“Do you think Sobre knew she was on to him? Could he have deliberately used Suma and the raid on the village to target her?”

“Maybe, but we’ll probably never know. Imelda Cortez has most likely known about this and probably not only encouraged him, but helped him. They have a bond, those two, and it’s sick and perverted and definitely unhealthy.”

“You already knew it going in,” Isabeau said, “and you didn’t tell me.”

“Imelda Cortez would never go out into the open unless she completely controlled the situation, which meant, if she was attending this party at Philip Sobre’s residence, she had him in her pocket. It wasn’t that difficult after reading Marisa’s suspicions to know where to start our research. She wasn’t far off the mark. Every one of our leopards instinctively despised the man,” Elijah pointed out.

“And Conner just set himself up,” Isabeau said. “Sobre despises him and will look for any excuse to kill him after that public humiliation, and Imelda will want him because he made Sobre look small. Am I right?”

Elijah nodded. “That’s why we came, to get our foot in the door.”

“And Conner wanted Sobre’s attention off me and onto him,” she guessed.

“That too. It was important that you handle Sobre without tipping him off, Isabeau. This is your first time going into a situation like this and none of us knew how you’d handle it.”

She raised her chin. “What if I’d gone off with him?”

“No one ever took their eyes off you. That wouldn’t have been allowed. I’m the big bad cousin and Rio and Felipe are our personal protectors. If I ordered one of them to cart your ass to the car, they would do so without hesitation and no one would be suspicious.” His hand was on the door handle, but he wasn’t opening it.

“I can handle it,” she assured him.

“You’re certain? There can’t be any mistakes, Isabeau. Too many lives are at stake and we have no proof of anything. In any case, you can bet any law enforcement around here is either in Imelda’s pocket or terrified of her. Hell, most of it is getting paid extra money to guard Sobre’s party.”

“I said I can handle it. Conner’s hung out there on the line,” she said. “I’ve got his back. And don’t think I won’t do whatever it takes to make certain he gets out of this alive.”

Elijah studied her determined face and then nodded. “Good girl.” He ruffled her hair and rubbed at her face, putting spots of color on her skin and making her lips a little swollen as if he’d been kissing her. “Let’s hope Conner doesn’t rip out my heart and shove it down my throat.”