Sacrifice of Passion (Deadly Legends) Read Online Free PDF Page B

condemned her as a heretic, and ill will toward her had spread over the years. Only the poor migrant community and the old world believers went to see her anymore. Chris and Jasper would never understand. They’d been taken in by their uncle after their parents had died. Landon Locke had been strict and raised them to be God-fearing.
    A cowboy on the dance floor whooped, and a barrage of applause followed. Enough of a distraction that Vic didn’t have to answer Jasper. He shook off Esperanza’s vacant, haunting gaze and turned his attention back to the bar. An electrified buzz was in the air, the hollering louder than usual, as if the unsettled sky and brewing storm had spread its agitation inside.
    The door at the other end of the bar opened and a woman breezed in, a strong wind with her. A cowboy hat sat low on her head. The talk in the bar changed as she made her way past the band and into Vic’s territory. This woman was beyond sexy in a dress that hit just at the knees, brown cowboy boots, cream colored hat, and a suede jacket. Nothing like a gorgeous stranger to get the attention of a herd of cowboys. Great.
    She glided up to the bar and sat at a stool. He’d started to cross over to take her drink order, then stopped dead in his tracks when she took off her hat and let her hair spill down her shoulders.
    Gorgeous, yes. Stranger, no.
    That old ache of unfulfilled desire and frustration he’d experienced just over twenty-four hours ago struck him like a hot poker between the eyes. “Shit.” The word snapped out of his mouth.
    Jasper turned toward him. “What?”
    “It’s her.”
    “Who?” Alan followed their gazes.
    Vic leaned his hip against the bar. Why the hell was he seeing Delaney West everywhere he went? Was this some kind of cruel joke? Wasn’t it enough that his son was enamored with her? Did she have to torture him with her presence all over San Julio? Jesus, not even El Charro was safe. “God must have it in for me,” he muttered.
    Jasper tapped his fingers against the bar. “Not supposed to take the Lord’s name in vain,” he chastised.
    “You’re a big help, man,” Vic said, shaking his head.
    “Get over her,” Alan snarled. “She’s over you.”
    Vic’s hands fisted and he slowly turned to Alan. He barely restrained himself from grabbing the jerk by the shirt and hauling his ass out of the bar. Enough was enough. No matter how many years the guy had pined over Delaney, she’d never be his. That much Vic would bet his life on.
    “Oh, we’re over each other,” he said. But then a memory of the first time he’d really been attracted to her flooded over him. It must have been fourteen or fifteen years ago—at the community swimming pool. Early summer. She’d been wearing a two-piece swim suit, modest, yet the sexiest thing he’d ever seen on a woman.
    He could still smell the scent of bluebells, feel the humid air that wrapped itself around him like a blanket of warm moisture, hear the Los Lonely Boys song playing through the poolside speakers. He’d said hello, and when she returned the greeting, looking at him through her long eyelashes and then licking her lips and tilting her head, he’d fallen in love with her on the spot.
    “Yo. Vic.”
    He turned to Jasper. “What?”
    “Where’d you go?”
    “Nowhere. Never mind.”
    But Jasper shook his head like he knew exactly what Vic had been thinking. “She’s your cross, amigo . I can see it in your eyes.”
    Vic cocked one eyebrow. “Come again?”
    “Your cross. You know, the load you carry with you. The one you want but can’t have.”
    Should have had. She’d left him high and dry, broken-hearted and with a hard-on that he still remembered. But for some reason he still felt responsible for her. The curandera’s haunting words came back to him. How had she known Delaney was back, and what did she think Delaney’s reappearance in San Julio had to do with the dead, blood-drained animals?
    Jasper continued solemnly.