Innocent as Sin

25

Castillo del Cielo

Saturday

Not many people could make Gabriel Navarro uneasy, but Andre Bertone did. It wasn’t just Bertone’s burly body, his height, his wealth, that made Gabriel wary. It was a killer’s knowledge that he was in the presence of a better killer.

And Gabriel had pissed that better killer off.

Elena’s laughter wasn’t helping. “Oh, my. Tell me again how a little mouse of a banker defeated one of the best-”

“Enough.” Bertone cut across his wife’s amusement. “Who came to Kayla’s aid?”

Gabriel shrugged and stubbed out his cigarette in a crystal ashtray. Then he crossed his legs and looked at Bertone. “Tall dude. Moved good. Like a fighter, you know?”

Elena snickered and said mockingly, “But of course. We have so many warriors in Pleasure Valley.”

“What did he look like?” Bertone asked.

“I told you. Tall.”

“Mexican, white, black, mestizo?” Bertone asked impatiently. “Young, old?”

“Like I said. The dude blew out my eyes with his flashlight. Didn’t see shit ’cept for a big knife. Moved like he could use it. You said no killing, so I booked.”

Bertone said something in Russian and lit his cigar.

Elena sighed and opened the French doors to air out the smoke. With every step her sandals flashed wealth and impatience.

Gabriel watched her without seeming to. If she’d been anyone else’s woman, he would have tried to put his hands on her.

But she was Bertone’s.

“You’re sure he called out Kayla’s name?” Bertone asked.

“Yes.”

“Find her,” Bertone said.

Gabriel stood up. “Catch or kill?”

Bertone’s eyes narrowed. The intelligence and instincts that had gotten him from the frozen gutters of Siberia to Arizona’s Pleasure Valley were twitching. Right now, Kayla knew more about who had saved her than he did.

Knowledge was a weapon.

“Catch,” Bertone said curtly.

He could always kill her later.