Thomas doesn’t wait for me to answer and walks past me to the road, and I can’t help but frown as I turn to follow him. I don’t like being guided by someone younger and with lower status, but today, it’s crucial for our play. He is the one to introduce me to the college crowd-and hopefully, Jacinta.
As we cross the road and get closer to the charity fair, I study our surroundings from the corner of my eye. There are at least three Mexicans walking around and through the crowd, so I try to keep my gaze low, raise my scarf high, and not attract their attention. Thomas may be off their radars, but my face they should know well enough.
“Hey, Rose! How’s it going?” Thomas loudly calls out all of a sudden, and I almost want to hiss at him to be quiet-but a girl walks over before I can do anything.
“Oh, hi, Thomas! I didn’t expect to see you here. Do you want to check our stall?”
“Ah, I’m not sure,” Thomas drawls with a smirk on his lips, and Rose giggles into her hand. Huh? Is it actually funny?
“Come on!” She swats his shoulder before eyeing me all of a sudden. “And you can bring your friend too.”
“He’s my brother.” Thomas grins and squeezes my shoulder, leaning on it. “Don’t you think we’re both very good-looking?”
God, I hate teenagers.
“You are shameless!” But Rose laughs with a high-pitched sound and shakes her hand before turning to me with an assessing look. “You’re right, though. Hi, I’m Rose.”
“Paul.” I reluctantly shake her hand. “Nice to meet you.”
Only when Rose turns around to guide us into the crowd do I realize that one of Jacinta’s guards is walking past me without batting an eye. Does it look like I’m with Rose? I glance at the Mexican over my shoulder and let go of the gun in my inner pocket. Whatever the reason is, it seems that our cover works.
I stay with Thomas and Rose for a while just to make it less obvious that I have no interest in the handmade bracelets she’s selling. But soon
enough, Thomas notices another one of his classmates, and it gives us a perfect chance to split up.
“Stay here and find out where she is,” I murmur in a low voice and pointedly look at the gathering of Thomas’ classmates.
We haven’t seen a trace of Jacinta yet, and I don’t like it. She’s obviously here-otherwise, why would there be so much security? But I hate wasting time, especially when the chance that the Mexicans will recognize me grows with every passing second. Thomas nods, momentarily losing the facade of a teenager, and I let him go before turning in the other direction.
I hate crowded places, as they give me no space to fight or escape if danger arises, but I make my way deeper into the crowd and toward the
stage. It makes my skin prickle with discomfort, and my whole body is taut and ready for an attack, but finding Jacinta is more important than any sense of safety right now.
I keep my hand on my gun through the fabric of my jacket and look at the face of every person coming my way. I wouldn’t be able to miss her, right?
My phone buzzes a few minutes later, and I immediately reach for it. What if it’s Thomas or Louis? What if they found her? I feel a rush of
adrenaline when I see Louis’ name, but it turns out that he only sent me an update on his location. He’s at the table of a coffee shop, keeping an eye on the crowd. Good, but it’s not exactly what I-
“Oh, excuse me.”
Someone suddenly bumps into me from behind, and I almost drop my phone from the impact, cursing out loud. “Goddamnit, watch where you’re going!”
I turn around to teach that asshole some manners-and freeze. Shit.
It’s her.
Jacinta stands in front of me with a stack of papers in her arms and a frown on her face. She avoids my gaze as if embarrassed by the encounter, but I can see that she’s annoyed too. Her lips are pursed, and her chocolate eyes are grim when she glances at me-and a rush of warmth runs through my body as soon as I meet her gaze. Oh god.
Thanks to whatever joke of destiny, Jacinta Escarra came right into my hands.
“You shouldn’t be standing like a dumbass in the middle of the crowd, then,” she mutters, low enough to pretend like she doesn’t want me to hear it, and I can’t help a chuckle. So she’s a character, huh? I should’ve figured.
Jacinta moves to walk past me, still looking grumpy, and before I can think about it I grab her arm. Damn it. I should be careful, I can’t scare her away after the first meeting-but something in me doesn’t want to let her go. I frown at the feeling, but I don’t have time to process it before Jacinta turns back to me with a challenging look. “What? I’ve already apologized.”
I keep my gaze steady on her even though the daring tone of her voice surprises me. Well, that’s a girl who doesn’t know how to be scared- but not for long, trust me. I wonder if she’ll be just as cocky when I force her into the car, pin her to the passenger seat, and have my way with her…
I blink. Shit. What am I thinking?
“Listen, if you have a problem with me, I know a guy who’d be glad to talk to you instead.”
Jacinta straightens her shoulders, still trying to look serious, but I notice that her ferocity wavers. She glances at my hand on her arm and immediately looks to the side, avoiding my gaze, but I still notice a glint of shyness in her eyes. So she likes my attention, huh?
