“Here goes nothing,” John said.

  Mia hurried over, laid a hand on his shoulder and gave a reassuring squeeze. He glanced up at her, and her blue-eyed gaze was understanding but worried. Despite that, she said, “Whatever it is, we will handle this.”

  He didn’t know if the we included him. He wanted it to. He wanted that and more, especially with Mia.

  “We will,” he said, but it sounded almost robotic, and she clearly picked up on that and more as well.

  “It is a we, John. We will do this together,” Mia stressed.

  The slight tightening of her hand coincided with the damning ding.

  Peering around at the family members gathered in the conference room, he felt as if he was the executioner on judgment day, but he had no doubt about what his program results now meant for them and for him.

  “We’re all in danger. Someone is going to end our lives unless we can figure it out.”

  BISCAYNE BAY BREACH

  New York Times Bestselling Author

  Caridad Piñeiro

  New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Caridad Piñeiro is a Jersey girl who just wants to write and is the author of nearly fifty novels and novellas. She loves romance novels, superheroes, TV and cooking. For more information on Caridad and her dark, sexy romantic suspense and paranormal romances, please visit www.caridad.com.

  Books by Caridad Piñeiro

  Harlequin Intrigue

  South Beach Security

  Lost in Little Havana

  Brickell Avenue Ambush

  Biscayne Bay Breach

  Cold Case Reopened

  Trapping a Terrorist

  Decoy Training

  Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com.

  CAST OF CHARACTERS

  Mia Gonzalez—Mia and her cousin Carolina run a successful lifestyle and gossip blog and are invited to every important event in Miami. That lets “the Twins” gather a lot of information about what is happening in Miami to help South Beach Security with their various investigations.

  John Wilson—John is a tech genius who recently sold his start-up for millions of dollars. He’s building a new tech start-up and trying to develop a personal life out of the limelight that his success has created.

  Miles Wilson—Miles is John’s older half brother and works with John at his new start-up. He was always protective of John but also jealous of all that John has been able to accomplish.

  Ramon Gonzalez III (Trey)—Marine Trey Gonzalez served Miami Beach as an undercover detective before retiring and joining South Beach Security. Trey is the heir apparent to run South Beach Security.

  Josefina (Sophie) and Robert Whitaker Jr.—Trey’s cousins are genius tech gurus who work at South Beach Security and help the agency with their various investigations.

  Ricardo Gonzalez (Ricky)—A trained psychologist, Ricky helps South Beach Security with their domestic abuse cases and other kinds of civil assignments. When he’s not working at the agency, Ricky runs a support group for individuals suffering from trauma.

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Epilogue

  Excerpt from Honolulu Cold Homicide by R. Barri Flowers

  Chapter One

  John Wilson’s internal alarms were ringing louder than the warning sirens in a nuclear power plant.

  Someone had tried to get into the servers, and he had no doubt why: they wanted to steal the new software he was developing, which made him worry for multiple reasons, other than the obvious attempt at theft. First and foremost was that even he had concerns about what this software could do and what would happen if it fell into the wrong hands. Secondly, because it meant either someone inside the company was behind the attempted hack, or had blabbed to someone outside the company about what was supposed to be a top-secret project.

  Regardless of the reason, he had to act to protect his code. But he wasn’t sure he could do it alone and there was only one group of people he could think of that could help: South Beach Security.

  He had no doubt they would assist if he asked since he’d helped them in the past, but involving the Gonzalezes’ family-run agency meant having to deal with one prickly and beautiful family member: Mia Gonzalez.

  Their relationship, if you could even call it that, had started off clumsily and ended even more awkwardly. Mia and her cousin Carolina, affectionately nicknamed “the Twins,” were well-known social-media influencers and also regularly helped the family with their personal and professional connections to gather valuable information for the agency.

  Despite that, he knew he had no choice but to call the Gonzalez family for their assistance. This project was just too important to risk.

  But first, he had to take steps to make life more difficult for whoever was trying to hack his company. A scan for malware on all the end points and servers; making sure his cybersecurity programs were working properly; checking for any and all targeted attacks; and finally, changing passwords across his different access points in case any of them had been compromised.

  “What’s up, bro?” his brother, Miles, asked as he strolled into John’s temporary office. Since he’d sold off his tech start-up several months earlier, he and the half dozen or so employees who had come with him were in a small, leased space in a Brickell Avenue building, just a couple of blocks down from the South Beach Security offices.

  John swiveled in his chair to face Miles. His brother was dressed casually, like so many Miamians. He wore a pale yellow guayabera shirt that hung loosely over sharply pressed khakis. His dark blond hair was cut short on the sides, but longer on top, where strands were ruthlessly plastered in place with gel against the Miami heat and humidity.

