Take No Quarter Read online

  His daughter Maria sat on the patio, sitting in a glider with her boyfriend Emilio, the son of a lieutenant in his cartel. It did not do for children to marry outside their environment. While he tried to keep the more graphic side of the business away from the women and children, there were just too many chances for things to blow up if they moved outside the cartel structure. Whenever it had happened, disaster had followed.

  But Emilio was a nice young man who was being groomed to move up in the organization, probably one day to be a lieutenant himself. His parents had taught him to respect women and to wield authority in a proper manner, so Hector had every confidence that Maria was in good hands, with a man who obviously loved her. She and her mother were already deep in discussions for the wedding six months from now. It gave him a warm feeling knowing she would be settled and well cared for.

  Plans for everything seemed to be moving ahead on target. Smooth, with no bumps in the road. The way he liked. Even the unpleasantness with Felix and his sister’s reaction to it had faded. She was a smart woman, his hermana, and she had sadly accepted the truth of the situation. But an unsettled feeling still plagued him.

  It was all because of that damn fucking reporter. If Felix had just killed her the way he’d been ordered to and hidden the body, none of this would be happening. Her bosses would be very reluctant to send another reporter down here to stick their noses into his operation. Other news sources would back off, at least for the moment, giving him and his cousins time to put every particle of their plan in place. And no one would connect all of them in any way. Then, no matter what they looked for, it would all be so well hidden beneath the surface that they’d never find anything.

  He blessed the fact that he had relatives who could move in a world that gave them access to all levels of society and of business. He, El Lobo, bore the brunt of the bad publicity, but that was expected. The others, they were the ones who took his plan and now were creating a mammoth structure that would bring them billions, all perfectly legal.

  At least at a superficial glance.

  He allowed himself a momentary smile at the realization that success was so close at hand.

  Except for the fucking reporter.

  And now he had received word that there was a rat in the wolf pack, a nasty animal who had the balls to think he could turn on them and get away with it. Thank god someone had discovered this and given him the word. The problem was, his snitch wasn’t sure which of three people it actually was. But, as always, he was able to put a plan in place to discover it. Then he would kill the betrayer and the reporter at the same time, and he would bury her so her bones would not be found for at least a century.

  As he drew on the cigar, the cell phone next to his brandy snifter rang. The ringtone let him know it was Diego, the only person he currently trusted to handle everything for him. If not for Diego, he would have been totally unprepared for the disastrous situation at the finca and its fallout. Those in the public eye with no visible connection to the cartel handled the legitimate businesses, the paperwork, the structure. Hector, for his part, was responsible for the nitty gritty, on-the-ground activities, particularly if someone tried to block them in any manner. Diego was in charge of overseeing the mechanics and overcoming objections in whatever way was necessary.

  Hector picked up the cell and tapped the Answer icon. He hoped this wasn’t bad news. He’d had enough of that for a while.

  “Hola, mi amigo. Please tell me that today you have good news for me. That all is well and moving along. Have you got eyes on the reporter yet? She’s such a public person, it should be easy.”

  “We know she is in New York at the moment, and unfortunately digging deeper into our organization.”

  Hector frowned. “Surely a woman who is supposed to be as smart as this one has learned we have put a price on her head? And yet she still moves forward. Is she crazy?”

  “You know how these people are, jefe. We’ve run into it before. And not just us.”

  “Are you telling me we have not been able to get close to her and take her out, once and for all?”

  Diego’s sigh traveled across the connection. “You’d think with as busy as the city is and as much crime as they have, taking someone out in New York would be easy enough, especially in a way that the body just disappeared. However, it is impossible to get close to her, even when she is entering or leaving buildings. The employer has hired full time bodyguards.”

  “Damn.” Hector thought for a moment. “What about when she’s home? Is she alone?”

  “Not without those two people keeping an eye on her and her place. It is impossible to get close to her without causing a problem.” There was a pause. “And I have more bad news. I mean very bad, so please brace yourself.”

  “What could possibly be worse than this woman who is determined to destroy an organization it took generations to build?”

  Diego’s sigh reverberated through the connection. “Our contact who is feeding us the information on this reporter tells us the traitor is going to be meeting with the reporter.”

  Hector clamped down on the cigar so hard he almost bit through it. He yanked it from his mouth with a vicious tug and jammed it into a crystal ashtray.

  “Que chingados?” What the fuck?

  “Indeed.”

  “Just who is this traitor and how is this happening to something we have constructed so carefully over many decades?” Hector demanded. “Everyone knows that being a traitor means death, so who is willing to take that chance?”

  For just that moment, he felt like the wolf he was compared to, in full alpha mode, ready to rip someone’s head off with his teeth. He could not believe that anyone valuable enough for a reporter to meet with them was about to betray him. What could convince them to do this when they know the penalty for such an action?

  “Well, that’s the problem, jefe.” He cleared his throat. “We don’t know exactly who it is, but as I said, we do have an idea. If my plan works, we should be able to identify this person and take care of two problems at once.”

