“That is a question with too many answers.”
“Pick one.”
“I am trying to decide what to do about Teresa.”
“Ah,” Sean said, smothering a laugh. “The brilliant plan falling apart? Wow. Wish I’d seen that coming. Oh. Wait. I did.”
Rico sneered at his cousin. “Very helpful, thank you. There is nothing better than an I told you so at just the right moment.”
“Happy to help.” Sean reached for a nacho loaded with beans and cheese, then popped it into his mouth, crunching with a grin on his face.
“Right.” He should have known his cousin would love this. A King liked nothing better than an entertaining “I was right, you were wrong” chat. Shaking his head, he leaned forward, bracing his arms on the glass-topped table. The bright yellow table umbrella shaded them from the noonday sun and all around them hotel guests were either boarding day boats for fishing trips or sitting at the bar having tropical drinks. “Her father hired a man to help her escape. Seems he hasn’t found her brother yet and he wants more time.”
“Escape? Okay, I’m guessing she didn’t go anywhere, yes?”
“She stayed.” Rico took a sip of his beer. “She wouldn’t leave.”
“Interesting.” Sean smiled, then narrowed his eyes. “Aside from the failed rescue, do you think her father’s stalling deliberately?”
“It’s possible,” Rico admitted, thinking back to the sound of Dominick Coretti’s outraged voice. “But I don’t know that he would take this kind of risk with his family. So if I assume he really does need the extra time, what do I do about it?”
“What do you want to do?”
Rico sent his cousin an exasperated glare. “If I knew that, would I be asking for your opinion?”
Sean laughed. “Okay, no. I’m no fan of Teresa’s family—they’re thieves.” He shrugged. “But you locking up her family isn’t going to score you points with her, either.”
“Yes, I know that, as well.” Talking to his cousin was supposed to help him straighten out his thoughts.
“So go with your gut, Rico.” Sean was still smiling. “You want Teresa. She wants her family safe. Do what you have to do to make everyone happy.”
“Let the thieves go free?”
“It’s family, man,” Sean said, smile fading into a thoughtful frown. “Look at the Kings. What haven’t we been willing to do to keep family safe?”
He was right, Rico knew. And the answer, it seemed, was simple after all. A King would risk anything for family. And Teresa—not to mention the child she might be carrying—was his family.
Eleven
Another week of her month was gone and Teresa felt as though she was listening to the inexorable tick of a countdown in her head. Every morning she woke up beside Rico and every evening the heat between them sizzled anew. And every day gone was one less that she had with him.
Sitting on a chaise on the beach below Rico’s house, Teresa curled her feet up under her on the floral cushion. She swept her gaze across Rico’s private slice of the Tesoro paradise and sighed. A yacht was docked at Rico’s private pier and the brass fittings winked in the bright sunlight. “Oh, God, I don’t want to leave.”