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I scramble toward him and hasten him up the stairs, aware of Jaguar lurking behind, tracking our every move.
Once I get Franco settled, I’m ready to take up my haunt at his bed. A quiet knock on the door, however, robs me of that chance.
Jaguar is there when I open it. With a slight cock of his head, he beckons me into the hall. My fingers tremble as I close the door behind me and step toward him.
“Jaguar, we need to talk—”
“Damn right we do.” He lunges, snatching my wrist to drag me into the master bedroom. Once inside, he shoves me toward the bed, and I trip, barely grasping the end of the mattress. “Sit,” he commands.
I do so warily, keeping him in my view at all times. I’d been wrong—somehow, I’ve pushed him over the edge. One errant question had been a step too far.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, bracing my hands flat against the mattress.
His lips contort into a lifeless smile, baring his teeth. “You wanted to know about Juan, did you? He was the black sheep of the Domingas clan. The one who drew my father’s ire. I was his true heir, capable of continuing the Domingas name. Juan was aimless, with his head always in the clouds. Until one day, he literally embodied that metaphor by falling off a motorcycle going full speed down a dirt road. Splat. Instant brain damage—” He uses his hands to illustrate something smacking against a hard surface.Bang!
“They had him hooked up to various machines with a poor prognosis,” Jaguar continues, his eyes unfocused, staring at nothing. “He would never wake up, they said. And our father didn’t even have the patience to give him a chance. He had them cut out his heart and plant it in some poor bastard rumored to be his. We never did do any conclusive tests.” He shrugs and begins to pace, his eyes wild. “That is beside the point. With Juan’s heart, Navid became another perfect soldier, and my father was pleased. He had a second stronger, smarter, more loyal son who wouldn’t ask the pesky little questions. The bastard was smug as hell about that… Right until I smothered the life from him with my bare hands.”
He raises those hands now, curling them around an invisible throat.
“Don’t presume we can bond over our tragic pasts, Lupe. That is the kind of man I am. One who kills when threatened and has no shame regarding that fact.”
It’s the sadistic confession of a dangerous psychopath, and I should heed the warning and then some. I should run.
But…
“You loved Juan,” I croak. From what little I know about this man, that love wasn’t a fleeting, conditional emotion either. He loved his brother enough to be reminded of him every day. He loved him enough to cherish the battered books he once owned. He loved him so much that even thinking about him riles his rage like nothing else. “I doubt it would matter to you what any doctor said—you would have waited years for him to come back. Decades. No matter the cost, no matter the outcome. You would have waited. Your father stole that from you—”
“Oh, Lupe with the magic tongue,” he snaps, whipping his head to face me fully. “You think you know me so well?”
“No,” I admit. Not him, but myself.
He comes closer, running his fingers along my chin. “Then explain.”
“Your father was selfish,” I say, lifting my chin to hold his probing stare. “He stole Juan’s future and gave it to someone else, dishonoring Juan’s memory. His goodness.”
Like how my parents stole Tiena’s innocence, but spared me.
“You assume I’m that childish?” Jaguar demands, his jaw tight, eyes midnight.
“It’s not childish to want to protect your sibling, even from your parents,” I counter.
I sound insane—I know I do. But it’s the way I’ve felt for nearly a decade. Much like the unfortunate Navid, I was also the unworthy recipient of a second chance.
And I squandered it all.
“And you think a few hurt feelings justify murder?” Jaguar prods. He isn’t disapproving of my insanity, from what I can tell. His head is angled my way, his body balanced on the tips of his toes. It’s as if he’s hooked on my every word, waiting for me to give him the answer he craves.
A wholesome, moral one? No. He wants the dark, horrible truth that settles in my stomach like deadweight.
“Not hurt feelings,” I say hoarsely. “Betrayal. You couldn’t forgive your father for that. If you did hurt him… Jealousy wasn’t what would drive a man like you. Loyalty would. You would be protecting Juan the only way you knew how, by honoring his memory before more damage could be done to it. Sometimes… I wish I was that brave, but I wasn’t. I failed my sister, and I didn’t do anything to stop what happened to her. I live with that pain every day.”
God knows I do. “So, if you expect me to be horrified or disgusted, I’m not. You had your reasons. I have mine.”
Jaguar’s fingers still against my jawline as if he’s aiming to test my honesty through feel alone. Slowly, his fingers creep upward, sinking through my hair. Then he yanks a fistful, forcing me to face him.
“Your reasons,” he growls, staring down at me. “Like what?”
“Survival. We will do anything for family,” I say. “Anything. Even if it makes us seem like monsters. Even if it turns us into one. We will protect what is ours. We can’t live any other way.”
