It was dead calm beneath the canopy, but in the utter darkness he could still make out the shapes of the leaves, feel the heat seeping into his pores, squeezing his heart like a vise. He was going to seduce another woman. Look at her. Touch her. Draw her to him. Betray Isabeau one more time. It was another sin among so many.

“Can you do it?” Rio asked, evidently following his train of thought.

Conner turned his head, a slow animal-like motion. His eyes held distance. Self-loathing. “I was born for the job.” He couldn’t quite cover the bitterness in his voice.

Rio inhaled sharply. He couldn’t imagine betraying Rachel. “One of the others can try it. You can teach them.”

Felipe and Leonardo looked at one another. How did one learn charisma? Conner had an animal quality about him that they all shared, but his was predominant, inherent, something he was born with and wore on the outside as well as the inside. He walked into a room and everyone was instantly aware of him. They didn’t try to hide Conner, rather used his presence to their advantage. He could look bored, amused and indifferent all at the same time.

For the first time Elijah stirred, drawing attention to himself. He had a past in the drug industry and knew most of those involved by reputation. He was also a very dangerous, charismatic man. “I might be able to help with this matter. I have a past. This woman, Imelda Cortez, she will recognize my name if I use it. Just my presence alone will cast a taint on Santos.” He cast a quick glance at Felipe and Leonardo. “I’m sorry, but you know it is the truth. She will have all of us checked out and my name is known to every law enforcement agency around the world. She might be interested enough to invite us because I’m there as well. I can try seduction.”

Rio studied him. Elijah was his brother-in-law. He had inherited the drug throne his father and uncle had created. When his father had tried to go legitimate, his uncle had killed him and taken Elijah and Rachel in, raising them under his rule. Life and death was all Elijah had ever known. He wasn’t ready yet for such a key position on a mission. There was no doubt his looks and magnetism would draw Imelda to him, but he didn’t have the charm yet that Conner possessed. The four scars from a leopard’s claw on the side of Conner’s face only added to his mystique.

Rio let himself look at Conner. He’d been the one who’d selected Conner to seduce Isabeau Chandler. And in the end, Rio had been the one to kill her father. Conner had tried to save him, but Chandler had pulled a gun and tried to protect the leader of a terrorist camp. He’d given Rio no choice. Conner was in the line of fire, trying to talk the man down, but the doctor refused to take the out. Rio had pulled the trigger and saved Conner’s life, but there’d been no way to save his soul.

Isabeau had been so shocked. Rio would never forget the look on her face when she realized Conner had used her to gain entrance to the camp. He cringed every time he thought of it and now he was asking Conner to do the same thing again to another woman. Imelda was no innocent like Isabeau, but it was still a lousy job anyway he looked at it.

Conner shrugged. “I appreciate the offer, Elijah, but there’s no use in both of us losing out. You still have a chance. I lost mine a long time ago. You can’t go to your mate with dirt all over you. It just doesn’t work out.”

“I’m pretty covered in it already,” Elijah pointed out. “I’ve done things I’m not proud of.”

“All of us have,” Conner said, “but that’s not what I’m trying to tell you. This is a different situation, and Imelda Cortez is the scum of the earth, but if you seduce her and sleep with her, when you do find your mate, you won’t be able to look her in the eye.”

Rio opened his mouth, but there was nothing to say. He could never have gone back to face Rachel with that kind of sin coating his soul black, yet he was asking Conner to once again bear that responsibility. What he was asking was wrong, but there was no way into the Cortez fortress without an invitation.

“You’ve been there once,” Elijah pointed out. “It isn’t fair to have you put in that position again.”

“I know who my mate is,” Conner said. “Isabeau Chandler belongs to me. I won’t have a second chance with her, not after what I did. I would never take another woman and ruin her chances at her own happiness. I know all too well how that turns out.” His voice had gone bitter and he made an effort to change his tone, shrugging casually. “I have nothing to lose, Elijah, and you have everything to lose. I’ll do this one last time and then if you still want the job and it needs doing, you can make up your mind then.”

“If you’re sure.”

“It’s my mess. The man my father accuses of killing my mother is working for Imelda Cortez. His name, along with his partner’s, is on that hit list. I’m going after both of them. Imelda wouldn’t tell anyone about the leopard people. She’d use the information to her advantage, so right now we’ve got the opportunity to contain this.”

Rio nodded. “She’ll be looking for more leopard recruits.”

“She won’t find them in our village,” Conner assured. “Raul moved the village deeper into the forest and the two rogues, Martin Suma and Ottila Zorba, are the other two names on the hit list. I recognize the name Suma from my village, but don’t remember him. He didn’t live with us. His parents took him out of the rain forest. He must have returned after I left. Even though Suma killed my mother, he wouldn’t have a way of putting us together. Zorba isn’t one of ours.”