Read Online Friction (Red Hot Private Eye, Novella, Vol. 2) by Melanie Shawn - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Melanie Shawn
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slowly turned her head to Dominic, “She did her job. She did it well. And now you're lecturing her.”
“She didn’t follow the chain of command,” he snapped back at her.
“Excuse me, but Raiza was lead on this. It was her contact. Her ass on the line. She followed protocol,” Cristal’s voice remained steady but Mateo had a feeling that she was as far from calm as you could get.
“Mateo was her point person. Protocol would dictate that she follow his directives,” Dominic stated firmly.
Mateo felt the same way that Dominic did, and in fact had gone over to Raiza's house to say those exact things...but he never got to that part. He couldn’t help but shoot a look at Raiza to see how she was reacting to Dominic and Cristal’s discussion, but she stared straight ahead, giving nothing away.
Raiza’s phone buzzed and she stood, “I need to take this.”
She was out of the room before anyone had a chance to say anything. They all sat for a moment silently. Probably all thinking the same thing—that if Raiza left in the middle of a meeting, it was important.
Dominic looked straight at Mateo, “Do you know what that’s about?”
Mateo assumed that it had something to do with her aunt and although he knew that Raiza considered the people here at Red Hot family, he still did not feel that it was his place to say.
He shrugged in response. Dominic nodded. Cristal tilted her head clearly indicating that his non-response was absolutely not acceptable. Mateo was pretty sure he was about to get an earful when Raiza stepped back into the room.
The fresh scent of clean, flowery crispness floated in with her and he felt his jeans getting snug. Damn. Even her scent got him going.
“Everything okay?” Cristal asked as Raiza sat back down in the seat she had just vacated.
“Fine,” her clipped tone clearly broadcasting that everything was not fine, but she was not going to be discussing it further. Her posture was stiff and rigid.
Mateo desperately wanted this meeting to be over so he could find out what was going on. He assumed it was her aunt, but what if it wasn’t. All of his protective instincts were on high alert. He wanted to fix whatever was upsetting her, or at the very least just be there for her—which was definitely not his normal after-sex impulse.
Usually he liked some space. He didn’t want to get involved in anything even coming close to personal. But this was different.
This was Raiza.
---~---
All I have to do is make it through this meeting and then I can go home and have the nervous breakdown that I so very much deserve , Raiza told herself. She did not even know how to begin to process the day’s events. So much had happened since her coffee this morning at seven a.m. Most of it had been bad, all of it had been unexpected, and some of it may even be life-changing.
Raiza heard the door open behind her and Jerry stuck his head in the conference room, “They left the hotel room. We’ve got about three hours of footage to translate. We will have the transcripts to you by morning.”
Dominic and Cristal both nodded and Jerry exited the room.
“Alright, moving on,” Dominic said harshly.
He still seemed upset about Raiza’s chosen tactics and the fact that Cristal had her back. In most situations Raiza respected Dominic’s opinion, even before he had been the one signing her paychecks. He was smart, he had good instincts and he always made calculated decisions, at least in circumstances that Cristal was not involved in. But in this case, Raiza knew that she had made the right call staying and planting the bugs.
She had had a gut feeling when she had heard that the mark was not meeting a woman that he was having an affair with, but rather two known cartel members, that she needed to get the room bugged.
Had it been risky? Yes. Had she been scared? Yes. Would she do the same thing again? Yes.
“So what exactly happened when we lost eyes and ears on you?” Dominic asked.
Even
“She didn’t follow the chain of command,” he snapped back at her.
“Excuse me, but Raiza was lead on this. It was her contact. Her ass on the line. She followed protocol,” Cristal’s voice remained steady but Mateo had a feeling that she was as far from calm as you could get.
“Mateo was her point person. Protocol would dictate that she follow his directives,” Dominic stated firmly.
Mateo felt the same way that Dominic did, and in fact had gone over to Raiza's house to say those exact things...but he never got to that part. He couldn’t help but shoot a look at Raiza to see how she was reacting to Dominic and Cristal’s discussion, but she stared straight ahead, giving nothing away.
Raiza’s phone buzzed and she stood, “I need to take this.”
She was out of the room before anyone had a chance to say anything. They all sat for a moment silently. Probably all thinking the same thing—that if Raiza left in the middle of a meeting, it was important.
Dominic looked straight at Mateo, “Do you know what that’s about?”
Mateo assumed that it had something to do with her aunt and although he knew that Raiza considered the people here at Red Hot family, he still did not feel that it was his place to say.
He shrugged in response. Dominic nodded. Cristal tilted her head clearly indicating that his non-response was absolutely not acceptable. Mateo was pretty sure he was about to get an earful when Raiza stepped back into the room.
The fresh scent of clean, flowery crispness floated in with her and he felt his jeans getting snug. Damn. Even her scent got him going.
“Everything okay?” Cristal asked as Raiza sat back down in the seat she had just vacated.
“Fine,” her clipped tone clearly broadcasting that everything was not fine, but she was not going to be discussing it further. Her posture was stiff and rigid.
Mateo desperately wanted this meeting to be over so he could find out what was going on. He assumed it was her aunt, but what if it wasn’t. All of his protective instincts were on high alert. He wanted to fix whatever was upsetting her, or at the very least just be there for her—which was definitely not his normal after-sex impulse.
Usually he liked some space. He didn’t want to get involved in anything even coming close to personal. But this was different.
This was Raiza.
---~---
All I have to do is make it through this meeting and then I can go home and have the nervous breakdown that I so very much deserve , Raiza told herself. She did not even know how to begin to process the day’s events. So much had happened since her coffee this morning at seven a.m. Most of it had been bad, all of it had been unexpected, and some of it may even be life-changing.
Raiza heard the door open behind her and Jerry stuck his head in the conference room, “They left the hotel room. We’ve got about three hours of footage to translate. We will have the transcripts to you by morning.”
Dominic and Cristal both nodded and Jerry exited the room.
“Alright, moving on,” Dominic said harshly.
He still seemed upset about Raiza’s chosen tactics and the fact that Cristal had her back. In most situations Raiza respected Dominic’s opinion, even before he had been the one signing her paychecks. He was smart, he had good instincts and he always made calculated decisions, at least in circumstances that Cristal was not involved in. But in this case, Raiza knew that she had made the right call staying and planting the bugs.
She had had a gut feeling when she had heard that the mark was not meeting a woman that he was having an affair with, but rather two known cartel members, that she needed to get the room bugged.
Had it been risky? Yes. Had she been scared? Yes. Would she do the same thing again? Yes.
“So what exactly happened when we lost eyes and ears on you?” Dominic asked.
Even
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