Page 38 of High

“You told them to hide from me.” I gestured weakly toward the men we’d left behind.

Thio pursed his full lips, and for a second, in spite of everything, I was distracted. “They’re not my guard right now. We’re not supposed to need to be on alert in Pleasant Beach. They were mostly here to have some downtime.”

“But you still have them around.”

He shrugged, not looking even a little guilty.

“I want to go back to the apartment.”

He brought my hand up and kissed my knuckles. “I’m sorry, but we can’t. We’ve made a serious misstep here tonight, though it wasn’t our fault, and now we have to go explain ourselves.”

“I didn’t think the jefe explained anything to anyone.”

He sighed and swung around toward me, actual anger lining his face. I took a step back and he held my shoulders to keep me from retreating farther. The sidewalk was only about a foot away, but we stayed in this horrible nightmare between the buildings. Poor Felix. “I don’t have to explain myself, but I am polite. Always. I’m choosing not to be a bad guest.”

He said that as if it made any fucking sense, and the next thing I knew I was being guided to the street. Someone had brought the Rolls, and he shoved me into the back seat. I shivered when I got inside and stared back toward the alley. I’d made my choice, though, and it would always be Thio over everything, and everyone. My stomach sank, but Thio slid in, closed the door, and then wrapped both arms around me.

“It’ll be okay, hermoso.”

I glanced into his eyes and his jaw sharpened with tension. “Is this what it’s always like for you?” Tears prickled and I drew in a deep breath.

“I don’t usually know them. I’m sorry you knew that man,” he said quietly. The car began moving even though he hadn’t told them where to go. I glanced ahead, but a divider was up between us and the driver. I sagged against Thio. “It’s not an easy life.”

He brushed my hair off my forehead and studied me, and I wasn’t entirely sure I liked what I saw on his face because it almost seemed like pride, and I really didn’t like that I wanted to put that expression there again and again… because I still fucking loved him, in spite of everything.

“You did good,” he said softly.

“No, I didn’t, but I love you.”

His mouth turned down until he was giving me a sad frown, but then he leaned in and kissed me. I breathed in his scent and soaked in his heat and tried to hold myself together. After all, it was starting to become clear that if I wanted to be the jefe’s boyfriend, I’d have to be a hell of a lot tougher than this.

I only hoped I could manage.