Page 31 of The Love Language of the Cartel

Special?As if being forced to marry my kidnapper could ever be special.

But I bit my tongue, remembering my decision to play along. Instead, I trawled up a smile. “How . . . thoughtful of you.”

Ozias dipped his chin, seemingly satisfied with my response. “There’s more. My younger sister, Maya, will be arriving within the hour to take you dress shopping.”

I blinked, trying to process the new information. “Your sister?”

“Sí. And Javier will be accompanying you both for protection, of course.”

Of course.He couldn’t have the bride running away before the forced wedding, could he?

Outwardly, I maintained my composure. “I didn’t realize you had a sister.”

Ozias’s eyes darkened for a moment before he shifted his gaze away. “There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Demi. But we have time for that. A lifetime, in fact.”

The weight of his words settled over me like a blanket. A lifetime. With this man. This dangerous, unpredictable man who’d turned my world upside down in a matter of twenty-four hours. I swallowed hard, pushing down the panic that threatened to rise in my throat.

Remember the plan. Play along. Survive. Wait for Daddy to come.

“Well then,” I said, injecting a note of false cheeriness into my voice. “I suppose I better finish my breakfast. Wouldn’t want to keep your sister waiting.”

Ozias’s porcelain smile was predatory, sending another shiver through me. He grunted. “That’s my girl.”

I had to fight not to flinch at his words.

As I returned to my meal, my mind raced with a million thoughts. A wedding. A dress. A sister-in-law I never asked for. It was all happening so fast, and I felt like I was drowning in a sea of chaos. But I’d stay afloat. I had to. Because somewhere out there, my father was coming for me. And until he arrived, I’d do whatever it took to survive in Ozias’s world.

Even if that meant sayingI doto the devil himself.

I pushed the remaining food around on my plate. As hungry as I once was, my appetite had suddenly vanished. A question burned on the tip of my tongue—one I’d been too afraid to ask but I needed to know the answer to.

“Ozias, w-what happened to the bodies of all those innocent women you had murdered?”

He looked up from his plate, his dark eyes unreadable. “Excuse me?” he questioned, his brow furrowing slightly.

I clenched my fists under the table, frustration bubbling up inside me. “My best friend Samara was the woman who was beside me when that yoga instructor drugged and helped kidnap me. I want to know what you did with her body.”

I’d been wrestling on and off with the thought of my best friend’s lifeless body lying in the bottom of the ocean somewhere and her soul never truly being at peace.

A neutral expression masked Ozias’s face. “Are you sure you want to know the answer to your question, mi amor?”

“Yes. I want to know what happened to my friend, Ozias. I want to know what the man I’m about to marry is truly capable of,” I stated, leaning forward so that my eyes bore into his.

“Would it make you feel better if I told you I had my men carve the words return to sender into their chests before shipping them back to where they came from? Or how about if I told you I had their bodies burned and their ashes scattered in the ocean?”

Ozias took a sip of his coffee, seemingly unfazed by my intensity. “I gave my men clear instructions,” he answered calmly. “Take you at any cost and clean up the mess. Despite what you may think of me, I’m not here to make you my enemy. Your father, on the other hand, is another situation in its entirety. I wasn’t looking for a war, there is one on the horizon. I can feel it.”

“Me too,” I said softly, surprising both of us.

We fell into silence as he continued his meal. My thoughts raced with possibilities, plans, and prayers that my family would find me sooner than later.

I must’ve stayed idle too long because I caught him staring at me through the corner of his eye. “What?”

“Eat your food,” he demanded.

“I’m no longer hungry.”

“You need your strength.”

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