Free Tijuana Nights (The Nights Series Book 1) by Leigh K. Hunt

for a drink. There may also be other people here you’ll recognise, and it's possible that Javier will be here."
    My stomach dropped, and an icy chill flooded through my veins. "Carmen?" I whispered.
    "No." River smiled. "Not tonight. I have it on good authority that she will be thoroughly distracted."
    I pulled back at looked into River's amused eyes. "Whose authority?"
    "Gabe’s." River's eyes twinkled. "He's off to keep her company tonight."
    "Gabe?" I mouthed, looking up at River as he grinned down at me. "My god," I whispered. "How?"
    River’s lip curled in amusement. "Turns out that Carmen has a certain liking for Caucasian men... and when her husband has other plans, she uses a service that provides them for her. Gabe hacked in, and got himself a date for tonight."
    I shook my head with disbelief, and couldn't wipe the gleeful smile from my face. “Is he going to kill her?”
    “No, not likely. He’ll just keep her out of our hair for the evening,” River answered.
    “He’s going to sleep with her?”
    "Whatever it takes to get the job done," River murmured. "Now, come get a drink. We need to mingle." He led me off the dance floor, and we walked over to check his jacket, then made our way through the groups of people milling around the bar.
    River ordered two glasses of champagne, and passed me one.
    He leaned against the bar, and a little towards me. "Now, back to Nicandro, he's standing over there next to the woman in the red dress." He kind of gestured with his glass giving direction to a tall, handsome man across the bar.
    I raised my eyebrows at River, and took a sip of my drink, sweeping my eyes back towards Nicandro. He didn't 'look' like a bad man, but I guessed he was probably a right royal asshole like the rest of the El Diablo Cartel. Nicandro was smooth, and radiated confidence. I imagined he could probably sell ice to an Eskimo if he put his mind to it. "What did you say he did again?"
    "Strategic Communications. He's the man behind the politicians, the police, and any other official, both here and in the States." River smiled. "Quite the charmer isn't he?"
    I nodded dumbly, mulling over what River had said and kept an eye on Nicandro. He was the man behind everyone official, meaning he was also the man that probably paid everyone off to turn a blind eye to the Cartel's activities.
    It made me angry that the Cartel were never held accountable for any of the awful and inhumane things that they did, like kill a dozen beautiful, innocent women. And this Nicandro was one of the reasons for it.
    I sank the rest of the champagne and handed my glass to River, who looked at me in surprise. "Another?"
    River spoke to the barman and handed me another glass of champagne. I took it, and wrapped my fingers around the stem. I needed a cigarette. River said that we were here to observe the man and watch from afar. Well, I didn't feel like watching from afar. I felt like wrapping my hands around the smarmy prick's neck and throttling him. Unconsciously, I took a step toward Nicando.
    River placed his hand firmly on my arm before I could move any closer. "Steady on, Mack. We are just doing a bit of observation on him."
    I turned to River. "I need a fag and some air. Where's the nearest exit."
    He led me around the bar towards a set of double doors that opened out onto a terrace. We stepped out into the warm evening air, and I passed River my drink so that I could open my clutch and look for the silver cigarette case. I snapped it open, pulled out a fag, lifted it to my lips, and lit it with the matching slender silver zippo.
    I felt River's eyes on me, and turned to him. "Thanks," I muttered as he passed me my drink.  We walked across the terrace to the balcony, and looked down into the courtyard below.
    "It's a beautiful evening," River commented as he leaned against the stone balcony and watched the people dancing inside.
    Now that the nicotine was entering my bloodstream, I had calmed down a little. "It is." I