  “I’m listening.” Hector treated himself to a long swallow of the brandy. A little sip would do him no good at all under the circumstances.

  “I have learned that tomorrow she is flying into San Antonio and tomorrow night she will meet with this traitor. Supposedly that is when he or she is going to spill all they know about the cartel.”

  Hector uttered every curse word he knew under his breath. “And does this piece of shit know about all the aspects of the organization?”

  Hector was sure Diego knew exactly what he meant—the very public face that was never connected with the cartel operation itself.

  Another pause. “I am sorry to say, but I believe he or she does.”

  Hector ground his teeth, then took a deep breath and let it out slowly. If he wasn’t careful, he’d give himself a heart attack here. But there was so much at stake, more than ever before.

  “And you don’t know who this is.”

  “No, jefe. While, as I said, I have been able to narrow it down to three, I don’t have a positive identification yet, ashamed as I am to tell you.”

  “You aren’t the one to be ashamed,” Hector growled. “You are the most reliable person in the entire cartel. Have we not been together since we were children?”

  “Si,” Diego agreed.

  “Have we not, together, taken our organization and grown it while the others were all fighting the Sinaloa cartel and lost as many people as they killed?”

  “Ay! It is so.” Diego’s sigh was audible over the connection. “Bloodshed has always been their only answer.”

  “While we used it when it would do us the most good,” Hector reminded him. “I assume you have a plan in place for this? You always do.”

  “You are correct. I will be at that meeting with Julio and Erik, and we will take care of both of these pieces of garbage at the same time.”

  “Tell me again when that will be.”

  “As
I said, the reporter arrives in San Antonio in the morning and is supposed to meet with the snitch that night.” He chuckled, but it wasn’t a humorous sound. “Money can buy you any information, you know.”

  “How do you know where they plan to meet?” Hector wanted to strangle the people who had created this situation.

  “I don’t at the moment, but I have made arrangements to find out. Trust me on this. I just don’t want to say anything until it happens and maybe jinx myself. But if everything works, all I need is to be there when they are together. I’m on it.”

  “Fine.” He paused. “But I want you to change the plans a little. Before you kill them, bring them here. I want to see them for myself before we take their lives. And this time I will make sure things are done right.”

  “Of course, jefe. I will call you tomorrow and bring you up to date.”

  For a long time after the call disconnected, Hector sat in his chair, thoughts racing through his mind. Who in the fucking hell could be crazy enough to talk to a reporter about the Lopez Garcia cartel? Was this someone, god forbid, who knew about the other side of the business as well, and could connect the two? The one they’d spent generations creating without a hint of scandal or criminal activity? Didn’t he know what the retribution would be? Hector hoped that whoever it was had the foresight to stash their family away someplace under different names where no one could find them.

  He could not afford for this whole thing to go up in flames, not when they were on the verge of a massive expansion that would bring in billions instead of millions.

  Fuck, fuck, fuck.

  * * * *

  Trey looked at the woman lying naked beneath him on the bed and wondered exactly when this had morphed from fun and hot sex to…well, something else, although he wasn’t sure exactly what. His original plan had been to take her home from her stressful day at work, order dinner and fuck her brains out. And his along with it.

  But the phone call from Dana had altered the atmosphere. He could easily see how tense she was about it. While her cheeks had been flushed with need, worry and uncertainty had swirled in her eyes. Between worrying about Dana and her unease about the client she was working with, he could tell Kenzi’s stress level was off the charts. And for the first time in—well, maybe ever—he wanted to make it his mission to wipe away that stress and take her to a place where nothing but pleasure existed. Taking a deep breath, he reached for every bit of self-control to keep his hormones and his lust in check.

  Bracing himself on his elbows, he brushed the hair back from her cheeks and studied her face. God. He could look at her forever and never get tired of it. With a touch soft as a breeze, he brushed his mouth over hers, then stroked his tongue over the satiny feel of her lips. With a little nudge, they opened for him and he slid his tongue inside, swirling it in the hot well, tasting her. She met him willingly, running her tongue over his and sucking it deeper into her mouth. His cock swelled even more and he sent it an urgent message to stand down for the moment. He didn’t want to rush this.

  Lifting his mouth from hers, he trailed his lips along the line of her jaw, pausing to nibble at her earlobe before moving along the slender column of her neck. She moaned and shifted beneath him, rubbing her body against his. The soft roundness of her breasts imprinted itself on him, tempting him, so he shifted a little to lower his head and capture one hard nipple with his lips. When he drew it into his mouth, he grazed his teeth over the pebbled surface. Her little gasp made him even hornier. He was going to need every bit of self-control to keep himself in check while he drove her crazy.

  He teased the nipple with his teeth and tongue, licking and nibbling until it was fully engorged. Then he shifted to the other one and gave it the same treatment. Kenzi moaned, a soft sound, winding her fingers in his hair to hold his head in place.

