Page 57 of Vistaria Has Fallen

“No.”

“You have my thanks.”

“For you,señor, anything.”

“I will take it from here,” Nick said, straightening up. “You will come to my house, yes?”

Duardo looked awkward. “No,señor, as much as I regret missing such an honor, I have something I must do.”

Nicolás dropped his chin to peer over his sunglasses at him.

Duardo movedhis feet and shrugged. Calli realized he had turned pink. “I will visit my mother. I want her to meet Minnie.”

Pleasure touched her. Calli suppressed her smile.

Minnie looked up at Duardo with a small smile of her own.

Nick nodded. “Of course.” He glanced at Calli. “Excuse me for just a moment.” He pulled Duardo aside. They dropped in low, quiet Spanish.

Minnie grabbed Calli’s arm. “Oh hell,now I’m terrified,” she whispered. “You don’t meet their mothers here unless it means something.”

“Which is just what you wanted, so why the terror?”

“What if she hates me? I’m American, I’m...I’m...I’ll never measure up.”

“You’ll be fine,” Calli assured her.

The two men finished their conversation and returned to the front of the Jeep. Duardo picked up his bags again and picked up Minnie’shand in his right. He nodded at Calli. “Adios, la dama fuerte.I will take good care of your cousin.”

Calli heard Nicolás chuckle as she touched Duardo’s arm. “Thank you, Duardo.”

She watched them walk down the alley, suddenly shy—she battled her own terror. Deliberately, she looked at Nick. She could not see through the sunglasses whether he watched her or happened to be looking in her direction.

“Strong lady?” he said.

She grimaced. “It’s not as picturesque as red leopard,” she returned.

He pulled keys from his pocket. “I think it fits you perfectly.” He opened the passenger door of the Jeep for her and moved around to the driver’s side and settled in the seat.

“What did you mean when you said ‘anyone’ to Duardo?” she asked.

He paused with his hand on the keys, already inserted inthe ignition. Then, he started the engine. “I asked him if anyone had followed you fromlas colinas.”

She shivered. “How did he know to watch out for that?”

“He’s one of the best captains in the Vistarian army. When I asked him to bring you here, he knew what I expected of him.” Nick switched off the engine and turned to her. He took the sunglasses off and reached to pull the edges of her shirtaside. He was checking to see if she still wore the medallion. He smiled when he saw it. Then he drew her forward and kissed her. His lips were warm, firm and demanding. Her shyness, her awkwardness, and the sense of unreality slipped away.

This was Nicolás. Nick. He was real and hot beneath her fingers.

He let her mouth go, his hand resting around her waist. “No more worrying,” he declared.“You decided, back in the city, to accept the risks, yes?”

“Yes.”

“So did I. We do not worry about the future now. Just this moment.”

“Well, okay.”

“No, Calli. I mean this. Here, I am me. Just me. Nicolás, that you call Nick.”