Mateo's paper burned in my head like it burned in my palm the moment he pressed it there. I can take you to Vargas. Three words I had to fold and hide like contraband. It sat beneath the mattress now, wrapped in fabric, a small dangerous thing that might open everything — or destroy me at a single breath.
Rafael's arm was heavy and constant across my waist. Even asleep, he took up space like an animal that had decided the cage was his home. I lay very still so his hold would not tighten. He was warm against my back; his skin smelled of him — cologne and coffee and leather. If I let my mind soften, let it wander the way my body wanted to, I could almost forget that I planned to betray him.
But I couldn't forget.
