SEALs Love Curves Book 3: First

Book 3: First

The truth was the most important thing to Pilar Luna. She valued it above everything else. Trusting that the people she loved told her the truth was not always easy.

The truth was a funny thing. Most people would say the truth sets you free. That it’s a balm on your soul. It can release you from pain and heartbreak and misplaced devotion.

But the truth can also do the opposite. The truth can destroy you. It can cripple you. It can take your heart and smash it into bits.

That was why the truth was so important to Pilar. She had been there. More than once. She knew what it was like to find out the truth about someone and have it ruin everything you thought you knew.

“Why are we here?” she grumbled to her brother.

He turned back to her with a wide grin. His dark hair had bright blue tips, something new for him. It had been a long year for him, always checking behind himself. It was nice to see him smile, and she couldn’t help the tug at her own lips.

“Because parades are awesome. We didn’t do stuff like this at home, hermanita.”

“That’s because the cartel didn’t approve of celebrations or anything that would bring the people together. They wanted us scared and separate,” Pilar snapped.

Juan’s smile faded, and she immediately regretted her words. Juan, or John as he’d changed it to when he moved to Niagara Falls, spent more than his fair share of years as a falcon for the Castillo cartel. He didn’t realize what he was getting into when he was young, and by the time he understood, it was too late to get out.

But he did. She was proud of him for walking away. It took guts. Guts Pilar had to use when she found out the man she fell for on one of her breaks from school was further up the chain than her brother and involved in things she couldn’t even think about, let alone be a part of.

“I’m sorry,” Juan whispered, squeezing her hand. His dark brown eyes showed how much he meant his words.

She smiled at him and squeezed back. “It’s not your fault. I’m tired. It’s been a long week.”

His eyes brightened, and his grin returned. He stared over her shoulder and held up a finger. “I know what will make you feel better.”

He took off before she could ask him where he was going. She tried to follow him through the crowd, but between the people lining the streets to watch the parade and the vendors selling everything from sausages to light-up necklaces, he vanished far too quickly.

Panic flooded Pilar’s veins as she rushed down the street, scanning for his blue-tipped hair and bright red shirt. The sea of red surrounding her swallowed up her brother like he’d never been there at all.

Pilar pushed ahead, blindly running. She had to have missed him. She turned back but kept moving forward.

She ran smack into something, backing into a hard—body. Arms came around her, hands gripping her biceps. Her panic was real, potent, a thing surrounding her as surely as the stranger’s hands.

She tried to step away, but the hands tightened on her arms.

“Are you okay?” he asked in a smooth, deep voice that set off every nerve ending. Male. Commanding. Calm. If she weren’t so terrified, she might have found the voice sexy, but she could only think of getting away.

“Fine,” she said, again trying to push away from him.

He finally let her go. “It’s crazy here, isn’t it?”

She turned and looked at him. His accent said he wasn’t a local, but he wasn’t Mexican either. His skin was too light and there was no hint of Mexican in his tone. “Yeah, busy.”

She scanned the area again, needing to find Juan. He couldn’t have gone far.

“Are you looking for someone?”

She nodded. “Yeah, my… cousin,” she stammered, remembering their cover story at the last second. She kept their mother’s last name when she made the move to the States permanent, but her brother chose a whole new identity. Something she wasn’t willing to ask how he knew how to do.

“Maybe I can help you. What does he look like?”

Pilar shook her head. “It’s okay. I’m sure he’s around here somewhere.”

He shrugged. “If you’re sure. But I don’t mind helping. My friends are grabbing food. I was saving our spot so we can see all the festivities. I’m a newbie at all this. Never thought I’d stand on a street and throw my sausage around.”

Pilar’s eyes bugged out. “What?”

He held up a raw sausage. “For the parade. Are you a Dyngus Day virgin, too?”

The conspiratorial grin he flashed her had her fighting her own smile. “I am,” she admitted. “And I’m going to stay that way if I have to leave to find my brother.”

His eyes narrowed. “I thought you were looking for your cousin.”

“Oh, um yeah. We’re just really close. I always thought of him as more like a brother.”

The guy’s eyes narrowed but stayed warm. He was looking at her a little too closely for someone she just met on the street. And he was being friendly.

