Page 98 of Hostile Rival
I freeze. All the blood drains from my body. Matheus shakes his head and sighs at the same time. He takes another sip of liquor and lets it warm his throat before speaking.
“You want me to consider an arranged marriage with your daughter…andsheknew about this?” His head slowly turns, and he waves his glass in my direction, not meeting my eye.
I’m about to deny all knowledge when Blanco’s voice fills the room. “I want Sofia to marry a man who has the world at his feet. And that’s you, Matheus Souza. It’s your time to rule the empireyour father built from nothing. Agree to it and I’ll tell you who killed him.”
Matheus shrugs, digs out a pack of smokes, and casually pats his pocket, searching for a lighter. “You want to know something, Blanco.” He sparks up his zippo and lights a cigarette, taking a long drag. “I don’t really care who killed him. The fucker deserved it.”
Blanco leans forward. “Okay, let me put it this way. Marry Sofia, and I’ll fill in the blanks. I’ll explain why Elias never trained you to be a warlord like your brothers.”
“Wait…” I lurch forward, my legs shaky. “Blanco?”
He frowns at me, disapproving of the interruption. My muscles tense, and my stomach aches.
Rather than let me speak, he smiles and says, “My Daniela is an overprotective woman. Sofia and her are very close. She hates the Souzas for what they did to her in the past. Those scars will never heal. But this arrangement would have a satisfying outcome for everyone.”
Matheus growls deep in his chest, and my skin tingles. “YourDaniela?”
“Daniela and I have a complex relationship, don’t we?” Blanco looks over at me and smirks.
Immediately, Matheus jumps to a stand, the backs of his legs shoving the chair away. The cigarette clings to his lips and his eyes narrow on me, his mind ticking over.
“I’ve heard enough. I’ll marry your daughter.” His gaze slides to Blanco and he holds his hand out. “I have to marry someone, right?”
Blanco rises. Although he’s much shorter than my man at his full height, he commands a presence of his own. Beneath that tailored suit, he’s fueled by power and demands respect.
If Matheus pulls out of their agreement, Blanco would hand me the kill order to wipe him out, regardless of his stupidgodfather promise. Matheus would have shunned Blanco’s golden girl, and no one disrespects his Sofia.
My chest implodes when they shake on it. “Matheus?” I whisper, my heart aching.
When he doesn’t look at me, I take a step back and try to control my shaky hands. This time he’s not there to support me, and the rift between us feels cold and lonely.
“I had a contract drawn up in advance of our meeting. Sign it now and I’ll tell you everything.” Blanco removes a folded page from his inside pocket and plucks out a gold pen too. “Here.”
I itch to get closer. To touch him. Scream the word no. Tell him he can’t marry my sister because he’smine. Not hers.
But something stops me. Maybe he knows this isn’t our time.
The inevitable is happening right before my eyes. As difficult as it was for me, I had opened my heart to Matheus. I even declared my feelings to a Souza and all he could say in return was I belonged to him.
Men like Matheus confuse ownership and power with the pureness of love.
And now he’s reading over a contract that would bind him to my sister until death. She’d sleep in his bed and wear his ring. Night after night, he’d set her body on fire and kiss her lips every morning.
Whereas I’d be nothing more than my sister's bodyguard. A broken sicario forced to watch them raise a family from the edges of their married life.
That’s the cruelest form of torture any Souza could inflict on me.
Matheus grabs the pen and turns his back on me as he leans over the table. After a few tattered breaths, he drops the pen.
“There, done. I’ll marry your daughter. Now start talking.”
My vision goes blurry, and I realize tears are stinging my eyes. I haven’t cried since my mother’s funeral. Only now it’shappening, and I refuse to let anyone see. This isn’t me. I don’t wear my heart on my sleeve.
I stumble back a few more steps and ignore the guard positioned in the corner, who cocks his head at me. I’m his superior. He knows better than to ask why I’m struggling to breathe.
Inch by inch, I move to the doorway, hearing Blanco’s voice in the back of my mind. “Elias Souza killed your father.”
I freeze where I am. My scalp prickles and I swallow the lump of sadness in my throat.
