Page 39 of Born Sinner
There’s no hope in changing his mind.I’ve been a part of this family long enough to know a losing battle when I see one.
Sighing, I gesture toward the far wall where the contents of my purse lay scattered across the floor. “Help yourself.”
Rolling his eyes, he crosses the room and bends down to sift through the strewn contents. After pocketing my keys, he runs a hand through his unruly hair. “I have to make arrangements with RJ. I’ll be back in half an hour. Be ready.”
Once again, I heave out a heavy sigh.
Santi tips my chin with his forefinger, the hard lines in his face softening. “Chaparrita, I’m not doing this to punish you.”
“It doesn’t feel like it.”
“You’re my baby sister, Lola. My responsibility. I couldn’t live with myself if anything happened to you.” His hold tightens. “You have to understand that family is everything to me. I’ll kill for you. I’ll die for you. And any man who hurts you will suffer until his last breath.”
Damn it.His fierce loyalty is making it hard to hate him right now. “I know.”
And therein lies the problem.I do know.His words aren’t just idle threats. He won’t rest until Sam pays. Not only for crossing territory lines, but for drawing Carrera blood.
For daring to taint the innocence of Valentin Carrera’s daughter.
The gold flecks in Santi’s brown eyes glitter with affection. “I love you, kid.”
“I love you too,” I mumble.It’d be so much easier if I didn’t.
With a brotherly kiss to my forehead, he leaves me alone with my wayward thoughts and a ticking time clock. Closing the door behind him, I turn and slump against it.
Half an hour.
Half an hour and then it’s goodbye freedom, hello shackles and chains. I love my family with all my heart, but they’re slowly suffocating me.
“You’re in over your head, Lola. You’re drowning, and you don’t even know it.”
How the hell am I supposed to learn to swim if I’m never allowed to sink?
But you did sink, a voice in my head whispers.You sank hard, just like the enemy’s blade did into your skin. You moaned for him. You chased the ruthless path of a loaded gun as he dragged it against you. He did more than slice your skin—he sliced through your last shred of restraint.
Biting my lip, I reach into my bra and pull out the Post-it Note. Smoothing out the wrinkles, I read the words again, memorizing each slanted line as I wander back across the living room.
When the mouse strays, she gets punished. Slowly, painfully, until she begs for mercy. This time, it won’t be steel that draws it from her. The hunt is on, dulzura.
The hunt is on.
What does that even mean? Is he watching me right now?
Before I can stop myself, I wander back to the window. Scraping my teeth over my bottom lip, I lean against the wooden pane and scour the parking lot.
He’s a Santiago associate—my family’s sworn enemy. I’m meant to hate him and everything he stands for. According to Santi andpapá, he wants nothing more than to hurt me.
To kill me.
So, why simply mark me? Why use his gun in that alley instead of his cock? He’s had every chance to taint Valentin Carrera’s daughter. To take my virginity and leave me bleeding until I gasped my last breath.
So why didn’t he?
I stared across the room into those intense, dark eyes the night of his party, and then again in the nightclub. They weren’t drenched in hate. If anything, they radiated lust.
And something else...
Something more unsettling.
