Crazed: A Blood Money Novel by Edie Harris Read Free Book Online Page B

he’d been aching for all night as he stood guard over the rehearsal dinner. He’d been forced to witness Pipe’s groomsmen hit on her, though Pipe never permitted his men to go a step too far; being his future sister-in-law at the very least provided Ilda with a degree of protection.
    She was beautiful tonight, but she was always beautiful. A silk gown in forest green draped her petite frame in what he thought might be a Grecian style, pounded gold metal accents at the single shoulder and beneath the bust. Her curls were gathered in an intricate twist just off-center from her nape, and gold links dangled from her ears. A goddess with a siren’s voice, yet she was more than that, as he’d come to learn over the last few weeks.
    Ilda was sly and pushy and generous, constantly seeking the next moment that would lead to laughter and happiness. A bright ball of sunshine, if that sunshine had an attitude and a sex drive that threatened to bring a man to his knees.
    Casey feared he might have been on his knees since day one with her. His lips parted hers, tongue sweeping in to get at the sweet taste of her. He’d had his mouth on every inch of her body in their stolen moments together, no part of her ignored or untested. During those interludes, she was a grenade in his arms, exploding with a violence he craved to his bones.
    “I love you,” he breathed in between kisses. The words escaped before he had time to second-guess the wisdom of saying what had taken root in his heart. His thumbs stroked over her cheekbones, a caress that had become familiar in the short time they’d had together. “I love you, Ilda.”
    “What?” She pushed against his chest, gasping for air and putting space between them as she searched his face. “Casí, do you really?” Her dark eyes gleamed wetly in the dim light of the underground garage. “Don’t lie to me about this.”
    “I’m not lying.” Yet he was lying to her about so many other things. Such as who the hell he was. He smoothed the few escaped curls back from her temples. “I wouldn’t lie about loving you.”
    Her breath hitched audibly. “Then stay with me tonight.” She reached up to run a fingertip along the line of his nose before tracing the shape of his lips, her touch as light and soft as a cloud. “You never stay.”
    With good reason. It didn’t matter if he was off duty or on patrol, there was no such thing as privacy in the cartel. One night away from the hacienda would raise notice, which was why he’d never risked spending the night with Ilda. No matter how much he needed to know what it was like to sleep with her in his arms until he woke up with her at dawn. Needed to kiss and pet her from slumber as sunlight filtered through the windows.
    So he broke the rules. Again. Perhaps it was time he recognized there were no longer any rules when it came to Ilda Almeida. “I’m staying.”
    He couldn’t breathe, his lungs bruised against his rib cage.
    The black birdcage veil did little to conceal the shock in her big brown eyes, or the pain. The long-sleeved black linen dress was the most conservative he’d ever seen on her, worn like armor to protect a fragile heart. She had needed that armor when she’d stood at the front of the church that morning and lifted her tear-roughened voice in song. That she hadn’t broken once during the mournful hymn was a testament to her strength.
    Casey had never been prouder of anyone in his life than he had been of Ilda Almeida singing her sister’s soul into heaven. His phoenix, her wings dusted in the ashes of grief, dappled in the kaleidoscope light from the stained-glass window of the Madonna and Child overhead.
    He’d made his decision in that moment, and now it was time to act. Straightening his shoulders, he approached her where she stood at the balcony rail on the second floor of the main house, staring sightlessly out at the southern courtyard. They’d returned to the hacienda following Théa’s burial, and