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He’s right. If Pedro were here, I know what he’d say—Smile and shut the fuck up, Pita. You don’t want to fuck with a man like him.But maybe I do.
In retrospect, I can pinpoint the exact moment when things with Diego went too far. When he got the notion in his head that I would be more than a fling to him. That he would chase me to the ends of the earth and never let me escape his grasp.
It happened rather simply. One day, he captured my chin in a punishing grip and met my gaze directly.What do you want from me, my sexy little butterfly?he asked, his breath tinged with beer, his eyes bloodshot from whatever drug he’d snorted at the time. He’d been in a dangerous mental state, though I didn’t know it then. The kind of mood where everything is taken literally, and he’d latch onto the smallest provocation.
Like a fool, I’d given him all the ammunition he’d needed to turn his full attention to me.I only want you,I told him.I love you, Diego. I want to be with you forever.
With those words, I’d signed my death certificate.
Since then, I’ve learned a valuable lesson—never give these men an inch more than you are willing to forfeit. To do so, is to lose everything.
“I think I would prefer to be your enemy than a part of your harem,” I tell Jaguar. I mean every word, but he doesn’t snarl in the face of them like I expect.
He merely nods. “Easy, Lupe. Let’s not declare ourselves nemeses just yet. Come. Let’s eat.”
He retreats toward the center of the room, where a maid is in the middle of serving various platters of steaming food.
I consider spurning the request, but I note the way he’s watching me. Keenly. I think hewantsme to walk away. He wants me to fear being drugged again. He wants to lord his power over me without any resistance on my part.
So, I sit in the chair across from him instead, and set about making up a plate. To prove I’m not afraid, I sample a bit of an omelet and a few bites of fruit, all while struggling to ignore the pain shooting up and down my back.
He smiles and joins me, grabbing a slice of bacon. “I think we got off on the wrong foot,” he tells me before taking a bite. As he licks his lips clean, he adds, “I’m willing to make things right, starting with my offer of getting you treatment for your back. You won’t refuse.”
There is more to the request than basic first-aid, but I have enough sense not to argue. I just nod. Pleased, he continues.
“And I even got you a present to make up for the misunderstanding. It will be here soon.Claro? In the meantime, I wish to show you more of my home should you let me.”
He doesn’t say it this time, but there is no choice in this instance, either. What could he possibly want to show me? My belly flips at the various possibilities.
“Eat up,” he prods in response to my silence.
When I finally set my fork aside, he leans back in his chair and gestures around him. “You don’t seem very impressed. Usually, when I bring women to my home, they have the sense to gush about the beauty. The luxury. They like to butter me up enough to then ask for a bit more money. Either you are used to far more extravagance or are way too modest for your own good. I’ll give you a hint as to which theory I’m partial to—Braulio doesn’t have a fraction of the money I do.”
“Money isn’t everything.”
“Ah, your second lie, Tiena.” He winks, wagging a disapproving finger at me. “You and I both know that money is everything. It is life or death. If I had none, you wouldn’t be here right now, would you?”
“No,” I say. “Poweris everything—the money is merely secondary. Plenty of rich men have limited influence. I came to you for that. I wanted you to utilize that. Not parlor tricks or to placate me with luxury purses. I don’t care about what I wear. I care about my son. I care about getting Braulio off our backs. I care about family.”
“So, we have one thing in common then,” Jaguar says softly. He shifts his stance, and I get the sense that he’s shed part of the persona he was putting on for my benefit. I passed another test, though I’m not sure if I’m satisfied by the progress or annoyed. “Family is everything to me, Lupe. I go to war only for them. I don’t let many into that category, either. How do I know that you would even be worth the risk?”
“I’m not,” I say without caring how it sounds. There are some moral lines I refuse to cross, even at Pedro’s behest. This is one. “I don’t need family—I need a business partner.”
Jaguar chuckles and takes a bite from a piece of toast. “Braulio did a number on you,” he says, his tone still riding that lethally soft cadence. “You think I don’t know the signs? A jumpy woman, eager to screw a stranger at the promise of assistance but hesitant to offer anything more. I think I would trust you more if you hated Braulio, but you still love him, don’t you? That could make you a very dangerous friend, chica.”
He couldn’t be any more wrong. Still, I don’t rush to refuse him just yet. The suspicion merely cements his belief that I am who he thinks I am. I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing.
“Love was never on the table between us,” I point out.
Rather than take offense, he nods. “I think love from a woman as naughty as you would be a dangerous thing to covet indeed. Let’s change the subject to something more palatable to us both. It’s time for your present.”
Dios mío,I can’t smother a shudder of unease.
He claps his hands, and two men enter the room, dragging a third between them. That man sports a limp, and blood dribbles from his nose as he’s allowed to fall to his knees near the head of the table. I have to pinch myself to keep the horror from my expression.
“Just in time,” Jaguar says, pushing back in his seat. “Tiena, I would love for you to make introductions. I’m sure you recognize this man.”
Panic shoots through me before I realize that I do, in fact, recognize him, though his face is swollen, his eyes bloodshot. Niles is his name. He did odd jobs for Braulio. I think he ran a minor ring in his distribution chain. It’s only by sheer luck that I know as much. Tiena pointed him out to me, remarking how he always tried to stare up her skirt and reeked of weed.
