Page 56 of Hostile Love
The depth of his glower captures my returning gaze and holds it there as musky cologne fills my nostrils. The undertones aren’t unpleasant. In fact, I’d go as far as saying it aligns with his persona perfectly.
Both enticing and deceitful––like a two-faced monster—luring his enemies into never-ending darkness.
Well, I won’t follow this man anywhere unless I’ve got a gun and he’s my target.
“It was a very advantageous mission for you, wasn’t it?”
His eyes never leave me.
I shoot him a wry smile. “Hmmm, the way my blades slid into his eyeballs…that made me tingle all over. There’s something delicious about getting revenge, Tommy.” I beam, still elated by it. “That exact moment was more satisfying than the purestdrogas.”
Tomás steeples his fingers. “Did you notice the security cameras inside the club? Is that why you took off your balaclava and fucked my brother moments after you’d murdered Eduardo?”
My brows snap together. “No.”
“I think you knew your little reveal would start a war inside my organization and put my family at risk. A calculated plan on your part that led to an assassination attempt on André.”
I feign a long sigh. “Oh, Tommy, so cynical. Why don't you talk to Matheus about your paranoid hunch and listen to the truth instead of all this cloak and dagger bullshit? He told me to remove my balaclava. I did what he asked. Mat wanted Eduardo to seemyface before I killed him. There was no ulterior motive other than a girl getting revenge.”
Letting my words sink in, his brow creases and long lashes framing starless eyes bat slowly. Then out of the blue, he fists my hair at the root, quicker than a crack of lightning, and yanks my head back.
Instantly, my muscles brace and my teeth bare.
“Get your fucking hand off me,” I snarl.
“I’m not paranoid, señorita. Comprendes?” he says calmly, so close to my face that the diamonds adorning his earlobes twinkle. “You have our enemy’s blood running through your veins and my youngest brother thinks it doesn’t matter. He chooses to believe you’d always be loyal.”
Air shoots down his sharp nose and his lips curl into a cruel smirk.
“Whereas I disagree.”
Unhanding me, he sits back and gives us both a little space to breathe.
“When you joined The Covenant, it gave you––a Blanco––a way to infiltrate my organization. You would have told that little sob story of yours to anyone who listened.” The chuckle rumbling from the back of his throat mocks me. “That was a way to inject your poison and watch our foundations rot. I bet you wet your panties when Matheus showed up and let you fuck his brains out.”
“Hold on a goddamn minute,” I hiss through clenched teeth. “It wasn’t like that. He chased me. So, get your facts straight.”
“I don’t believe you, Daniela.” His voice is thicker, full of grit and authority. He stands, his full height looming over me. “I think you’re a manipulativeputawho thought she could fuck with myfamilia.You don’t give a shit about Matheus and never will. And Blanco, he saw an opportunity and took it. But what I can’t figure out is why you pretended you didn’t want to marry my brother. Perhaps the idea of a wedding simply planted a seed…a tactic in a much bigger game. Or maybe you enjoyed screwing with his head like a conniving bitch. Making him want what he thinks is beyond his reach. Driving him fucking mad.” His scornful, harsh tone could crush metal to dust. “You played Matheus and made the guy think he had power behind him to question me. You managed to turn my own brother into a traitor.”
“You're wrong––about all of it––” I begin, just as Tomás looks behind me.
A sudden whoosh of coastal air whispers over my bare legs. My instincts flare and my head whips around where the patio doors are wide open.
Outside, Giovanni drags a man across the terrace and boots the back of his knees, roughly forcing him to kneel.
My blood turns to ice and my heart stops beating.
“W-w-what is this?”
I swivel to face the new arrival, me indoors and him held prisoner on the terrace.
My pulse is thumping in my neck. But no matter how hard I strain to free my wrists; the cuffs won’t break. I stare out at the circumference of a muscular physique surrounded by a starry sky and dark clothes almost camouflaging the man's body in shadows.
His arms are secured behind his back and his knees press onto the cold slabs, his unarmed position mirroring my own.
The whites of his eyes flash, bright and vivid, his only visible features. A balaclava covers his whole head––the front of it is stitched with a crow emblem.
Matheus.