  It made John feel a little—no, make that a lot—underdressed since when he’d rolled out of bed this morning, he’d jerked on one of his many graphic T-shirts and well-worn jeans. As for his hair, he nervously ran his hands through it to tame the rumpled waves.

  “Not much,” John lied, wary of mentioning his concerns to anyone in the company, even his brother.

  Miles narrowed his hazel eyes, which were so much like his own it was like looking into a mirror. Although sometimes John didn’t like what he saw. Like now.

  “You sure?” Miles pressed.

  “I’m sure. Just a little wonkiness with some code I’m trying to figure out. What are you up to today?” John asked, swiveling back and forth in his chair.

  “Heading over to the Del Sol to finalize plans for Friday night’s party,” Miles said as he tucked his hands into his pockets and tottered back and forth on his heels.

  John was so done with Miles’s party scene, but his brother enjoyed the attention and the women. He suspected that Miles knew that, hence his slightly guarded reaction. But since the parties were important to Miles, he went along with it.

  “Sounds good. Do you think they could add some Cubanos to the menu?” He had a hankering for the tasty pork-ham-and-Swiss-cheese sandwiches he’d shared with Mia when they’d gone out a couple of weeks earlier.

  Mia, he thought again with a rough sigh. “Do you think the Twins will be coming?”

  Miles shrugged and narrowed his gaze again as he said, “I can invite them if you want but I thought you were done with Mia.”

  He did a little lift of his shoulders and swiveled to and fro in the chair again. “I am. Just wondering is all.”

  Miles nodded and flicked a finger in the direction of his computer. “Are you sure I can’t help?”

  Miles was a decent enough programmer, but John wasn’t letting anyone near this software project. He waved him off. “No need. Just doing some routine security checks,” he said and nearly bit his lip since it was a different reason than he’d given before. He hoped Miles wouldn’t pick up on that.

  Miles opened his eyes wide. “Someone hacking us?”

  He shook his head and waved his hands again. “Like I said. Routine checks. I’d let you know,” he said even though he wouldn’t. He’d already been stung once before when leaks about a problem had made his old company’s stock price dive. He suspected someone had done it intentionally to short the company’s stock.

  With a quick salute, Miles said, “I guess I’m off to the Del Sol then. Let me know if you want anything besides some tasty Cubanas.”

  “Cubanos,” John corrected, uncomfortable with how Miles was referring to Mia and Carolina, two Cubanas who would also not appreciate his joke.

  “Chill, bro. Just kidding,” Miles said with a laugh and left the office, but John saw he was immediately on his phone, and he hoped it was just to coordinate with the hotel about the party.

  He hurried to his door, closed it and returned to his
desk. After unlocking his smartphone, he checked it out to make sure it hadn’t been hacked. Satisfied, he dialed Trey Gonzalez, the current second-in-command at South Beach Security. He’d gotten to know Trey quite well since he and his fiancée, Roni, had investigated him about a month ago when John had been a suspect in one of their cases.

  A few weeks after that, right when he’d first started seeing Mia, he’d also helped Trey with a different case involving an abusive ex-husband attacking his ex and bribing building inspectors to ignore dangerous construction issues.

  “Hola, John. Good to hear from you,” Trey said.

  John clenched his lips as he said, “I’m not so sure it’s a good thing you’re hearing from me.”

  Trey was silent for a moment. “If you need help, we’re here. We help our friends.”

  John was grateful that Trey wasn’t doing it solely out of a sense of obligation because John had helped SBS in the past. He’d had few friends in his life, since he was always too busy, first with putting food on the table and later, building his business. But his gut told him that Trey and some of the other Gonzalez family members could actually be friends.

  Well, except for Mia, of course. The last thing he wanted was to be in her friend zone.

  “Thanks, Trey. I’d like to keep this as quiet as I can,” he said, worried that another leak would hurt his new venture.

  “Totally understand. Why don’t we meet at Versailles at noon? It’ll be just two friends having lunch,” Trey said.

  “I’d appreciate that.” John swiped to end the call.

  He had several other checks to run so that he could give Trey as much information as he could about the possible hacks during their lunch.

  * * *

  MIA POPPED INTO Trey’s office and held up the bag with the café con leches and Cuban bread toast she’d picked up at a nearby restaurant to surprise him.

  But as she walked in unannounced, it was impossible to miss her brother’s brooding look that told her something was up and that it wasn’t anything good. When he saw her, however, he shuttered that worried expression, grinned and clapped his hands. “Please tell me that’s breakfast.”

  “It is, hermano,” she said, and quickly added, “Everything okay?”

  He nodded, tight-lipped. “Totally, how about you? What brings you to the office so bright and early, and without Caro?”

  “Carolina is doing a short mom-daughter getaway with Tia Elena. I didn’t feel like being a third wheel and remembered you still had some things to unpack,” she said and gestured to the corner of his office, where a few boxes still lingered.

