Falling with Grace - Page 162

“Every bit of you.”

My legs wrapped around his torso, my hand caressing his cheek as I pulled back and glanced into the darkness in his eyes. “You scared me.”

His hand cupped mine against his cheeks. “I’m not used to the softness required with you.”

My guarded heart fluttered, my inner cheek crushed between my teeth.

“I’ll do better.”

I lifted my chin, pressing my lips to his, cherishing the softness, holding his strength against me.

My mind fuzzed as he picked my body up from the stairs, his hands wrapped around me, and erased the last hour with striking adoration, simple touches, and whispered words.

35

Elias

“Valeria, make sure she doesn’t get up.” I pointed towards Mamá’s bedroom. “Dr. Navarro wants her to rest. She didn’t handle the plane ride home very well.”

Valeria nodded and disappeared through the foyer as I leaned against my desk.

“Have you seen Grace?”

Javier picked underneath his nails with his long hunting knife and shook his head. “Last I saw, she was living it up with her newfound freedom in the pool…swimming laps.”

I narrowed my eyes.

“I found Sofia Torres. But there’s a problem.” He put his feet down from the coffee table, then placed his knife into its sheath. “She’s a dead prostitute.”

“Dead is not helpful.”

“Sofia Torres is a popular name. This one died fifteen years back.” He shrugged. “That’s all I’ve got since you’ve run me thin these last few weeks. I’ve had to delegate.”

“Delegate to better men.”

“I’ll change some things around. Also, Nadia tried visiting while we were gone. The guards turned her away.”

My fingers spread across the keyboard, setting up the virtual meeting space. “Okay.” I closed my eyes and breathed through my nose, the familiar scents of home stirring my sinuses. “We need to make sure Grace overhears.”

“And you really think this is going to work?”

Walking around my desk, I braced my rear on the edge and nodded. “I know him. He’ll threaten her somehow. He can’t help himself.”

“Yeah, but do you know her well enough to predict howshe’llreact?”

Grace’s lyrical laughter drew my attention away, my feet walking her way as though she’d tugged on my soul-string.

I stopped at Mamá’s bedroom as Grace giggled again. “That’s not true.”

“It is. I wouldn’t lie.”

Grace sat on the chair beside her bed, her elbows resting on the edge of the mattress, holding Mamá’s hands.

“He ran through the dinner tables with his bare butt cheeks on display, his wooden toy in his hand, screaming at the top of his lungs.”

“All because he didn’t want a bath?”

I leaned against the doorway, nostalgia burning inside me.