the weekend. But at the same time, I’m racked with guilt.

I shouldn’t be seeing Rio. We’re not on the same side. But, my heart tells me that no one knows about us. I haven’t broken any laws.

It still feels wrong. The injunction is paused, but I need to recuse, and I will, once the case becomes active again.

I’ll step down before the next hearing, but for now, I want to be kept in the loop, because once I recuse, I won’t hear what’s happening and I have a bad feeling that Pierce will make sure I don’t have access to any updates.

He knows how passionately I feel about this and he’s being deliberately difficult, especially after I threatened him with harassment the other day. He can be a petty little tyrant when he sets his mind to it.

I want to make sure EcoGuardians are on top of things. I promised, and owe, that much to Alma. I’ll withdraw. I’ll do it in time.

My thoughts drift to Rio again, and I sink back in my executive chair, my heart skipping a beat. I’m going to see him sooner than I expected.

I don’t know how things between us will work out. Ethical complications notwithstanding, distance is also a problem. I’m in Miami. He’s in New York.

Maybe I can do something about that.