What I felt only two fucking minutes ago was accurate.
It allistoo good to be true.
Natalia Luna Esposito isn’t just some girl from the wrong side of the tracks who had an abusive ex stalking her.
She’s a pawn of the cartel.
And she was tasked with marrying me just so she can get access to Papá’s financial shit and thenkill me.
Mywife…the first woman I’ve fallen completely and head-over-heels in love with… is anassassin.
Only fucking me.
This shit wouldonlyhappen to me.
Holyfuck.
I could fuckinglaughright now.
Instead of laughing, I grit my teeth so hard I’m shocked that they don’t shatter into tiny pieces. My breathing picks up so quickly that I’m nearly lightheaded, and I leap to my feet, pacing in circles, gripping my hair, deaf to everything but the sound of my pulse slamming in my ears.
She’s a liar.
Everything, every touch, every kiss, every word from the very beginning has been a fuckinglie. And I fell for it, hook, line, and sinker.
I’ve never been in love with anyone before, so fucking leave it to me to let it happen when some two-faced bitch isplaying me.
I’m so fucking angry that I can’t think straight, and the rage takes over, causing me to snatch the edge of the sheet and throw it off of Natalia’s naked body. I’m about two seconds grabbing her arms and dragging her murderous, conniving ass out of the bed and down the stairs to deliver her to Papá so he can deal with her.
But then, I stop.
I stare at her while she continues to sleep, still as beautiful and serene as she was only two minutes ago. Apparently, just discovering that she’s a total fucking liar isn’t enough to counteract all the feelings of actual love that have been simmering and growing over the past couple of weeks, butnow… Now there’s also a really subtle and really friggin’ weird ache spliced with it.
Like my fuckingfeelingsare hurt or some shit.
Or… like myheartisbreaking.
You know what?No. That’sstupid. I still don’t evenknowher that well—apparentlyway lessthan I thought I did, for that matter. All those feelings of love can’t possibly be that deep and substantial yet.
But, as I continue pacing the floor, the aching sensation in my heart persists, and I guess the two weeks of chaos I’ve known her for were enough to get the job done.
Whatever.
I, like the idiot my father has always accused me of being, managed to unwittingly fall in love with a woman specifically sent to murder me. I’ll just have to let time heal my wounds or some shit, because I can’t get distracted by that right now. I have a serious situation to deal with, so I focus on the facts that I just gleaned from the messages.
Natalia works for the cartel.
From the looks of it, Xavier has her on a short leash, which is fortified by regular threats of violence, such is Los Dolorosos’ M.O.
The stalker ex I can’t remember saving her from at the casino was one of the cartel’s soldiers, and I can’t remember it because she drugged me while we were at the bar afterward.
She fed me a sob story and guilt-tripped me into marrying her while I was blitzed.
Now that we’re back in New York, her job is to get Papá’s “bank info”—whatever the fuck that means. Xavier clearly doesn’t understand what people as wealthy as Papá do with their money. He doesn’t exactly have a debit card she could snag and then clean out his checking account at a mother fucking ATM. Jesus fucking Christ, Xavier and hisvatosare fuckingstupid.
But I digress.
Ultimately, upon completing the “bank info” part of the assignment, Natalia’s supposed to get intel on Mal’s security detail to find out if they’re still watching the cartel.
