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“The past lover you mentioned. The one you jumped out of a second-story window to confront. He must have done something monstrous to turn you against him,” Jaguar adds. “Perhaps he beat you, or had other women on the side. In any case, he burned you bad, sweetheart. So badly that a part of you, deep down, still loves him.”
I try to rip my chin from his grasp. “I don’t love any man—”
“Liar,” Jaguar scolds, wagging a disapproving finger. He lets me retreat to the back corner of the shower stall, but he remains in the center, effectively trapping me inside it with no way out. “You are capable of it. More than capable. You know, talking to your friend Pedro clarified a few things—”
“If you hurt him…” God. I close my eyes against the bloodied images that pop into my head. Pedro stabbed. Beaten. Torn apart by Gatita. If he’s even received a papercut because of me, I’d never forgive myself. “Please tell me you didn’t hurt him.”
Though even if he hadn’t, Pedro most likely came clean and told him the whole truth. He would have had no choice. Oh, God. I feel sick.
“I was intrigued as to whether your protective mother ruse was all an act,” Jaguar continues. “But seeing you with yourson? Ah, that gave it all away. Thetruthabout you, chica.”
I swear my soul leaves my body. Sheer pride is the only reason I’m still standing, trying to find the words to defend myself—if only for Franco’s sake. “I had no choice—”
“Didn’t you?” Jaguar asks. I open my eyes to find him stroking his chin. “I had a mother once. I’ve seen them in action. You women are cut from the same cloth. The creatures you birth are toys to you,” his tone turns so cutting I flinch. “Or shields. Only movies portray that relationship any differently. Any bitch can give birth, but when I saw you with your son, I knew.”
I swallow, feeling as though I’m choking. God, I wish he would just cut to the chase. Is begging what he craves? Fine, I’ll give it to him. “Please don’t take me from him—”
“Five fucking minutes of seeing you with him, and I realized that you are an abnormality—” His voice deepens, radiating true anger, and my entire life flashes before my eyes. Franco. Tiena. Diego. All of it.
I barely notice when Jaguar encircles my throat with one hand, teasing the column of flesh with the very tips of his fingers. “All this time, I’ll admit that I thought he was just a bargaining chip to you. A way for you to play on my supposed sympathies and wind me up. Once you got the boy, you’d ask me for money. For property. For shoes and cars. You might have gone about your motives in a different way from most, but at the end of the day, you were the same. And believe me, chica. I have seen women sell their children on the side of the road for a dime bag. I have witnessed hundreds of ‘mothers’ in action. Most would let me lock their sons in Gatita’s cage if I asked to—”
I wrench out of his grasp, raising a trembling hand to ward him off. “If you hurt him, I will—”
“Again, with the threats,” he growls, snatching my fingers in a punishing grip. “But they aren’t always so empty when it comes to you, are they, Lupe? No. You would have backed them up last night if you thought I had any ill will toward Francisco. You would have lunged across the table for my throat, oh don’t think I don’t realize that—” I can’t silence a cry as he pulls me toward him, forcing our bodies to collide.
“You would have. In fact, your friend Pedro told me everything you were willing to do for him. Debase yourself. Come to me on your hands and knees using aliases he supplied you with merely to get to me. I can respect that. What Ican’trespect? Are the lies.”
I squeeze my eyes shut. God, poor Pedro. Poor Franco. What have I done?
“Jaguar, please. I had no choice—”
“You had a choice,” he says over me, his mouth harsh against my ear. “That’s the strange part. You always had a choice to walk away. To cut and run. Other women have made that decision easily with far less to lose than you. Instead, you chose to fight for him.”
Wait…
“But in doing so, sweetheart, you wrote a check that magic pussy and spicy tongue can’t cash. You promised yourself to me, but you were never really on the table. Isn’t that so?”
I look at the damp floor. The wall. The grayish ceiling—anywhere but at him.
“Answer me, Lupe.”
My lips part, but nothing comes out, earning a harsh hiss from him. “Look at me, Lupe.”
Dios mío.I can’t. My hands are shaking, my stomach in knots. As my bare feet twitch against the floor, I consider running.
But, as if anticipating my every move, he’s already shifting toward me, caging my body even closer to the wall. “Answer me!”
My head jerks up, and I find his eyes so haunting I’m drowning in them. Never in my life have I been this afraid. Never.
The truly terrifying part? He has yet to lay a single hand on me.
“I… You don’t need a woman like me,” I croak. “You have your harem. You’re happy with them.”
“Ah.” He strokes the damp hair from my face and flashes a lifeless smile that doesn’t reach his eyes. Those dark, endless orbs betray a glimpse of the man he truly is. Not a playful, carefree bachelor, but a calculating predator intent on his prey. “You do have a way with words. For now, I’ll let you escape punishment for lying to my face so boldly, chica. But as for our bargain, I still need to be paid. I’ve decided what you can do to make things right. After all, you’ve done it once, so it should be no real trouble on your part to do the same for me.”
I brace myself for a demeaning command. “Done what?”
“Claimed Braulio’s son as your own.” He smiles as he says, “So you should have no problem raising one of mine.”
