that’s all there is.” He took the other side of the argument then. “Maybe the whole thing really does end with Arroyo.”
Avra was already shaking her head in disagreement.
“Why the hell not?” Sam harbored the same dismal prediction as Avra but wanted to hear her thoughts.
“Carson went to Setha not just because she was your dad’s prize but because she was listening to him. This was about his father’s pride and his mother’s dignity. That’s what he told her.” Again, Avra began to nudge her chin with her thumbnail. “He wanted her to know something so why didn’t he just tell her…?” She sighed the words almost to herself.
“Because he was an idiot?” Sam suggested.
Avra made a face, but she couldn’t completely dismiss the idea. “Dammit,” she groaned, dropping to the gray suede settee in the corner.
Sam watched her cover her face with her hands. The last thing he wanted was to leave but it was the only thing to do. They rarely went long without breaking into full argument. Their current chat had already lasted fifteen minutes—well beyond the limit.
Avra raised her head when she heard him move. “You’re leaving?” She pressed her lips together, instantly regretting the question.
“You’re beat.” He eased a hand into a trouser pocket. “It’s been a long night. You should be goin’ to bed anyway.”
Avra straightened, holding her hands clasped primly in her lap. “I’m surprised you’re not making a move or comment about joining me there.”
Go, Sam, he silently urged himself but couldn’t resist the opportunity to spar with her just a little longer. “Don’t worry.” He walked over to lean against the settee where she relaxed. “You’ll have me there,” he promised.
She rolled her eyes. “You’re a jackass.”
“And you’re the loveliest thing I’ve ever seen.” He could’ve laughed when stunned amazement crossed her coffee-brown face. Never had he complimented her so seriously without the teasing element that usually accompanied his words. Slowly, he leaned in, caressing her oval face with nothing more than the strength of his pitch stare.
“I’d like very much to have you in my bed…” He cast a cool, meaningful look over the chair she occupied. “Or anywhere else.”
She swallowed. Her wide eyes were riveted on his alluring face. “Would you leave me alone, then?”
Rising to his towering height, he offered a casual shrug. “Depends on how good you are.”
Don’t hit him, she told herself and almost broke the skin in her palms when she drew fists.
“Night, Av.” He brushed his knuckles across her jaw and then walked out the door.
Chapter 1
“You’re crazy if you think I’m just gonna let you drive home after you almost fainted right here in front of me and Brad.” Samson’s face was a picture of exasperation.
Danilo Melendez, owner of the auto-parts-and-
accessories giant Machine Melendez, spat a curse in his native tongue. “Bradley saw no need to call the paramedics before he left. You, however, are acting like a mother hen and I’m fine!”
“Pop, you almost—”
“I’m fine.”
Raising both hands in a defensive gesture, Sam stifled his reference to his father’s reaction. “Maybe you’d like to tell me what’s so special about Martino Viejo?”
Dan’s expression appeared vicious as he observed his eldest son. “Have you no respect for the dead?”
“Pop, you know that’s not—”
“I won’t have you question my concern for another human being—an employee at that. Am I understood?”
Sam looked down at the invisible pattern he traced into the top of his pine desk. “Who was he, Pop?” Sam rolled his eyes as Danilo began to rattle off a profile that he himself could have gotten from the Melendez HR department.
Following the brief rundown into Martino Viejo’s career with Machine Melendez, Dan bade his son a good-afternoon and made a hasty departure from the ranch. Sam made no argument and simply placed a call to the home of his assistant, June Elliott.
“Did you know him?” Sam was asking once he’d greeted the woman and engaged in a few moments of idle chatter. Sam couldn’t decide whether he was pleased to have the information or peeved over the fact that the recent murder victim had such an impressive employment reputation and had flown completely below his radar.
“Sounds like he was a golden boy.” Sam settled back into his desk chair when June took the time to breathe amid her rave review.
“Well, the community-relations department was very lucky to have him. All the programs he helped implement…” She sighed. “He did such fine work helping to acclimate MM employees who were also new to the country. He was even instrumental in working with area organizations where focus was on single moms—educating them, preparing them for the workforce, providing child care…”
“Hell.” Sam propped one elbow on the desk chair and massaged his forehead. “June—he’s dead.”
“What?” The woman’s already soft voice had taken on an even softer current. “Was this connected to all the others…? Of course it was,” she answered herself.
Sam’s expression remained grim but he appreciated his assistant’s quick mind.
“What’s happening, Sam? Are we going to have to dismiss all of our immigrant workers in order to protect them?”
“I don’t think we’ll have to go that far, June.” At least I hope we won’t. Sam groaned inwardly. “Can you get me the names of all the newest immigrant employees?”
“I’ll get right on it.”
“And, June? Keep as much of a lid on this as you can, all right?”
“I understand.” June’s words came through the line following a brief silence.
“I’m sure the cops’ll be round there soon enough. With any luck we’ll have the chance to formally address the crowd before that.”
“Does your father know?”
“He does. He’s not a happy man.” Or a well man. Sam made yet another silent observation but shook it off. “I appreciate this, June.”
“Take care, Sam.”
Once the call with June ended, Sam went right ahead and made contact with his brothers. During the conference call with Paolo and Lugo Melendez, he broke the news about Martino Viejo.
“Does Pop know?” Lugo asked.
“Yeah…”
