Page 116 of Hostile Love
I get the distinct impression she doesn’t want Blanco to know how much I affect her.
I’ve become his daughter's weakness.
She likes to keep those special parts of herself under wraps. I’m the only person alive blessed to hear her inner thoughts.
I want her to experience this thrill forever. For her heart to skip a beat every time she sees me, because mine does it too.
As the two of them advance, I hold out my hand to welcome her father to Souza territory.
Some might think he took a risk coming here today, especially after our lifelong rivalry. However, Blanco stands to gain a lot from accepting our invitation.
Plus, the cartel boss has his usual security detail roaming the grounds. Though nothing we couldn’t handle if needed.
“Blanco,” I exclaim, full of confidence. “You made it.”
He sucks the end of a cigar and takes a beat to let the smoke escape his mouth before he replies.
“Weddings.” His lips quirk. “They have a way of bringing people together, don’t they?”
He takes my hand and copies my firm squeeze. I understand the meaning behind his statement.
Him being a guest is the first step of our new agreement––on my terms. Where our two families have mutually decided to come together again.
It involves trust on both sides and after this, he’d get the real message—loud and clear.
Blanco would join the Souza cartel, not the other way around.
We rule Colombia and he would fall in line forus.
“You’re seated next to my grandfather, Mick Hennessey. Our cousin Michael is here too, and his father, Tiernan Mannix.”
Blanco raises his brows. “Strategic seating, Matheus. Does this mean our agreement is still intact?”
“You mean the flimsy piece of paper you thought was a contract?”
I chuckle and take a step back, noticing Giovanni and André appear behind him.
Leaves rustle in a gentle breeze and the smell of marijuana drifts close.
“That nonsense was full of legal loopholes, Blanco. Anyway, a real man doesn't pimp out his beautiful daughter for power.”
Dani shifts in her heels.
“One of these days, I’ll ask Dani to marry me…the old-fashioned way. You know…a man asking his woman if shewantsto marry him.”
Blanco shrugs. “I don't care how you do it, Matheus. As long as you put a ring on her finger. Contract or not, you shook on it.”
I smile inwardly. He thinks it's that straightforward. That I’d marry his daughter, knock her up, and she’d insist on our child having his family name.
He wants the Blanco surname to hold as much influence and authority as the Souza name does.
Clearly, he doesn’t realize it’s the man who makes the name, not the other way around.
“Blanco.” André’s voice rumbles between us when he joins us.
A blunt hangs from his lips and he quietly eyeballs our guest. Giovanni hovers under the shade of a tall palm tree, tapping his phone screen. Always plotting.
They’re both smartly dressed like me, poured into tailored three-piece suits, crisp white shirts, and matching black ties.