  Trey dipped his head to acknowledge it. “I haven’t had a chance with everything that’s been going on.”

  Her older brother had definitely had a lot happening between almost being killed during a police investigation, leaving the department, getting engaged and dealing with a case involving their younger brother, Ricky, and the woman who was now his fiancée, Mariela.

  Trey rose and strolled to a small conference table at one side of his office. She followed, laid down the bag and pulled out the breakfast she’d brought. As she did so, her smartphone chirped a message notification.

  She pulled out her phone and grimaced as she saw it was from Miles Wilson, inviting her to the Del Sol for a Friday night party.

  “You don’t look happy,” Trey said as he sat at the table, slipped the top off the café con leche and took a sip.

  She held up the phone for Trey to see. “I gather you’re not a fan,” he said.

  She wrinkled her nose as if she was smelling a dirty diaper because that’s how Miles made her feel. Dirty. “Not a fan at all,” she said and sat down to have her coffee and toast, although the text had diminished her appetite.

  “Is that why you and John—”

  “No, it’s not, and when did you become such a gossip?” she teased and elbowed her brother playfully as he sat beside her.

  Trey chuckled. “When my hermanita starts dating an eccentric multimillionaire tech guru.”

  “He’s not all that eccentric and we were never ‘dating,’” she said with air quotes for emphasis.

  “You were ‘going out.’ What happened?” Trey kidded with similar air quotes, but despite his lighthearted tone, she sensed there was more behind his question.

  She deflected. “Not much. He was nice. We had fun,” she said with a slight lift of her shoulders as she sipped her coffee.

  “Sounds...boring,” Trey replied and wolfed down a big piece of toast.

  Surprisingly it had been anything but boring. Too many men treated her as if she was a piece of arm candy to make them look better. To his credit, John hadn’t. He’d been respectful and had seemed genuinely interested in finding out more about her as a person. And there had been some sparks, only...

  She didn’t enjoy the parties, like the one to which she’d just been invited. Or the flashy red Lamborghini he drove. Those things screamed “lack of confidence,” and in her mind, there was nothing sexier in a man than confidence.

  Like her brother Trey. He had confidence in spades, which was just what was needed to become the next head of South Beach Security. She asked, “You getting settled? Papi okay?”

  “Yes, and yes. I know Mami and he are happy I left the force. Papi’s doing what he can to make me feel welcome here, even going business-casual,” Trey said as he finished the last of his toast and hungrily eyed the half she hadn’t touched.

  “Take it,” she said and pushed the piece toward him.

  As he devoured it, she shook her head and said, “You are never going to fit into your tux for the wedding.”

  He grinned, a boyish relaxed grin that had rarely happened when he was on the police force. “I’ll work it off, don’t worry.”

  She didn’t. She had never seen her brother as happy as he was now, working with the family and engaged to Roni Lopez, her closest friend aside from Carolina. It made her heart ache with joy for them, but also hurt a little for herself.

  Trey was truly happy with Roni.

  Her younger brother, Ricky, was seriously in love with Mariela.

  And she was...still busy hitting the social scene with Carolina. Not that she didn’t like spending time with her cousin. It’s just that lately, with her biological clock inching toward thirty, she wanted more in her life. Someone who would be there for her like Trey and Ricky were for Roni and Mariela.

  Maybe even a bigger role in her family’s business and not just the occasional help that she and Carolina regularly offered. She had a degree in business administration, after all.

  As for John Wilson... He wasn’t the kind of guy who could give her what she wanted.

  * * *

  YOU PROBABLY WEREN’T a Miamian if you hadn’t eaten at Versailles at some time in your life, John thought as he found a parking spot on Calle Ocho near the restaurant. There were a number of people lined up at the take-out window—La Ventanita, as it was known to locals. If you wanted to know anything about what was happening in Cuba, Little Havana, Miami, or Washington involving Cubans, all you had to do was hang out around La Ventanita to find out.

  He hoped the restaurant wouldn’t be quite as busy as the take-out window.

  John got out of the nondescript BMW sedan. He had thought it better to take that than the flashy red Lamborghini Veneno. While it was an amazing vehicle, he didn’t really like calling attention to himself, but Miles thought John had to maintain a certain image in order to attract investors for their new venture.

  John thought that if anyone was stupid enough to invest money based on the car someone drove, they were asking to be fleeced.

  He walked to the hostess podium to ask for a table, but realized Trey was already sitting at one in a back corner of the restaurant. Trey flagged him down and he excused himself and walked to meet the other man.

  “Good to see you, John,” Trey said and rose to bro-hug him.

  “Thanks for agreeing to meet me.” John took a seat opposite Trey, his back to the crowd of diners. It occurred to him then that Trey had picked the table and John’s seat to provide the highest privacy possible in such a public place.