“Um, I need to go.”

Pilar turned and came face-to-face with the last man she ever wanted to see.

“Hola, amore,” Carlos Ibarra said with a menacing grin and eyes only for her. His black gaze scanned her body, pausing at her breasts and between her thighs.

There was a time when seeing his eyes heat the way they did made her a puddle at his feet, willing to do almost anything he asked because she loved him. He twisted that love, and he turned it into something disgusting that shamed her to her very core when she found out who he really was.

“You don’t have a kiss for me?” he asked.

Every muscle in her body seized, unable to function. She wanted to slap him, or kick him, or do something that would bring him the same kind of pain she experienced, but he was invincible. The kind of man who couldn’t be hurt because he had no heart. No emotions. No feelings.

A hand slid around her waist and tugged her close to a firm body. “Sorry, man. She saves her kisses for me.”

The guy she ran into. He was holding her and pretending she was his.

She belonged to no one, but the last thing she wanted was to let Carlos think she was alone. Vulnerable.

Carlos’s eyebrows winged up and a vicious grin turned his lips up. “Ah, that won’t be for long.” Carlos moved to walk away, then turned back. “I’ll let Juan know you’re being taken care of. He was pretty pissed at us for leaving you all alone. Of course, I can take you to him.”

“Where is he?” she cried, breaking free from the stranger’s grasp to get up in Carlos’s face.

He growled and shoved her back. “Don’t you ever come at me again, or you’ll get to share a resting place with your brother. Adios.”

And just that fast, the truth knocked Pilar on her ass all over again.

* * *

Jack

Jack Farrell didn’t know what to expect from the woman in front of him but collapsing on the sidewalk definitely wasn’t it.

He should have. She just found out her brother was kidnapped. But it still shocked the hell out of him.

He reached for her arm, gently placing his hand on her. “Hey.”

She immediately jerked away from him and scrambled to her feet as though she just realized what was going on. Her dark gaze scanned the crowd, but he was gone.

“Where did he go?” she demanded.

Jack shook his head. “I don’t know. I was more worried about you. Are you okay?”

She shook her head, slowly at first, then quicker. “My brother. They took him.”

Jack’s face hardened. “Who was that?”

She laughed softly. “The man who’s going to kill me.”

“I’m not going to let that happen,” he promised her. She had no clue who he was, but that didn’t matter to him. He was going to keep her safe. He wasn’t losing her. Too many people in his life had died.

Not that she was in his life, but she was standing in front of him. She was there. And he was going to keep her safe.

“Come with me,” he said, reaching for her hand and starting down the street in the direction she initially came from.

She tugged out of his grip, causing him to stop. “I’m not going anywhere with you. I don’t know who you are.”

Jack grinned. “I’m the man you’re saving all your kisses for, remember?”

A ghost of a smile crossed her lips, but it didn’t last long. Fury replaced the fear with determination on its heels. “I have to find my brother.”

Jack nodded. “I’ll help you.”

“Why?”

Jack grinned. “Because it’s what I do.”

“Who are you?” she asked, taking a step back.

Jack shook his head and followed her, doing his best to look innocent. “I work for a company that helps people.”

“Smooth,” the sarcastic voice in his ear muttered.

Jack pasted on a grin, ignoring his friend and boss, and hoped it would help convince Pilar to go with him.

She turned back to where Carlos disappeared. “I have to find my brother.”

Jack nodded. “I know. My company can help you. And keep you safe so what you said doesn’t actually happen.”

She laughed mirthlessly. “Unless you’re some kind of superhero, it’s going to happen. Now that Carlos knows where to find me, he’ll either take me back or kill me. Maybe both. Definitely both.”

Jack’s grin slid onto his lips easily. He opened his mouth to tell her he was a superhero when the voice was back.

“Don’t you fucking dare, Squirrel. Just bring her in.”

Jack scowled at the voice in his head and vowed to make sure Pres knew exactly how much he appreciated being called Squirrel.

“What’s your name?” Jack asked, pretending he didn’t already know.

