Seeing him so enraged and hearing him call her that again made the lump in her throat even bigger. “About the campaign, mostly.”

“Mostly? What else? Did he bring up the past? You and him?”

“No!” Her voice cracked and she took a step toward him. “It was all business. I promise.” She never wanted to be around Jacob again. Not if it upset Romero this much. She reached out for his hand and he recoiled but she grabbed it anyway. It was shaking. She looked into his eyes. They went from furious to panicked. Just like the night she’d told him Jacob had been her first. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Tell me the truth, Izzy. Did you talk about anything personal? I have to know.”

Hearing him call her Izzy, and feeling his scared eyes burn deep into her soul did something to her. “Yes.”

He pinched his brows the panic gone now replace with the heat again. “What? What did you talk about?”

“You.” She brought his hand to her mouth and kissed it. “He asked if I was in love with you. And I told him yes and that you’d moved in with me.”

“Why would he wanna know?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know.”

“You do know, Izzy.” His tone, softened just a notch and again his eyes searched for something deep inside her. “Tell me, baby.”

Hearing him call her that after he’d just called her Isabel twice had a hypnotic effect on her somehow and he seemed to know it. But it was working. She nodded, unbelievably hearing herself say, “Something about not being prepared for what he felt when he saw me again.”

She saw his jaw clench. “And what was that?”

“He didn’t say. I swear to you. After I told him I was in love and how serious my relationship with you is, we changed the subject.”

“That’s it? The whole day. That was the only personal thing you talked about?” He searched her eyes again. “No memories?”

“No. Nothing.” She leaned in and kissed him. He barely moved his lips at first, but she continued to kiss him until he suddenly thrust his tongue in her mouth, kissing her hard.

Just as suddenly he pulled away. “I don’t want you around him anymore,” he said, bringing her to him by her waist.

“Okay,” Isabel agreed breathlessly, without even thinking about it. What was he doing to her?

He kissed her again, deeper, then bit her lower lip hard, but not hard enough to hurt, arousing her to no end. She bit back. His breathing became heavier. “Tell that f**king sister of yours,” he said, between kisses, “that I know what she’s up to.”

“Um hmm.” Isabel was incredibly turned on, and she didn’t even understand why. She didn’t care anymore that he was disrespecting her sister. Pat had disrespected him, so she deserved it. She undid the top button of his jeans and yanked down the zipper.

They moved over to the sofa. Romero pushed his box of things onto the floor. He always did love her easy-access clothes and ever since he’d told her, she’d done her best to accommodate. She wore a denim skirt that he slid his hands up now, pulling her panties down roughly. “Get ‘em off.” He pulled his hands away to take his wallet out of his pocket and pulled a condom out. “I’m not playing, Izzy.” Never once taking his penetrating gaze away from her, he pulled his jeans down and stepped out of them, then put the condom on. “I swear to God. If you don’t tell her, I will. And trust me you don’t want me to.”

She nodded, transfixed in his eyes, not really caring about what he was saying. It was times like this she felt he had some kind of spell on her. She’d done as he asked and was ready for him when he moved on top of her. He kissed her just as he entered her—kissed her so deep and with so much passion, she felt it down to her curled toes. “No one else will ever love you like I do, Izzy.” He moved faster and she moaned. “You know that, right?”

“Yes,” she barely managed to say, feeling her body react in the usual way it reacted to him—crazy with excitement.

“Say it, baby. Say no one will ever love you like I do.” Her entire body trembled and she moaned even louder. “I wanna hear it.” His voice rasped.

“No one else.” She could barely believe she’d complied so easily, but it was the truth. She wasn’t lying. She believed him without a doubt. “Only you can love me like this.” He stared deep in her eyes for a moment, continuing to love her like only he could. She held on to him, amazed at what he did to her. If what he wanted was to own her, he had from the moment he first kissed her. Not just physically but in every way imaginable. She was a sensible grown woman and if she stepped out of the picture for just a second, she might see something wrong with it, but there, that moment, nothing felt more right than being his, and she wanted nothing more than for him to know it—feel it.

He squeezed his eyes shut, finishing with a groan. “Only you, Romero,” she panted, feeling the incredible pleasure rip through her body. No one could ever make her feel the unbelievable mixture of emotions he’d put her through this evening alone and she never wanted anyone else to. “I promise.”

CHAPTER 16

The call

Never in his life had Romero felt the need to impress anyone. He’d always done and said as he pleased and if anyone didn’t like it they could just go to hell. Now here he was carrying the golf bag Sal had lent him, ready to meet Arturo, Isabel’s dad, for a round of golf and he was nervous as shit.