Her Enemy Protector by Cindy Dees Page A

dead man, too. The judge ran the license through his copying machine and handed Joe the warm sheet of paper. “Good luck,” Cabot said quietly.
    Joe grinned back at him. “Here’s hoping luck has nothing to do with it.”
    “Better you than me,” the judge mumbled under his breath.
    Josefina Cabot spoke up. “Can I get you newlyweds something to drink? A glass of champagne, perhaps, to toast the occasion?”
    “Thank you, ma’am, but I think not,” Joe answered politely. “It’s late, and we’ve imposed on you and your husband far too much already. We need to be getting back before Mr. Ferrare worries unnecessarily about where I’ve taken his daughter.”
    As he’d anticipated, neither of the Cabots had the slightest interest in causing Eduardo any unnecessary worry. His comment ended all argument about them sticking around to celebrate.
    Joe reached for Cari and placed a proprietary hand on her back. Damn, that gentle inward curve felt right under his palm. He guided her from the room and left Colonel Folly to tag along behind them. But as they approached the front door, the colonel stepped around them and hurried down the porch steps to open the car doors.
    In a matter of seconds, Joe ushered Cari into the Cadillac sedan, closing the door behind her. With a last wave of thanks to the Cabots, he climbed into his side of the car. The house retreated into the night.
    It was done. He’d married Carina Ferrare. And now all he had to do was live through the next hour. Thankfully, Folly managed to avoid all the patrols in the area. The man had a sixth sense for that sort of thing.
    The closer they got to Ferrare’s oceanfront estate, the quieter Carina got. She seemed to shrink into her seat as she pulled inward more and more. Lord knew, Joe wasn’t looking forward to facing her father. Eduardo had a legendary temper and was known for killing people first and asking questions later. It would be the toughest moment of this whole op.
    It was possible that Cari was just faking the silent desperation rolling off of her, but Joe doubted it. Although, her big sister was an Academy Award-caliber actress when the need arose. He supposed growing up around their father made that a necessary survival skill.
    Long before he was ready, Joe saw the massive outline of Eduardo Ferrare’s mansion ahead. The whole place was lit up like a Christmas tree. Crap. His abrupt departure with Carina from the disco had kicked the hornet’s nest but good.
    Time to face the music.
    “Ready?” his boss asked, looking through the rearview mirror at Joe.
    Like he was ever going to be ready to face the most vicious bastard in the western hemisphere with nothing but his wits and a marriage license to protect him. Aloud, Joe answered, “As ready as I’m ever gonna be. Let’s do it.”

Chapter 5
    J oe leaned back in the seat as the car turned into the driveway of the Ferrare estate. Time to put on his game face. Charlie Squad’s staff psychologist had said Joe needed to appear capable of controlling his new wife’s behavior while still being caring and considerate of Cari. However, he also needed to come across as being not bright enough to pose any kind of threat to Ferrare’s organization.
    He could still hear the wry note in Doc Porter’s voice as she suggested he appear to get the job done with mind-blowing sex. The shrink had gone on to comment dryly that being a superb lover by no means translated into being clever at anything else.
    Colonel Folly’s window slid down and a burly man leaned down to stare in aggressively. “Whaddya want?” the guy snapped.
    Folly answered evenly, “Miss Ferrare and her guest would like to go inside.”
    The furor that erupted was impressive. Cell phones rang, radios crackled and a dozen men converged on the car.
    Joe readied himself to fight when the first guard all but came through the window in reaction to Folly’s casual announcement, snarling, “Where the hell has she been?”
    Folly threw