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I probably should have expected that. My father did similar checks on anyone who stepped into his circle. “Possessing basic details about my life doesn’t mean you know me.”
“Maybe not. But here’s one thing I do know: You have very little to do with your family. For that reason, I can’t imagine why you’d do Jorge any favors, let alone go along with this family obligation bullshit—and it is bullshit, Cat. You won’t be complying with his wishes this time. You make sure he knows that.”
I felt my lips part. “Say what now?”
“Either you tell him it’s not happening, or I’ll tell him.”
I could only stare at Danton, completely befuddled.
“I’m serious, Cat. I don’t know who he’s trying to push you toward, but they don’t get to touch you—nobody does but me,” he all but decreed, his voice hard, his eyes crawling with menace.
“Not now that the arrangement is over.”
He made a dismissive sound. “It isn’t over. Not even close. So you tell him, or I’ll tell him.”
In hindsight, I should have handled this differently. I shouldn’t have mentioned Jorge or the guy I was supposed to date. It would have been better if I hadn’t mentioned my father at all, because there was only one thing I could think of that would really explain the possessive anger rippling across Danton’s face: It rankled him big time that a person he considered a rival in business wanted to take something from him—that something being me.
I set a hand on my hip. “Stop being difficult, Danton. This was always going to come to an end. It was just a matter of when.”
“And that ‘when’ isn’t now.”
“Why, because onlyyouget to say when we’re done?”
“No, because we’re simply not done yet.” He gripped my jaw, the heat of his touch like a brand. “Hear me, Cat, because I’m not fucking around here. You’re mine. Jorge doesnotget tochange that. Unless you’re good with him shoving you toward men of his choosing?”
“Of course I’m not good with it.”
“So tell him to go fuck himself,” he told me, his hand slipping away from my jaw.
“It’s not that simple.”
Danton went perfectly still, his eyes searching mine. “He hurts you?” he asked, his tone so flat it was eerie. “That how he gets you to dance to his tune?”
“Look—”
“Does he hurt you? It’s a simple fucking question, Cat. Answer it.”
“Don’t get all growly with me, Quintero. I don’t like it. You shouldn’t even need to ask that question anyway. Jorge doesn’t hurt the people who cross him, remember? He hurts those they love.”
Danton’s eyes narrowed slightly, pensive. “Your mother. He takes his fists to her to punish you. Does she know he holds her safety over your head and will happily whore out his own daughter?”
“He didn’t ask me to sleep with anyone.”
“I don’t care if all he asked you to do is hold some fucker’s hand. It isn’t going to happen.”
“My mother—”
“Is in a shitty situation for certain,” he finished. “But you shouldn’t be expected to pay the price to keep her safe, and I’m not going to fucking allow Jorge to make you do it.”
I slanted my head. “You know, I could almost believe that you care. But you don’t. Not about me. You care that you’ll suffer the inconvenience of having to find a new club-buddy. Which is stupid. It’s not as if it’ll be a long search. There are plenty of women here who’d eagerly hop into bed with you.” The skanks.
He dipped his head, going almost nose to nose with me, his eyes so damn intense my pulse flipped out. “And you’d be good with me touching another woman, Cat? Huh?”
I felt my mouth tighten and my grip on my purse flex as jealousy lanced through me.
“Figured you wouldn’t. So you’ll get why I’m not gonna allow another man near you.” He stepped back and shrugged into his jacket. “I’m fucking serious when I say you need to clear shit up with Jorge.”
I swore beneath my breath. “You’re not listening to me.”