I smirk and lean toward her. “Is that your boyfriend you’re talking about?”
Jacinta huffs and looks up-and our eyes immediately meet, sending another rush of heated adrenaline through my chest. I instinctively tighten my grip on her arm and pull her closer, and Jacinta winces a little but doesn’t pull back.
“Maybe it is.”
“Oh, so a girl like you has a man to show off?” I say with a smirk just to tease her, but something in Jacinta’s eyes wavers in response. She blinks, and the fire in her eyes makes way for a look of hurt. Wait, I didn’t mean it to be-
“Whatever,” Jacinta mutters and weaves her arm out of my loosened grip. “I was just going to the stage, so if you don’t mind.”
She doesn’t wait for my response and readjusts her hold on the papers before pushing through the crowd in the direction of the stage. Someone complains again when Jacinta bumps into them, but she ignores it and continues walking until I lose sight of her.
Shit. I look around, feeling lost, my heart pounding in my chest. What the hell have I done? I was supposed to charm her at first sight, not get into a goddamn argument! If I follow her right away, Jacinta may get
suspicious and actually call her guards, so I give her a few seconds-that I use to send Thomas a message to find me-and start walking in the same direction.
It takes me a moment to find her again. Jacinta is wearing an inconspicuous beige hoodie with a black sleeveless shirt underneath, so it’s quite a task to catch her in the crowd-but once I know what I’m looking for, my eyes are focused on that thing only. So eventually, I notice Jacinta talking to a girl near the stage and make my way closer to them.
It looks like the main event of the charity fair is some kind of student music band playing their songs, and Jacinta is helping out. She
appears here and there, handing out the papers from her hands-but when I finally sneak behind the stage, she disappears. At the same time, the band starts playing, and the deafening sound of their shitty music gets on my nerves.
“Hey, you can’t be here.” Someone suddenly catches my shoulder, and I turn around so quickly that the guy steps back and raises his hands. “Sorry, man, but-”
“Have you seen Jacinta?” “Who?”
I gather the last remnants of my patience and look him in the eyes.
“Jacinta. The Mexican girl that’s been handing out the papers.”
“Oh, the fat one?” I clench my jaw and step toward the guy, forcing him to retreat with a terrified gasp. It’s too late to play Thomas’ harmless older brother, I need Jacinta now. “Sorry, yes, I mean-uh, I think she went to the bathroom? Yeah, she-”
“Where?”
He frantically gestures at the college entrance. “There, go past the security point and turn right, you’ll see the sign.”
I look at the huge glass doors of the main entrance. Security point?
No, it’s too obvious.
I turn back to the guy. “Do you have any other way in?”
“Uh, let me think,” he mutters, and I quickly glance around to check for witnesses before punching his stomach with my elbow. The guy doubles with a pained hiss, but it helps him to clear his memory. “Yes, there is-go down there, past the parking lot, you’ll see Graham Hall on your right, no, on your left. Nobody cares if you’re a student, just go through the doors and walk back to the main entrance.”
Even before he finishes, I let him go and take off in the direction of the parking lot. It’s dangerous to get so close to the Mexicans, but I can’t lose time. It’s my only chance to capture Jacinta inside the building.
Nobody’s gonna see us there, it’s damn perfect!
While I try to walk as fast as possible without attracting attention, I notice that Thomas leaves the crowd and follows me. Damn it, he’s being too obvious. But I don’t have time to deal with him-I have to call Omero first.
“I almost have her, be ready,” I say as soon as he picks up. “Where?”
“The parking lot. Drive here, I’ll-” Shit.
“Paolo?”
But I take my phone away from my ear as I focus my attention on the figure that runs out of the door of Graham Hall. It’s the exact entrance I was looking for-but it looks like I don’t need it anymore. Because even in a different black jacket and with her hair tucked under the hood, I still recognize Jacinta Escarra.
Goddamnit. What is she doing? “What’s happening?”
Thomas stops next to me, completely changed in his demeanor, and it finally pulls me out of my stupor. I immediately take off after Jacinta- but I’m too late. All I manage is to see her climb into a taxi and drive away from under my nose. Shit. But I’m not gonna give up so easily.
I curse in Italian and bring my phone to my ear. “Do you see me?” “Already on my way.”
And indeed, Omero shows up just a few seconds later and stops right in front of me. Thomas and I jump into the car, and before Louis says anything, I point at the far end of St. Louis Avenue where Jacinta’s car turns on the green light. Omero takes off without another word.
“Gray Toyota, follow it, we have to get her,” I let out in one breath, focused only on the stream of cars in front of us, when I hear Louis click his tongue.
“Shit. Paolo?”
I hum without losing my focus. “The Mexicans are after us.”