AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I’m acting like a child. I’m painfully aware of it. But what does he expect? I’m growing restless and this I’m a good guy, no, I’m a bad guy, act is making my head spin.
“She’s really been on it today,” Niko grumbles.
“Fuck you,” I spit at him.
“Fuck me?” It would appear as though he’s had enough of my mouth today as he roughly pushes to a stand, the chair beneath him skidding backward several inches. “If you were anyone else,puta, I’d shut you up with my fucking cock shoved so far down your throat you wouldn’t be able to breathe.”
The sound of a plate shattering pierces the room. I glance up at Mateo who looks like he’s seconds away from ripping his right-hand man’s head off. The plate that had been holding his pie is peppering the floor in little pieces.
“Niko.” Mateo’s voice is full of warning.
“I mean no disrespect, boss, but this bitch is our prisoner, yet she prances around here like she owns the place. Worse, like she owns us.” His nostrils flare. “We should have chained her ass in the basement and let her rot. No wonder Esteban is dragging his feet. She’s more trouble than she’s fucking worth.”
“Careful.” The sound coming out of Mateo is more a growl than an actual word.
Niko opens his mouth like he’s not done, but something on Mateo’s face gives him pause. His eyes go down and then back up, understanding crossing his features.
Confused, I follow his line of sight, realizing that Mateo has his holster open and his hand resting on his gun.
What the hell?
“Find Dimitri. Send him to the roof,” he instructs Niko who quickly nods and exits the room without so much as another peep. “You.” He turns his heated gaze in my direction. “With me.”
I don’t dare argue. I abandon my pie without getting to taste it, and quickly follow after him like a scared puppy that’s about to have its nose rubbed in pee. I can feel Norma’s eyes on us as we exit the kitchen.
He leads me through a door at the back of the kitchen which opens up to a narrow set of concrete stairs. I’ve never been past the kitchen before, so I’m immediately curious and nervous about where he’s taking me.
He climbs the stairs two at a time then reaches up, laying three hard knocks to the steel door at the top.
Less than a few seconds pass before the door swings open and a burly, bald man appears in the doorway, bathed in bright sunlight.
He gives Mateo a quick nod before stepping out of the way to let us pass.
“Where are we...” My sentence dies on my lips when I realize we’re on a rooftop terrace, overlooking the entire span of the island.
My gaze darts from one side to the other as I spin around, taking in the most breathtaking view I’ve ever seen in my life. The blue of the ocean. The green of the trees. The cloudless sky above.
Men are at every corner, their backs to us as they scan the water and ground below using the scopes of their guns that are mounted to stone slabs around the perimeter.
“Come on.” Mateo’s fingers close around mine before he’s tugging me toward an old, chipped picnic table in the center of the expansive space. With a gentle push to my shoulders, he forces me to sit down facing outward, the table at my back. “Stay,” he orders like I’m a dog and the thought of my nose being rubbed in pee once again pops into my head.
I want to argue. Hell, normally I would. But clearly my mouth is doing more harm than good today, so I clench my teeth and keep my lips pressed together.
My mother always said my temper and inability to know when to shut my mouth would bite me in the ass one day. I wish I could tell her that she was right.
An air of sadness settles around me as I wonder if I’ll ever see her again. If I’ll ever get to hear her voice or feel the comfort of her arms wrapped around me. If I’ll ever know the truth about my parents and my past. Therealtruth. A truth only she can give me.
My eyes track Mateo as he walks to the other side of the roof, tension tight in his shoulders as he stops to speak to one of the guards. They talk for less than a minute before Mateo nods and heads back in my direction.
He drops down onto the bench next to me, resting his elbows on his knees as he leans forward.
“Everything okay?” I ask.
“Okay?” He shoots upright, his gaze coming to mine. “If by okay you mean I’ve got a mole feeding information to the enemy, my second in command wants to kill the only leverage I have, and I happen to be stuck with the most infuriating woman I’ve ever met. Yes, Marianna, everything is just fucking great.”
I flinch at his words.
“Please don’t call me that.”
“It’s your name.” He leans back, stretching his legs out in front of himself.
“No, it isn’t.”
“For fuck’s sake.” He runs two hands through his hair simultaneously, causing the already messy strands to fall every which way. “You’re maddening.”
“Me?” I gape at him. “You’re one to talk. You think you have it so bad, try being in my shoes. I was ripped away from my life and the only home I’ve ever known. Told that my father, who I thought was dead, is actually alive and not only that, but that he’s also a cartel boss. Also, that the woman I thought was my mom, isn’t actually my mom, because that woman was burned to death by the father of the man who abducted me. I’ve been locked in a room. Cuffed to a bed. Nearly had my toes cut off. I have bald spots on my head from how many times I’ve been jerked around by my hair. I’ve been punched in the face...Twice. Kicked. Cursed at. Humiliated. And for what? All so I can die anyway?” He opens his mouth, but before he can get a word out I keep going. “And let’s not forget, dealing with you is no walk in the park. You’re up and down. Hot and cold. One minute you’re kind. The next you’re a raging dick head. And if I wasn’t confused and conflicted enough, let’s add on the fact that after you abused me in front of my father’s men, you had the audacity to kiss me,” I hiss. “I wish someone else had found me before you. At least then I’d already be dead and this would all be over.”
Without waiting for him to speak, I push to a stand and stomp across the roof. To my surprise, he makes no attempt to stop me.
I pass Dimitri on my way down the steps. He catches one look at the anger on my face and averts his gaze... Smart man.
