Page 4 of Eternally His

Arturo’s throat convulsed, and he spluttered twice before he managed to force out a ragged plea. “Please, Raúl. This was all Daniel’s plan. You know how reckless and greedy he is. You know how powerful his family is.”

My stomach twisted into knots at the mention of my family. I was the only Vera present, and if Arturo cast blame on me, I would never leave this panic room alive.

A dark, hulking shape moved behind Guerrero, the harsh fluorescent light above casting forbidding shadows beneath high, harsh cheekbones. A shudder rolled through me, and I took a hasty step back. Even half-shrouded in the darkness of the stairwell, I recognized the intimidating form of Sebastián Castillo. My eyes had always been drawn to him when my father threw his lavish parties: a quiet, dangerous mountain of a man with thick, wavy silver hair and dark, piercing eyes that missed nothing.

He advanced on me as Arturo continued to babble. The world was moving too fast for me to keep up, but at the same time, each long stride Sebastián took seemed to stretch into slow motion. The knots in my stomach tightened as he neared.

“I couldn’t say no.” Arturo continued to plead for his life. “All of them are snakes. The entire Vera family.”

Sebastián’s eyes flashed, pinning me in place. Arturo was damning me right alongside him. Sebastián was fiercely loyal to the cartel. He would have no mercy for traitors.

Arturo babbled on. “If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t have—”

“I have nothing to do with this!” The desperate declaration left my chest on a panicked cry. Sebastián didn’t slow his advance. I took another step back, pressing myself into the corner of the room. “I don’t even know what’s happening.” The words tripped off my tongue. I pleaded with him to believe me, but his thick brows drew down in heavy, forbidding slashes over his sharp eyes. “Armed men invaded my home, so I came down here to hide.” I wrapped my arms around my chest, as though I could shield my rapidly beating heart from their deadly weapons.

Raúl’s glowing green gaze whipped in my direction, as though noticing me for the first time. Unlike Sebastián, who had come right for me. In two more paces, the older man would be on me. His lips thinned beneath his beard, and deep furrows shadowed his brow as his face firmed into a fearsome mask.

I dared a single, imploring glance at Raúl before my attention was immediately captured by the encroaching threat of Sebastián. My plea was meant for them both. “I swear, I don’t know what’s happening.” I’d gleaned the vaguest idea about a coup from the few sentences Arturo had uttered, but I was truly ignorant of the scheme. They had to believe me. “I don’t even know why Arturo’s in my house, and I definitely didn’t want him in this panic room with me.”

A beat of silence passed, and I felt both men’s eyes scouring my face for the truth. Sebastián’s eyes glinted when they landed on my cheek. My skin still smarted where Arturo had struck me, and the thick crack in my glasses was a slash across my vision. I’d never been more relieved to have received a beating. The signs of violence Arturo had left on me might be my salvation.

A snarl rumbled from Raúl just before his fist slammed into Arturo’s bullet wound. The trapped man released an agonized cry, and dark crimson blood smeared the concrete wall behind him.

“You like hurting women?” The brutal cartel enforcer seethed, but his white teeth suddenly flashed in an icy grin. “You hurt people weaker than you to get what you want. Well, I like hurting weaker people too. Weaker men.”

“I-Isabel wouldn’t let me into the panic room,” Arturo stammered, his eyes rolling with terror. “I wouldn’t have t-touched her if she’d given me any other choice. I had to force my way in. Sh-she was going to leave me out there to die, when her family is the cause of this coup. Please—”

“I’m not!” My desperate gaze fixed on Sebastián, willing him to believe me.

“Get her out of here,” Raúl ordered, his attention focused of Arturo.

Sebastián had reached me, and there was nowhere for me to run. A huge, warm hand encircled my wrist, prying my arm from my chest with a firm but careful grip. His thick fingers shackled me, but he didn’t squeeze tight enough to bruise. Rough callouses rasped over the delicate skin at the inside of my wrist as he tugged me toward him.

A soft gasp escaped my lips at the casual show of strength. Sebastián could easily manhandle me. He could do whatever he wanted, and I would have no hope of fighting my way free.

“Let’s go, nenita.” His voice was so low and deep that it rumbled through my bones. “Stefano will want to talk to you.”

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