  When her nipples were puffy and swollen, her body shaking with arousal, he eased slowly down her body, stringing kisses along the valley of her breasts until he reached her navel. He paused long enough to pay full attention to the little indentation and the curled flesh outlining it before moving even lower. When he reached the position where her pussy was directly aligned with his mouth, he lifted her legs and rested them on his shoulders, effectively spreading her wide and exposing every inch of her to him.

  For a moment he could do nothing but just stare at the glistening pink flesh, so wet and tempting. He took a slow lap at the slick surface, tasting her essence and swallowing it into his body. Jesus! It was always like this, better than even the finest liquor he’d ever had. And the moment he had that taste of her, his entire body went on full alert, hungry and demanding for every inch of this woman.

  He glided his tongue in slow sweeps over the smooth flesh, lightly brushing her already swollen clit. Each time he did, a little gasp rushed from her mouth and she tightened her grip on his head. He had her arranged so that he held her in place and her movement was limited, just the way he liked it. In the short time they’d been together, he already knew her body so well that he recognized the sounds she made and the movements signaling the rush of her orgasm.

  And she exploded, capturing her juices in his mouth as he drank from her and continued to torment her slit. She shuddered against the pressure of his body and the little sounds and cries he’d become familiar with vibrated through him and aroused him even more. She was just so fucking responsive, more than any other woman he’d ever been with, holding nothing back.

  He stroked with his tongue, swirling the tip around her clit, her body shivering with aftershocks. He placed slow kisses on the lips of her sex, then scattered a line of them up her body to her mouth, where he pressed his lips to hers, sharing her taste with her. When she opened her eyes, he smiled at her.

  “Good?”

  “Better than good.” Her mouth curved in a tiny grin. “But you know that, right?”

  “I know that we aren’t even close to being done,” he teased. “That’s what I know.”

  Then he began the process again, tracing her jaw and the column of her neck with the tip of his tongue, cupping her beasts to bring the now fully engorged nipples to his mouth, where he bit then lightly and dragged on them with his teeth. The pulse at the hollow of her throat increased in its tempo, fluttering against the skin there. He pressed a soft kiss to it before lapping his way down her body again. This time when he reached her sex, he bent her legs at the knees and spread them as wide as he could before feasting on her drenched sex.

  He realized he was addicted to her taste and wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing, but what he did know was that before this ended, he had to have as much of her as he could get.

  This time he took the tip of her clit between his teeth and teased and scraped it, tugging it then licking it while he slid two fingers into her soaked passage. When she clenched her muscles around them, his cock flexed, and he sent it a stern message to stand down, if that was even possible. His goal was to give her as much pleasure as she could handle—maybe even more.

  Adding a third finger to the other two, he stretched the walls of her passage and plundered them, sliding in and out with first a rapid stroke, then a slower one, then fast again. She rocked his hand, riding it, delicious little sounds coming from her mouth. When he sensed she was cresting again, he increased the pace and pinched harder on her clit, and she exploded. Digging her heels into his back, she clenched down on his fingers while shudder after shudder gripped her body and she poured herself into his palm.

  A last, when the tremors had subsided, he slid his fingers from her tight sheath and held his hand in the air. With his gaze still locked to hers, he licked each finger slowly until he’d swallowed every drop. Then he moved up her body until he could slick his tongue over her lips then press a light kiss to them.

  “You’re delicious,” he told her. “I could eat you forever.”

  Her mouth turned up in a shaky grin. “Promise?”

  “Right after I fuck you until you can’t breathe.”


  “I think I might already be there.”

  He shook his head. “Not even close.”

  “I might need to stop and take a breath here,” she huffed.

  “No stopping, no breathing.” He planted a kiss on her mound and dragged the tip of his tongue through her slit. “Just feeling and having orgasms.”

  He reached over to the drawer of the nightstand where he had taken to keeping condoms. Pulling out a string of three, he ripped one off, tore off the foil and rolled on the sheath with hands were shaking unbelievably hard. When he was fully suited, he knelt between her thighs and lifted her legs over his shoulder, Then, cupping the cheeks of her ass, he thrust inside her tight, wet heat.

  Holy shit.

  He closed his eyes and reached for every ounce of control he had. Then, focusing solely on giving pleasure, he began a slow glide in and out of her welcoming body. The tight clasp of her internal muscle squeezing his cock nearly drove him out of his mind. The pull and drag were so erotic he nearly came right then. But this wasn’t about him, no matter how aroused he was. This was about Kenzi right now. Just Kenzi.

  He kept up a slow but steady rhythm, sensitive to her body’s reaction. Then she wrapped her legs around him and pulled him close and tight to her.

  “Faster,” she urged. “Harder.”

  “Thought you didn’t have another one in you.”

  She gave a hysterical little laugh. “Only you could do this to me, hotshot. So do it. Now.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  He picked up the pace, driving into her harder and faster, scraping the sweet spot with his dick each time he eased back, then filling her again. Then his control shattered, he thrust faster and harder, and the moment he felt the walls of her sex begin to spasm he let go. She clenched around him, her inner walls pulling and dragging and squeezing him as her orgasm gripped her, milking him of every drop of fluid until he was drained.