Page 102 of The Right Garza

“Where did he keep you?” he asks me after several beats of silence.

Assuming he’s referring to Stefano, I answer, “With him. Wherever he went, there I was.”

“You slept in his bed?”

His gaze is casted downward, focused on his ministrations, and I’m getting the feeling he already knows the answer. “Yes… But he didn’t touch me or anything.”

“He wouldn’t,” he says, voice tight. “Stefan’s a nightmare, but he has his limits. He cares about two things: money and family. In that order. Mess with either and the devil comes out.”

“He said it’s because—”

“Lorenzo?”

“He told you?”

A shake of his head. “Picked up on it once he called me to tell me Slim hit you—considering Stefano didn’t. But I also saw him with you last night. He likes you, and Lorenzo likes next to no one.”

I watch his hands, slick with oil, as they glide up and down my leg. At this point it’s a massage, or a caress, because I’m already as moisturized as I can get. “Did you really go to Turks and Caicos?”

He nods. “Hauled them right out of a beach house.” An angry noise reverberates in his throat. “They were so cozy. Thought they’d gotten away with it?”

“Wow,” I say, “You guys really are good.”

“Only took us as long as it did ‘cause we were deliberately misled,” he adds. “You begged for Alvin’s life, but with the cunning steps that were taken to throw us off, there’s no way it was all just Ellie’s idea. We’ve found nothing on him—squeaky clean background, but I know without a doubt that he’s not as innocent as he pretends. He knows how to dance.”

I don’t imagine someone who would steal from their boss and run off to the tropics is any kind of innocent, but it’s alife. Though this explains why none of them helped me when I was pleading for his life. “Did you want Stefano to shoot him?”

Trent snaps the cap on the body oil closed and stands. “You don’t really want the answer to that question, Lexi.”

As I watch him walk over to the nook, lowering down into one of the armchairs and picks up a piece of fruit, I decide he is right. Idon’twant to know.

When he looks up and gestures for me to come join him, I tighten the towel around me and do just that.

Chapter THIRTY-ONE

“Why didn’t you ask me to stay?”

Lexi

I wake up toa waning sun, its glow almost faded from the sky. Thin, dull rays of soft orange spill through the windows, like fingers of light in a darkened room.

The weight and warmth of Trent behind me fills me with an unbelievable sense of peace and contentment.

Gingerly, I shift around so I’m facing him. He’s fast asleep, his muscles relaxed, features softened. He’s so stinking gorgeous it hurts.

After picking at my breakfast this morning, still struggling to escape flashing images of the night before, I’d climbed into bed and curled into myself.

Trent climbed in behind me and held me.

It was what I needed. More than words. Until we both fell asleep.

It’s the best I’ve slept all week.

I want to reach up and skim my fingertips all over his beautiful face, but he’s a sensitive sleeper, so I know if I do it will wake him.

Quiet and careful, I ease out of bed. I steal a tee and boxers of his and throw them on. As I’m leaving the room, I spot his phone on the nightstand. I snatch it up and head downstairs.

While there’s no way I can call Mama right now without breaking down, I need to at least call Maggie so she knows I’m alright. Trent told me neither Monica nor Mama are aware of what happened. Which I’m grateful for.