Page 19 of Born Sinner
“Sam,” he says with a sigh. “I’d be the last fucking prick to lecture you about blurred lines and morality, but if you’re planning to dance on the wrong side of the law, I’d prefer it if you partnered up with us. Edier Grayson is poised to take control of New York, and we want you as his second.”
“You stepped in when it mattered most.” I can feel Dante’s dark eyes punching a hole in my face as he interjects. “I can’t exact revenge on a body that’s already damaged.”
I know what he’s talking about right away.
“Troy Davis.” There’s a pause. “Is he dead?”
“He will be soon, but not by my hand. Carrera got to him first. If it were one of my daughters he’d drugged and assaulted, there wouldn’t be much of him left.”
The look on his face sends a shiver through my body.You don’t fuck with this man and get to swap stories about it.
He gestures at the bar in the corner. “Bourbon, Sanders.”
“Get it yourself,” comes the easy riposte.
“The knife in the quarterback’s leg was a nice touch.” I watch, heart hammering, as the Colombian helps himself to my stepfather’s liquor. “Remind me to use it on the next Carrera we torture.”
“But not Lola.”
I say it too fast.
Too obvious.
“No, not Lola.” He shoots me a look over the rim of his glass. “I have more creative designs on her than that. Even more creative than carving my initial into her skin.”
I don’t correct his assumption. Even though that letter,that body, belongs to me, not him.
I point to the photos on the desk. “Tell me what you’re planning to do to her.”
The temperature in the room drops sharply.
“That sounded dangerously close to an order,” Dante says idly. “Can you spell the word respect, or would you like my fist to give you a lesson?”
“Let it go, Santiago,” my stepfather warns. “There’s no dick swinging in my office unless it’s mine and my wife is doing the honors.”
“Stay close to her.” He finishes up his drink and pours himself another. “We arranged for her brother, Santi, to be out of town last night, but we won’t be that lucky again for a while.”
“Since when do you take such a keen interest in my sex life?” I say, losing my cool.
“Since the moment you flashed up on Lola Carrera’s radar,” Dante clips back. “She sees you, Sam... And when a cartel princesssees, she doesn’t usually stop until shegets.” He slams his glass down, that wicked smirk catching at the corners of his mouth again. “That’s when you make things interesting. That’s when there’s no crueler torture than a bleeding heart.”
Chapter Nine
Lola
My concentration is shotto hell.
After the fourth time scanning the same paragraph, I slam my social sciences book closed and toss it away. Groaning, I press my fingers against my closed eyelids as I sit cross-legged in the middle of my bed.
I have no clue what I just read.
Although, I shouldn’t be shocked—there’s no room left inside my head for useless information. I thought keeping busy the rest of the day would occupy all the space he’s claimed, but that’s an impossible feat.
Especially when it’s just as marked with his name as my skin.
Even after eight hours of senseless shopping and a caffeine-infused coffee-house crawl, I still can’t get Sam, or his dark note, off my mind.
My elbows dig into the inside of my knees as I slump forward. Sinking my fingers into my hair, I tug at the strands as if somehow it will unroot memories from last night.
