“Come here to me, Natalia,” he says, and I make myself move.
I will myself to move for the same reason I obey Adriana’s orders.
It’s his fault, though, why her dislike for me turned to hate. She hates that he wants me and only wants her because she’s his path to the empire. As much as she screws around with any man who will have her, she wants Felipe to want her and only her. She likes his power and what it means for her future as the Cartel Queen when Raul hands over the kingdom to Felipe.
When I reach him, I make sure I stop a few paces away, but the bastard knows what I’m up to and steps forward, closing the space between us.
The closeness makes my skin crawl, but I root my feet to the ground and try to look like I’m stronger than I am.
“Adriana sent you again?” he asks.
“Yes.”
“I’m sure she didn’t say where she was going.”
“No.”
He smiles wider to reveal straight white teeth, reminding me of a well-dressed shark.
He cups my face and lowers his head to brush his lips over my forehead.
“I know she’s spreading her legs for that cunt at the club,” he whispers. “No matter. I get to play with you.”
His large hand covers my right breast and squeezes. When I try to step away, he slips his arm around me and holds me in place.
“Let go of me,” I cry, trying to break free of his grasp.
“Fucking stop fighting me.” A harsh laugh rumbles in his chest, and he crushes his lips to mine.
As soon as he forces his disgusting tongue into my mouth, the crash of the door makes us jump apart. Or rather, he releases me, and I move away from him at the sound.
We both look toward the door as a man walks through it.
A tall, tall man I’d place to be around six foot six with the kind of muscle you’d find on a military man. He’s gorgeous. Breathtaking even, and despite the danger rippling off him, I’m captivated by his beauty.
His face with its sun-kissed skin and deep angles and planes looks like it was carved by the gods. And the thick locks of wild, unruly obsidian hair covering his head and a neatly trimmed beard give him a rugged edge. The gold hoop looping through his ear makes him look like one of the pirate captains of the old world who sailed the Caribbean.
What gets me even more is his eyes.
The color and the emotion.
They glow like a warm honey, but there’s nothing warm about them. The emotion I detect is ice-cold hatred.
It makes the hair on the back of my neck stand to attention, and my soul cowers as he takes measured steps toward us.
“Impossible,” Felipe gasps, looking like he’s just seen a ghost.
I’ve never seen him look so scared. Even I know that when the monster who terrifies you gets scared, you should be worried about the thing that’s scaring him. In this case, it’s this man. This man I’ve never seen before.
“Y-you,” Felipe stutters.
“Yes, me,” the man answers, speaking with a hint of an accent I can’t quite place over the drumming of my heart in my ears.
“You’re supposed to be dead.”
“Clearly, I’m not. But you will be.” The man pulls two guns from his pockets, and before Felipe can do anything, the echo of bullets bounces off the walls as the man shoots him.
I scream and back away, knowing I have to get the fuck out of here.