She drew in a ragged breath, one that hitched in the middle. She faced away from him, but he could still see her profile. Full lips, one clamped between her teeth, caught his attention first. He’d always been a sucker for a woman with soft, plump lips. Her dark eyes held pain and fear, but that damned determination was still there. Her arms were crossed, one hand pinching her chin as if that made it easier for her to figure out what to do. Her curves dragged his eyes down, making sure he took in every dip of her body from the swell of her breasts to the slight narrowing of her waist, then out again to her wide hips, then curvy legs down to the sandals on her feet. It was still cold for sandals, but her bright pink toenails told him she didn’t care. She was ready for fun and sun.

“Pilar,” she whispered, as though testing it out.

He nodded and stuck out his hand. “Jack Farrell. It’s nice to meet you, Pilar.”

She stared at his hand for a long moment. Long enough that he felt like an idiot and wanted to pull his hand back. But he waited. She had to trust him if she was going to go with him. There was no way in hell he was letting her get in her own vehicle. Not when she was in danger.

She was smart not to trust him, but she had no way of knowing that. All she knew was her brother was gone, and she had no one else to trust.

Finally, she extended her hand and slid it into his. A zap shot up his arm and settled in his dick, bringing it to life. If that wasn’t surprising enough, Pilar tugged his hand, catching him off guard and yanking him to her. She glared up at him, her eyes as dark as midnight. She was so close he could feel her breath on his cheeks as she growled, “If you’re lying to me, I’ll castrate you. You got me?”

Jack fought a grin as the assholes in his ear hooted and hollered that he’d finally met his match. All Jack could do was nod, because if he opened his mouth, he risked a laugh coming out.

Or something much worse. The truth.

* * *

Pilar

Pilar couldn’t believe she threatened the hot guy who was trying to help her. Even more than that, she couldn’t believe she actually accepted his help and went with him.

She knew she was safest at the parade, surrounded by thousands of other people, but seeing Carlos shook her. More than she expected it to. She never thought she’d see him again. Or maybe she just hoped she’d never see him again. He was the stuff of her nightmares, and coming face-to-face with him after three years of hiding was the most terrified she’d been since the day she found out what kind of monster he was.

She slid a glance at Jack. Jack Farrell. If she was smart, she would have sent a text to a friend with his picture in case she ended up in a ditch somewhere in a few days. Except she didn’t really have any friends. A few acquaintances, sure, but no real friends she trusted with the truth. One of the many consequences of living in fear. She didn’t get close to anyone and didn’t let anyone close to her.

As she sat in a truck with a stranger, going back over the Grand Island bridges toward Niagara Falls, she wondered if she’d live to tell anyone. He could easily pull into a warehouse and she’d never be seen again. Or anything. She had no clue who he was or what he was going to do with her.

“I promise I’m not going to hurt you,” he said softly.

Her head snapped his way, meeting his gaze. He pulled the sunglasses he wore down so she could see his eyes. They were a dark green, so dark she wasn’t sure what color they were at first. They reminded her of a forest, with hidden depths and secrets around every turn. And for some reason, she believed him.

“Where are we going?” Pilar finally asked. She hoped she didn’t sound as terrified as she was.

“My office. It’s up in the Falls.”

“In?”

He laughed softly. “In the city. We do a lot of work with the border so we like to be close.”

“What kind of work?” she asked, eyeing the man next to her. He was big. Much taller than her or Juan. He was thin, but he definitely didn’t lack muscle. He looked like a soccer player with long, strong legs and a narrow frame. Pilar always had a thing for soccer players.

“It’s a task force, F-BOMB. We work to keep our borders safe.”

Pilar choked back the snort that rose in her throat. If he only knew who she was. She chewed her lip. He was the kind of person she should have gone to when she first found out who Carlos was. But it was too late for that. It was too late for her. Carlos was back, and he had Juan.

“Do you really think you can get my brother back?”

Jack took the exit onto Robert Moses Parkway toward downtown Niagara Falls. He kept his gaze focused on the curvy road as he wound around toward the Upper Niagara River, but Pilar was sure he was paying her attention, too. Nothing got by the man next to her. Which made her wonder again why she was trusting him.

“We’ll do our best,” Jack said. He glanced at her again, then reached over and squeezed her hand.

And again, she found herself believing him.