Page 27 of Reckless Love

“What are you going to do?” Vanessa asks.

“What I always do. Keep everyone safe. I’m going to be here twenty-four hours a day until Mr. Santos is back on the island. We’ll have to hire more care for Mom and Dad. That’s on you because the reason I have to do this is also on you.”

“No one is going to hurt Ava,” Vanessa says with a sigh. “The signs were really nice about her. I made sure.”

“Do not tell me shit like that,” I say with a frustrated huff. “I should be reporting what happened to the police. Testing the doors is a step too far, Van.”

“That wasn’t me.”

“But you were with them. You become an accessory. What you all are doing isn’t going to get Ava on your side. It won’t. I guarantee it.”

“Workers are being threatened. We’ve had surveillance photos delivered to people’s houses. Family members—kids, followed. It’s not just bribery and a lighthearted “vote no” on some pot. He’s serious, Stephen, and so are we.” Her voice takes on a steely note at the end.

“Which is exactly why I need to be here.”

“Ava’s a good boss. Everyone says so. She needs to speak to her husband about how he’s behaving. Ava’s husband only cares about winning and saving money, not about people. If the police weren’t so corrupt, they’d have put a stop to some of the shit Raul’s done.”

The reminder of Raul’s title in her life slices through me like a papercut. Even though I know she’s married, remind myself by calling her Mrs. Santos whenever I can, each time “husband” is used, it’s a fresh wound. Ava got married, and it wasn’t to me.

“She’s not his keeper, Van. She runs her business, and he runs his. Trust me, she’s not stepping into the fray here.”

Another heavy silence settles between us.

“I can’t afford more nursing.”

“Guess you should have thought of that before you did what you did,” I say, my tone firm. “You’ve left me no choice, and now you have no choice. Get it done, because I won’t be home tonight.”

“Seriously,” Vanessa says with a huff, “if this was anyone else, would you be like this?”

“Yes,” I say immediately. “I take my job seriously. When I don’t, people get hurt.”

“Fine,” Vanessa says, and then she hangs up on me.

“Why aren’t you going home tonight?” Ava asks.

I spin around, realizing I was so deep in my conversation that I didn’t even hear the front door open.

Chapter Ten

Ava

“Have you seen your front lawn?” He gestures behind him, clearly still a bit agitated. “The gates were breached, and the poor excuses for security guards we supplied for you slept and gamed their way through the incident.”

“A bit of vandalism and trespassing?” All the signs that have my name are actually really nice. Testimonials from people who work for me about how great I am and other flattering things. Can you even call that vandalism? “More of an inconvenience than anything.” Half the signs could stay, really.

“They tried the front door,” he says, his expression turning flinty. “I’m not taking any chances with your safety or Landon’s. Once your husband and his security team are back on the island, we’ll resume our normal schedule.”

“Are you saying you’re sleeping here?”

“For four hours after Datu shows up to relieve me.”

“Four hours?”

“All I need,” he says, stepping around me and into the house. “I can sleep in a closet if you don’t have a spare bed.”

“That’s inhumane.”

“To you, who needs ten hours in thousand-dollar sheets, it would seem so.”