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The pieces fell together in my head. “You wanted to stir shit between Danton and Jorge. You knew they’d each suspect the other of setting the Cory incident up. You thought they’d come to blows. That would have paid my father back for the carrot danglingandbeen a strike at Danton for claiming me.”
“I told you, it was Julian.”
Again, I shook my head. Harder this time. “No, it was you. I guess you didn’t mind Cory being a little rough with me because, in your eyes, I deserved a good scare for rejecting you all these years.”
His jaw went tight. “You did it time and time again, always looking down your nose at me. Yeah, I know you think you’re better than me.”
Actually, IknewI was better than him.
He gave me a cruel smirk. “You’ll learn your place, princess. You’ll do whatever the fuck I want you to do. Starting with leaving this apartmentnow.Your father’s waiting, and you know he doesn’t like to be made to wait.”
Like I gave a measly fuck what the old bastard did or didn’t like. “In my opinion, you two—” I cut off as Duke swiftly rounded the corner behind Marcos and took him down in a freaking flash of movement that made my heart slam in my chest.
The two males struggled on the floor, the sounds of grunts and thuds of flesh hitting flesh filling the air. I thought of stepping in to help somehow, but it took no time at all for Marcos to be overpowered. A breath gusted out of my lungs as relief felled me.
Towering over Marcos’ bleeding, groaning form much as he had Cory’s, Duke looked at me. “Danton’s on his way. You all right?”
I nodded, swallowing hard.
Duke’s gaze returned to the male at his feet. “Little bastard must have got past me when I was checking out the delivery truck that pulled up.”
“Jorge is in a car somewhere outside,” I told him.
“I know,” said Duke, fishing his phone out of his back pocket. “When Danton got word to me that you weren’t answering his calls, I came up to check on you. Vicente called me when I was in the elevator; he’d spotted Jorge and saw that the driver’s seat of his car was empty.” Swiping his thumb over the screen of his cell, Duke added, “I figured that whoever brought him here might have gotten to you already, but I didn’t want to rush right in here in case he had a gun trained on you.”
Wow. That was probably the most I’d ever heard Duke say in one go.
Duke put his phone to his ear. “She’s fine … Marcos … Wanted to take her to Jorge … Asshole’s outside; some of the boys are watching him.”
It occurred to me that he was likely speaking with Danton and that I should have called him myself. To be fair, Duke hadn’t given me the chance. He’d whipped out his phone mere moments after subduing dear little Marcos.
“Yeah, will do,” Duke continued. “Oh, he ain’t going nowhere.” He rang off, his gaze sliding to me. “Danton’s almost here. Should only be a couple of minutes.”
Rolling onto his side, Marcos snarled up at him. “Motherfucker, I will—” A pained breathwhooshedout of him as Duke dealt his ribs one hell of a vicious kick.
“Not interested in listening to your shit,” Duke told him before putting his phone to his ear once more.
I stayed where I was as Duke made a call to someone who seemed to be keeping an eye on Jorge. I watched Marcos, not trusting that he wouldn’t leap up and attack my guard. Which he did at one point attempt to do. I didn’t even need to shout out a warning. Duke once more put him on his backfast.
Breathing hard, Marcos slammed his eyes on me. He didn’t speak. Just glared at me like if he did it hard enough it might actually hurt me.
I tilted my head. “Do Jorge and Julian know what you did? That you sent Cory?”
A muscle in Marcos’ cheek flexed. “They worked it out quickly enough. I got a beating from your father for acting without orders, if it makes you feel any better.”
“I can’t say that it does.”
“It doesn’t placate me much either,” said a new voice as its owner rounded the corner of the hallway with Vicente at his back. Yet again, relief surged through me—this time with such speed I was surprised that I didn’t go dizzy with it.
Danton looked calm and supremely composed, but there was no missing the menacing glitter in his dark gaze. Said gaze gave me an intense head-to-toe scan, no doubt checking for injuries, before locking on Marcos.
Panting, the shithead remained on his ass but propped his back up against the wall. The glare he leveled at Danton was black as night, but I didn’t miss the flash of nervousness there. “Jorge is gonna be pissed when he hears what your man here did to me.”
“I don’t give a fuck about Jorge.” Danton’s voice was soft, low, and dripping with fury. “If I were you, I wouldn’t concern myself with him either. It’syouthat you should be thinking about. Because I promise you, Marcos, you are going to suffer in ways you can’t imagine.”
“I was following orders!”
“Coming here for Cat was an order, yeah. But sending Cory after her? You did that off your own back.” Danton shook his head. “I always knew you were a dumb fuck, Marcos. It’s written all over you in bold fucking letters. But even I didn’t think you’d be thatstupid.”
