“And you know what?” Blake asked. “The only reason this matters to me is that it means you’re a target. I couldn’t give a rat’s ass who's stealing from the cartel unless it helps us find the women they kidnapped, and Alvarez. When my brothers get here, we’ll have resources we don’t have now.”

“Then why aren’t they already involved?”

“Yeah, well, there’s only one problem with my brothers. They really are the good guys.” Blake left that piece of good news hanging in the air, walked to the truck, and climbed in.

Kara joined him and shut her door. “If they’re the good guys, what are we?”

“Not ‘we’, sweetheart. Me. Just me, and I’m Alvarez’s worst nightmare. I’m the guy who doesn’t give a damn if he dies as long as I take him with me.” He started the truck and pulled onto the road. Neither of them spoke but the air was suddenly thick, the tension in the small space thicker.

Several minutes passed before Kara said, “I care.”

“What?”

“If you’ve already decided you’re going to die, you will and I care. I don’t want you to die.”

“Don’t. Don’t care.”

“Too late.”

“Kara—”

“When are you going to get it into your thick head that you can’t control me, and that includes what I feel? You can’t stop me from caring, and if you think I’m going to sit back and watch you go on a death mission, you’re the one who’s sadly mistaken.”

Blake felt like he’d been punched in the chest. He didn’t want her caring, and her fighting for him, to matter anymore than he wanted to care for her. But at least she’d solidified his decision. He had to get her out of this city, and his life, before he dragged her to hell with him and they burned together.

***

“She actually told them one of the women was wired?” Kyle asked, scrubbing his light blond bearded jaw. “That was freaking genius. It made her a hero, not a traitor.”

Blake glanced at the adjoining hotel doorway where he could hear Kara talking with the women, trying to comfort them and convince them that despite leaving all they knew as their life behind, everything was going to be fine. Pride swelled in Blake over how Kara handled herself. And Kyle was right. Her actions tonight had been genius. “Yes, well, smart as it was, it won’t matter. I’m getting her out of this.”

“Good luck on that one,” he said. “Not only is her sister missing, but that woman is so sharp she managed to drug you and get away with it. She has fire in her eyes. She’s not going anywhere without a fight.”

“Kyle.”