“Dammit.” Nate stood, kicking his chair away. He flattened his hands on the table and lowered his face until it was only inches from Alex’s. “From this point on, Madison Parker is off-limits to you. I’ll decide how best to use her.”
Alex reared, pushing Nate away. “Like hell you will. You go near her, brother, and I swear, I’ll . . .” He’d do what? Kill his brother? Beat the shit out of him? He walked out of Nate’s kitchen before he really lost it. If he had to choose, it would be Nate who owned his loyalty, but he wasn’t sure he could handle throwing Madison to the big bad wolf that was Nate. As he reached the door to leave, he was grabbed from behind.
“Does she mean that much to you?”
Alex pressed his forehead to the door. “I don’t want her to, but yeah, she does.”
Nate heaved a sigh. “Not good, baby brother. Not good.”
Like he didn’t know that.
Alex parked his car behind several others in the driveway of Ramon’s house. Looked like either Ramon or his father had company. Since there were security cameras watching him, he held his phone down by his leg, out of sight. As he walked by the cars, he snapped photos of each license plate.
At the door, he rang the bell after discreetly sliding his phone back into his pocket. “Mrs. Gutierrez,” he greeted the housekeeper when she answered. “Ramon’s expecting me.”
“Si, señor. Come with me.”
He followed her through the house and out to the backyard. “Everyone is up there,” she said, pointing to a set of stairs that led to the roof.
“Thank you.” She returned inside, and Alex took a moment to look around. It was the first time in his six or so visits here that he’d seen the back, and he hadn’t realized how protected the house was. There was a high stucco wall topped with a row of pointed spikes. Although they were decorative, Alex didn’t doubt they were razor sharp and meant to keep out unwanted guests. He noted the security camera mounted under the eaves, figuring there were more scattered around, like in the clump of palm trees on his left, or in the sunburst mounted on the stucco wall. The place was a damn compound.
He jogged up the steps, and when he walked onto the roof, he paused. The Alonzos had created a rooftop paradise, and it appeared he was interrupting a celebration of some sort. From this vantage point, there was a great view of the Atlantic Ocean that had been hidden by the wall at ground level.
Profusely blooming red bougainvilleas wound around a pergola, under which sat a long table that could probably seat twenty people. Alex did a quick head count, pausing when he saw unmistakable fiery red hair. Madison had her back to him, and Ramon sat next to her with his arm around the back of her chair. Gritting his teeth, Alex headed toward them.
An older version of Ramon sat at the head of the table, and at the other end was an attractive woman about the same age, and both had wrapped gifts in front of them. A birthday party? If so, then the woman must be Madison’s mother, Jose Alonzo’s twin sister. The people facing Alex all looked over at him, causing the ones with their backs to him to glance behind them.
Madison’s eyes lit with pleasure, and she smiled. Alex ignored her and, although he did it for her sake, he was sorry to be the reason her smile faded. She turned her face away, which was good because now he could concentrate on Ramon.
“Alex,” Ramon said, waving him over.
“My apologies. I don’t mean to interrupt.”
“No, man, it’s cool. Grab a seat. As soon as my father and aunt open their presents, we’ll take off.”
Since manners had escaped Ramon, Alex held out a hand to Jose. “Alex Gentry. Happy birthday, Mr. Alonzo.”
The man eyed him, assessed him, dismissed him. Alex let his hand drop. “Perhaps I should wait for Ramon downstairs.”
Jose pointed to an empty seat a few chairs down. “Sit.”
Right. He would sit. His seat was directly across from Madison, unfortunately. How was he supposed to ignore her when her face was all he saw?
“I’m Trina,” a sultry voice said next to his ear.
Alex glanced at the woman he hadn’t noticed. “Alex Gentry.” In her late thirties, he guessed, she was extremely attractive, but he wasn’t interested in the invitation he saw in her eyes. Still, he smiled, playing the part Ramon would expect of him. “Pleased to meet you, Trina.”
Everyone quieted as Jose opened his first present, a box of Cuban cigars. “You know I’ll enjoy these.” Without personally thanking whoever gave him the cigars, he grabbed the next gift. “This one’s from Madison,” he said, reading the card.