Page 57 of Hostile Love
17
DANIELA
“Matheus?” I say breathlessly, my eyes all over him, not understanding.
He doesn't reply, move or fight against Giovanni, knowing one wrong move could be disastrous.
“What the fuck is going on?” My head spins around to find Tomás. “Are you going to explain why he has a gun to Mat’s head?” My stomach burns from a rise of acid. “You wouldn't shoot your own brother. What sort of power trip are you on?”
Tomás leaves me kneeling in the bedroom and prowls into the night air, moving next to Giovanni.
“Did you really think you could slither into my brother's life, wind him around your trigger finger and have him conspire against me?” he asks with an air of superiority, his entire posture tall and self-assured.
My face goes numb, not from his mocking tone, but from a surge of adrenaline racing through my veins. These guys don’t mess around.
Alarm bells aren’t just ringing in my ears, they’re battering my chest too. Nevertheless, he’s still their brother.
“I call your bluff, Tommy.” I desperately try to sound fearless even though my mouth is dry and apprehension pulses in my neck. “You wouldn’t hurt Matheus.”
In a blur, Giovanni raises his weapon and wallops it off the side of Matheus’ head. One powerful crack has him exhaling in a muffled groan and toppling sideways.
They must have shoved a rag inside his mouth to silence him.
“Don’t you fucking dare!” I yell, tugging my wrists, not caring for the metal digging into my flesh and bone.
But the second I jump to my feet to run to him; Giovanni looks right at me and halts my advance with a sharp green glare.
“Unless you want a bullet in each knee, stay where you are.”
He scoops a hand under Matheus’ arm and hauls him back to kneeling. Matheus shakes his head, panting through the pain, his head bowed.
Knowing he’s suffering makes my skin crawl.
“Move again and I’ll put a bullet in his head,” Giovanni warns, low and threatening.
Tomás crosses his arms.
“Did you come back to Sicily to finish your real mission? The one Blanco gave you?”
“There was no mission other than learning from Giovanni and keeping my enemies close,” I admit, trying to sound unaffected while my eyes drill into the red stitching on the balaclava. “I had no idea Mat would end up sharing a room with me. That was orchestrated by you…” My gaze darts to Giovanni. “Isn’t that right,Dragón?”
Tomás shrugs. “Yeah, that part worked out well for you. Especially when you flashed your tits in his face as bait and hooked him in. But you hate my family, don’t you? So, you betrayed André and Sinéad. That’s how they got to them––because of you.”
“Fuck you, Souza!” I bite out. “I hateyou, Tomás…the rest of your family members are mildly tolerable. I’d never put a pregnant woman at risk. That would make me as sick in the head as Eduardo. But Matheus––we have a connection.”
I sense his annoyance, noting how he takes two short strides closer to me.
“Don’t bullshit me, Daniela. You used him. Admit it.”
My spine straightens, vertebrae after vertebrae, in preparation to do whatever it takes to protect Matheus.
“No, I didn’t!” I hiss, my frustration growing.
“Yeah, you did.” He pushes. “You played him, so he’d hand over Eduardo.” The words snap out like bullets. “You took off your mask, made sure the cameras caught you fucking my brother, and then led trouble straight to Blanco’s door, where you made sure they’d find you alone in the street. You knew Mat would come for you, didn’t you?” He cocks a brow, asking the question, but not waiting for my response. “You planned the whole thing and I’d throw a million-dollar wager into the ring that you knew Elias Souza wasn’t Matheus’ father.”
I suck in sharply, my head shaking.
“Blanco never told me about Elias. I found out at the same time as Matheus did.”
