Page 6 of Hostile Love
Not saying anything to him, I take the burner phone and hold it to my ear.
I shake my head and exhale. “Blanco. You ran?”
“I welcomed you into my home in peace. Now it’s been compromised,” he explains coolly. “The Covenant will return Daniela to me unharmed. Make sure the threat is eliminated. Giovanni and I have an agreement. If he doesn’t come through on his word and I find out the Souzas were responsible for taking her, the next time I see you, it’ll be at the end of my gun.”
“I can assure you, Blanco, I had nothing to do with this. I didn’t even know Dani was bringing me to meet you.”
Blanco grunts through the phone at me.
“Since Elias was assassinated, your brothers have openly accused me of organizing his murder. They’ve been waiting for the right time to attack.”
“Did you do it?”
He sighs. “Ask Tomás who put the final bullet in his head.”
My chest tightens and a cold sweat breaks over my spine.
“I haven’t made any more enemies lately. Have you, Matheus?” His voice is cold and calm. “The men who took Daniela weren’t as discreet as The Covenant. They didn’t wear masks. Those cocky fucks wanted to make a statement. Find out if they work for your family…and kill them.”
I frown at those words, too much like orders, and follow the guy who’d handed me the phone, both of us moving indoors to the reception hall.
“My brothers don’t know I’m at your home.”
“They know you’re in Colombia, don’t they? With Daniela?”
My legs go numb and my eyes blur with rage.
“There’s no way––”
I fist the wall next to a silver framed mirror and suck in sharply as red-hot pain shoots through my wrist. My knuckles burn every time I stretch open my hand, and my bad temper stews.
“I want Daniela returned to me within twenty-four hours. Not a second longer, or you’ll die for your betrayal.”
Motherfucker.
I bite my tongue to stop myself from making a bad situation worse. There isn’t time for bullshit bickering. Not when her life hangs in the balance.
“My brothers aren’t responsible for this. I’ll find Dani. You have my word.”
Even though the air around me is warm, I’m shivering.
“And you still owe me information.”
His chuckle strikes a match in my brain. If he hadn’t fled the mansion like a scared rat, I’d strangle him with my bare hands.
“That’s not how this works, Matheus.”
“I signed your contract, Blanco. I agreed to marry your daughter.”
“And I’ll tell you what you want to know when you return her to me.” The line goes quiet and then he adds, “How did you know? Did Dani tell you who she is?”
He knows I swapped Sofia’s name for Dani’s.
My nostrils flare, recalling the exact moment it all fell into place. How Sofia had thrown her arms around Daniela, and my girl happily hugged her back.
Their embrace was unprofessional for a soldier and the daughter’s boss, yet neither of them tried to hide it.
And when Sofia frowned in the same way my little firecracker had done countless times before, I saw a hint of something.
