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“Especially in your own home.”
“Who are you?” His eyes squint.
“I guess you could say I'm a friend of the family.”
“I don't remember ever seeing you before.”
“Are you saying you recognized everyone inside your house tonight?”
He shakes his head. “No.” He twists his lips, shuffling where he stands. “What did you mean by what you said earlier?”
I tilt my head. “Which part?”
“The part about why you are here.”
“Remind me.” I cock my head as I pretend to be as clueless as him.
“You said you were here for me.”
“Then that should be enough explanation,” I say sharply.
He huffs out a breath. “It's not.”
“It was your party, wasn't it? I wanted to be here to congratulate you on the big proposal,” I lie.
“You said you didn't know my fiancé.” His big eyes grow rounder.
“Doesn't mean I don't know you.”
He tugs on the lapels of my coat, licking his lips. “Are you really a friend of my family?”
“Depends on how you define 'friend'.”
“If you plan on harming me, you’ll live to regret it.”
I bark out a laugh. “Typical Juventino, always with the threats.”
“Don’t call me that,” he sneers.
“But it is your name, isn’t it? You are the son of Miguel Juventino.”
“Last time I checked, I was only me.” His eyes grow distant and his face mimics the way a lost child would.
“And who might that be?” I inch closer, and the fresh forming bruise on his left cheek is more apparent underneath the fountain lights. Those moving figures behind the balcony doors earlier weren’t just two people talking. They were two people fighting and something tells me he got the worst end of it.
“Mateo, just Mateo.”
I graze his cheek with my thumb, and he flinches from my touch. “Who did this to you, Mateo?”
“It doesn’t really matter, does it? Did you want your jacket back or not? Or did you stick around for some other reason.” A hungry look appears in his eyes as he gives me a once over making his attraction to me apparent.
Well isn't this a lovely surprise. Miguel Juventino’s son isn't only reckless and naive, he's also longing for something he has yet to have from anyone else. Meaning Santiago hasn't touched him in the right way or given him the attention he needs. The hungry and curious expression he's sending gives him away. What else would he allow me to take?
My eyes are locked on him like magnets and I’m more intrigued than ever. He is nothing like I expected he would be. The impending fear I was used to seeing in others was nowhere to be found in him. No, I won’t be harming him tonight. I'm going to have a little fun first. Like a cat hunting his prey, I want to play with my food for a while before devouring it. It will hurt more this way. Not only him but everyone.
I’ll earn his trust and then destroy everything he ever thought he was. He will be nothing, or no one, by the time I’m through with him. How would his father feel about the son of his old partner using his son for his own personal plaything? At the same time, I'll be taking something from another man I hate most in this world. Santiago's fiancé's innocence and heart, ending their alliance before it can fully begin.
The very thought has me smiling wide. “I've only stuck around to collect what's mine.” Grabbing him by the lapels, I tug him closer to me and he gasps.
