Page 25 of Hostile Secret
“You’ll have it in the morning.”
“Giovanni,” I whisper hiss, glaring up at his gorgeous face. “I want my damn phone back.”
“I’ll give it to you in the morning. Get to bed.”
A defeated sigh escapes me, and I obediently do as he orders. My heart’s heavy and any surge of adrenaline I’d enjoy from provoking him had long gone.
“Good girl.” He follows up his command with a hoarse rumble of praise.
My body buzzes even though my brain tells me not to get turned on by his patronizing comment. An unforgiving wave of erotic tingles race down my spine until I’m lightheaded from the carnal tone he’d used.
I pull the bedspread over my head to block out the sight of him. To cut me off from the volts of electricity I get when he’s next to me.
Everything falls silent under here, even the storm appears to fade or else it’s moved further inland.
And just when I’m about to check if he’s still in the room with me, he speaks, “I’m not fucking the housekeeper, India.” My heart races at the sound of my name. “Be ready and downstairs in the breakfast room at six-thirty in the morning and I’ll drive you to school myself.”
When I sit upright and poke my face out from under the sheet, he’s not there. I bounce to my feet and rush across the room, twisting the knob to find the door locked.
Asshole!
Daenis howls again and my stomach churns. Frustrated by my inability to pick ancient locks, I climb back into bed. I curse this stupid reaction I have to Giovanni fucking Souza, yet secretly hoping he’s struggling to understand it too.
8
GIOVANNI
“Come on, Cesar!” I call my faithful dog who follows me everywhere.
Today he’s a bit unsettled and moody, stealthily prowling the jungle undergrowth on the hunt for whatever lurks there.
We’re making our way through the grounds of my father’s plantation, heading to target practice at the shooting range.
I’d missed the bullseye yesterday, which had pissed Papá off more than usual. Sometimes his silence is more troubling than his temper.
My aim is getting better though. And to be honest, it’s more precise than my big brother Tommy’s. Not that it matters since eventually Papá wants to crown him king, which means Tommy would have security guards around him twenty-four seven.
Me, on the other hand, I know the drug trafficking business inside out, just like Tommy. At the age of fifteen, I’ve cut a few trade deals and dealt with violent scumbags. However, I’d earned my family blood stone at fourteen.
One bullet and one traitor. Papá had forced the gun into my hand and made me do it. It was either I shoot the guy who’d stolen a ton of product from us or Papá would have done it. But then I’d have to face the degrading consequences of my failure.
I was told to shoot the guy in the head, but I ended up clipping his shoulder first and then blasted his throat. That’s why I’m training now. To become the best.
Papá is priming me for his big plans. In time, his enemies would fear the sound of my name and the criminal underworld circles would understand that the monster in their shadows is me, Elias Souza’s son.
“Giovanni.” Papá scowls at me, his hawkish glare studying my arrival. “You’re late.”
“Sorry, Papá.” I know better than to make an excuse.
If I tell him Cesar had kept me back, he’d lock him up in the dirty kennels, but my dog sleeps next to me. Not only is he a fierce guard who’d sink his sharp teeth into any fucker who’d come for me, he’s also my loyal friend.
Papá hums low in his throat and brings his silvery eyes in line with mine. “X marks the spot, son. Today is the day you’ll hit it dead center. Comprendes?”
I nod my head in agreement. “I’ll try.”
“You’ll do more than fucking try. You will do it. That’s an order. You’ve been at this for too long. I’ve put time and energy into training you, boy. Don’t let me down again.”
And he has. The man has spent more time with me in the past month than he had most of my life. I’m not sure how I feel about having his attention. Sometimes I wish I could slip into the shadows so he couldn’t find me. Yet other times, when he offers me praise for my precision and accuracy, I feel all warm inside. He even drove me to a gun dealer near Bogotá and let me pick out a shotgun of my own.
